Victory at the Senior Center
Last night's Meet the Candidates event at the Senior Center was a great success for our campaign.
I pronounce this with the full backing of no less an authority than Joe Garecht, a pundit for LocalVictory.com, who said this:
If you weren't one of the 71 in attendance at the Senior Center last night (a high turn-out, and only 12 percent of those were candidates), you missed a great show.
The highlight for me was when Juel Belmont and Jimmie Cates demonstrated the fox trot on the dance floor.
No, I jest.
The true highlight was when I lost my temper.
The stimulus for this outburst was Harold Smith's attack on a proposed nuisance abatement resolution as a fascist attempt by the city to legislate what is beautiful.
"If you're going to vote for Harold Smith," I said, "then you better not vote for me, because our votes are going to cancel each other out."
Then I told the story of how I became chair of Neighbors in Action.
It was a yucky morning when Don Hampton called to ask if I would do it. I was just getting over the flu, and my calendar was full to the brim. But I said I would think about it. Later that morning I took another phone call from a resident of the Greenwood Neighborhood.
She asked if I would come look at an abandoned house in her area. Her children pass this house on their walk to school, she said, and had just asked if it would be all right to go inside.
I drove to the site and found a front yard overtaken by waist-high weeds. Rocks had been thrown through the front windows, and the front door was swinging open on its hinges.
The scene was ripe for a drug deal, for squatters, and for fire.
Across the street, a for-sale sign stood in the manicured lawn of a lovely home. I knocked on the door there, and learned that the owners were leaving because of the attractive nuisance across the street.
"Attractive" in this case does not mean beautiful, as I pointed out to Mr. Smith. It means "attracts crime."
This is how I decided that I could not afford NOT to accept the position with Neighbors in Action.
As Neighbors in Action, we helped these neighbors find the landlord and start a letter-writing campaign. Eventually, they got some action out of him. We also went to the city, learned about the few and ineffective measures that had been taken, and started rattling cages. This led to the formation of the nuisance abatement committee and the subsequent outpouring of apathy -- yes, apathy -- on the part of our current city leaders.
"Vote for me," I said. "I'm going to get some action on our nuisance abatement ordinance."
The really remarkable thing was the surge of passion that swept me through this story in my allotted two minutes.
The evening was a beautiful piece of citizenship and public service on the part of the organizers, and an excellent opportunity for candidates and public alike.
In all, a resounding victory. Time to alert the presses.
I pronounce this with the full backing of no less an authority than Joe Garecht, a pundit for LocalVictory.com, who said this:
The question of who "won" or "lost" the debate is subjective. There are no scorekeepers at a political debate. No matter what happens, your campaign should always declare victory. Your staff should spin the debate for reporters, issue press releases, and talk up the candidate's performance.
If you weren't one of the 71 in attendance at the Senior Center last night (a high turn-out, and only 12 percent of those were candidates), you missed a great show.
The highlight for me was when Juel Belmont and Jimmie Cates demonstrated the fox trot on the dance floor.
No, I jest.
The true highlight was when I lost my temper.
The stimulus for this outburst was Harold Smith's attack on a proposed nuisance abatement resolution as a fascist attempt by the city to legislate what is beautiful.
"If you're going to vote for Harold Smith," I said, "then you better not vote for me, because our votes are going to cancel each other out."
Then I told the story of how I became chair of Neighbors in Action.
It was a yucky morning when Don Hampton called to ask if I would do it. I was just getting over the flu, and my calendar was full to the brim. But I said I would think about it. Later that morning I took another phone call from a resident of the Greenwood Neighborhood.
She asked if I would come look at an abandoned house in her area. Her children pass this house on their walk to school, she said, and had just asked if it would be all right to go inside.
I drove to the site and found a front yard overtaken by waist-high weeds. Rocks had been thrown through the front windows, and the front door was swinging open on its hinges.
The scene was ripe for a drug deal, for squatters, and for fire.
Across the street, a for-sale sign stood in the manicured lawn of a lovely home. I knocked on the door there, and learned that the owners were leaving because of the attractive nuisance across the street.
"Attractive" in this case does not mean beautiful, as I pointed out to Mr. Smith. It means "attracts crime."
This is how I decided that I could not afford NOT to accept the position with Neighbors in Action.
As Neighbors in Action, we helped these neighbors find the landlord and start a letter-writing campaign. Eventually, they got some action out of him. We also went to the city, learned about the few and ineffective measures that had been taken, and started rattling cages. This led to the formation of the nuisance abatement committee and the subsequent outpouring of apathy -- yes, apathy -- on the part of our current city leaders.
"Vote for me," I said. "I'm going to get some action on our nuisance abatement ordinance."
The really remarkable thing was the surge of passion that swept me through this story in my allotted two minutes.
The evening was a beautiful piece of citizenship and public service on the part of the organizers, and an excellent opportunity for candidates and public alike.
In all, a resounding victory. Time to alert the presses.
posted by Heidi Rodeback at 12:16 PM
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