Is This Really About Keeping People In Their Place?

Monday, February 11, 2013


The Mayor's 3rd Town Hall Meeting
Subject/Purpose: The Ice Arena or The Boy's & Girl's Club or whatever.....comes out......

This meeting came out of nowhere. Or did it? ?Did it grow out of the age old tradition of one man over reacting to folks exerting the power of the right not to agree with him? So the 4th Ward was called upon to stand against something that the person you forced down our throats by hook or crook took a stand on against you? Now that is rich. Maybe there is hope for Mr Hamer yet. Now if only we might get him to a school board meeting. I just love the way the City is so adamant about the autonomous nature of the relationship with our school board yet it still seems hell bent on aligning our City's youth in and out of school with another City.

October 2 or thereabouts of 2012 the Mayor signed an agreement with the Boy's & Girl's Club of Garfield to run the Skating Rink. (I was not able to find minutes to support the City Council ever voting on this. No Town Hall Meeting was called back then. Note to Mayor: that is when the public should have been polled for ideas. Before the signing of agreements. We over whelmed him again. 

• Too much time was spent selling us the Boy's & Girl's Club of Garfield. Imported Cheerleaders from Garfield and who knows where else were seated together on the left side of the room. The small group followed the script and cheered when prompted. We know what the Boy's & Girl's Club is. Okay. Wasted time. 

• Garfield Boy's & Girls Representative talked too much. It  was like Mitt Romney taking his supporters with him on the road. Garfield Representatives profess to have changed the vision of the organization to include all children and not just the underprivileged. Special of them. They showed us a futuristic image of a building that we might call our Englewood Chapter one day if we are worthy.

• It was obvious that the Boy's & Girl's Club of America did not wish to get involved in the situation. Who would? It was made clear that there is no Boy's and Girl's Club of Englewood.

• The Mayor talked and talked and talked. He should stay away from power points.
• Mayor Huttle III, please stop invoking the name of Jack Drakeford. I stopped counting at 20. That was over the top. News Flash. Not everyone in the 4th Ward thought Jack was the greatest Councilman in the world. He was not perfect and he was not Ghandi. Are we to understand that you really needed that old man? Wow. How illuminating. I attended one of the last Council Meetings that Jack attended. I even wrote an article about how thoroughly he disagreed with you. The general public is not comfortable when the name of the late 4th Ward Councilman is thrown about by the Mayor as if he communes with the wise old man from beyond the grave.

• Highlight - a high school student had a very valid question. Although, I have little faith in the happenings at Dwight Morrow High School, I was insulted by the remark made by the representative from Garfield. Something to the effect that if students do not get involved in the activities planned by the school district it means that the school district activities are no good. Well, look at it this way. We don't appreciate other people making this assumption without investigation.
• Two gentleman danced around fistacuffs. 
• The Mayor was told once again that the people are sick and tired of being sick and tired of being brought in after the fact. 
• They never mentioned the bundling of the Overpeck Creek project with the rink repair

The People were bored to death. They literally wore us out trying to win us over. By the time the public was finally allowed to speak, we were exhausted. Some of us got up and started working the crowd for the People's Town Hall Meeting on the 23rd. The first and only time I had ever been inside the Rink was last summer during the reunion. It was big and in desperate need of some attention. It was not even clean. The bathroom  reminded me of one in Mexico at the end of a desolate alley where I was forced to pee standing up. Most people in the 4th Ward have never entered the place except during that reunion party. I wonder how many of those in attendance have ever entered the John T. Wright Arena.

It has been over 30 years. The rink is no more relevant to the 4th Ward now than it was 30 years ago. It is old, dilapidated and even less interesting than before. It was easier for this town to close 2 schools with wrecking balls standing at ready than to close a rink that is not used.

The City had over sight of the rink for 30 years. I don't care what they say about the renters not taking care of the building. An irresponsible landlord who allows such decay is actually called a slumlord. We all know what generally happens to bad tenants. Why had they not been thrown out long ago. Was the negligence neglected for 30 years? Too much time is being wasted arguing over spending millions on a facility that services less than 10% of the residents. The rink does not pay for itself. It is not sustainable because the people in town have not embraced it. They have not been given reason to embrace it. It has always been priced out of range. Did it make a good place to have a party? The people made the party. Is it really worth all this time spent on discussion when the papers have already been signed? It is a diversion.

An unpopular question: If a wrecking ball may be taken to a school why can't it be taken to a neglected falling down ice rink. I'm just saying.