George Clooney Feels Guilty for His Effect on Italian Town - collect celebrity news, gossip, interviews here.

George Clooney Feels Guilty for His Effect on Italian Town 2007-06-22

George Clooney joined 300 residents in signing a petition against development in the town of Laglio on Lake, MSNBC reports.

“Yes I signed it. Almost every member of the town signed it,” the 46-year-old actor said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Friday.

“My concern is that this village that has stood for hundreds of years would be destroyed simply because I happened to have lived there for the last six years. I told my neighbors that I would do what they wanted. And it seemed that they didn’t want to demolish the harbor where all the local fishermen keep their boats,” Clooney said.
Clooney, who won an Oscar for his role in “Syriana,” said the petition appeared to have had the desired effect, and that the mayor had announced Thursday that at least some of the plans — which opponents say would damage the environment as well as the 18th-century old harbor — had been scrapped.

“The petition, signed by three-fourths of the town, seems to have proved the difference. It’s a testament to the character of the people in Laglio,” the actor said.

Clooney’s 15-bedroom villa on Lake Como is impressive and legendary for housing his superstar friends, but it’s not nearly as exclusive as one might think. He reportedly took a "dancer" there, remember?

We’re all for preserving traditions and protecting old towns. It’s just that, as thoughtful and civically responsible as Clooney’s actions are, the no-more-growth approach smacks of a NIMBY thing…or even post-gentrification exclusion.

The place is so great, but now that he’s found it he wants to preserve the throwback, relaxed lifestyle and nobody else should come?

Just doesn’t seem fair to Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, et al.

They’ve probably fallen in love with the town now, too.
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