I read the T-D account, and those of bloggers, and watched video.

Thankfully, I didn't give up my Chinese takeout to go to the forum, though unfortunately I went to see Watchmen, a film that not even the palatial Byrd as a venue could redeem. And the baseball argument kind of reminds me of this movie: Can't all this time, talent and money instead used for better purposes?

Hyperbolic rhetoric got batted around, including that if we don't build a baseball stadium, Lynchburg (!), not Charlotte, will pass us by, and our one chance of becoming a "great city" will again evaporate.

If I had $1,000 for every time that phrase was uttered by planners, supporters and detractors of every major civic and public/private project and idea for same since about 1966, I wouldn't be here writing a blog post about — as they'd say in Goochland County — all this who struck John about ever-lovin' baseball.

And I was contemplating during my walk to work what Richmond BizSense's Aaron Kremer actually said:

"Would [a baseball stadium] have other desirable effects, like luring new businesses to Richmond because of a higher quality of life? Or would it be another debacle, like the Sixth Street Marketplace, that opens with fanfare but ultimately fails and leaves a costly eyesore?

"Why not settle it with a special referendum vote put to city residents?

"Wouldn’t that be democratic?"

Hmm. A referendum? Not a bad idea — let the people speak rather than divide this discussion between a few hundred people who choose sides behind one developer or another.

Referendums haven't always worked in Richmond's past on the Big Issues, however. During two referendums that voted against establishing I-95's route through the middle of town, a majority of voters favored swinging the highway out and away from the city's densely populated midsection. Richmond then basically told its citizens that they didn't know what they were talking about and ran the highway right through town. This usurpation of the public will left the whole thing in the hands of engineers who just drew a line that nearly took out Main Street Station and ran a ditch through the middle of Jackson Ward.

When Richmond considered consolidating with Chesterfield or Henrico counties, the question failed in 1961 and 1966. Those failures led to the annexation of 23 square miles of Chesterfield County.

And again, in 1973, citizen activists prevailed in a referendum to block the construction of the Downtown Expressway because it would forever destroy the James River Kanawha Canal's downtown route and cut the city off from direct access to the river. Again the city ignored the will of the people. Hundreds of residents were displaced from Randolph and Oregon Hill, and many buildings were destroyed.

Those were all huge issues that altered the city's physical character and changed its development, arguably, not in a good way.

During the discussion last night, somebody actually pulled out that reliable apocryphal story about, "When an airplane lands at Richmond Airport, the pilot says, 'Welcome to Richmond, set your watch back 30 years.' " I've not heard that length of time in a while, usually it's five or 10.

But really. We need a new set of Richmond put-downs — or get rid of them altogether. And rather than engaging in endless debates, why not follow Mr. Kremer's suggestion and put the stadium question to the ultimate test: Let the people — all of them — vote it up or down. We as as a city have far more pressing issues to deal with — our schools, safety, transit and the sustainability of small businesses.

Let's get on with it.