Don't Vote, Can't Bitch Principle
If anything symbolizes Richmond's past and future, it is how certain people reacted to the charge that the Downtown Plan purposely excluded blacks and minorities and was run completely by white folks.
The only reason it became an issue is because one lone voice at Council spoke up and complained about the lack of African-Americans at the opening sessions and no one smacked down the assertion as they should have (though Councilman Pantele made a pretty good attempt).
The speaker was correct in that there were far more white people than black at the opening sessions. He was wrong in intimating there was a conspiracy to exclude other races from planning the future of downtown.
Never mind that these sessions were not the final word; never mind that the planners will hold another session before presenting a final version to Council; never mind that any final version will be debated and voted on in Council.
Apparently, e-mails, news stories, blog posts, and town meetings are not seen as enough advertising of the event, so one person brings up the race card and several were willing to play it. The Free Press ran nothing in the issue published the day before the kick off; neither did The Voice newspaper, both of which tradtionally serve the African-American community. The Voice did not, thankfully follow the Free-Press' example.
It was far easier or the Free Press to run the headline "Sea of Whiteness" after the fact and bitch and moan about it rather than own up that they missed the boat. They failed to mention that Ellen Robertson - who represents downtown in the 6th District - held a town meeting the week before the kickoff and her aides gave an hour to Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond to detail how the sessions would work (even though Robertson did not attend the meeting herself). Meade practically begged everyone there to attend.
Councilwoman McQuinn of the next door 7th District held a town meeting on July 21, and she did mention it briefly, but as one in attendance told me, that the low attendance of her own meeting might be because people were at the charrette.
At the Council meeting last week, McQuinn and others were upset because the the sponsors of the event did not publicize it well enough, even though all of Council was informed of it beforehand and some chose to push the event and others did not. It made sense for Robertson to publicize it - it is mostly her district, but she can't make people attend. McQuinn said she met with the consultants beforehand so my impression is that some on Council felt little need to get the word out themselves and leave it to the consultants and Department of Community Development.
After one email from Venture Richmond two weeks before the event, John Sarvay from Buttermilk and Molasses was the one voice who nearly single handedly pressured/challenged other media outlets and organizations to publicize the event, only after the blogging community spread the word like wildfire. His efforts were successful and other groups, media, and neighborhood associations spread the word.
From Council, Mr. Pantele, Tyler, and Graziano attended the opening sessions and after the dust up last week they returned along with Ms. Robertson and McQuinn (I did see Marty Jewell at one of the open design sessions).
The last time they did a master plan like this 10 years ago only 20 or so people showed up, which defines the difference between Richmond of the past and the Richmond of the future. Ten years ago people were not aware of such meetings and no one knew where to voice their opinions of even if they would be heard.
Today, people do care and take time out their busy days to attend such events and interject their opinions on the future of this city. They come with opinions and ideas and don't care what others think or with the pretension that the old guard will seize the day and implement their own best solutions or government will just muddle through. This is a process where everyone is welcome, the process is ongoing, the race card is a joker, and the future is on our hands.
The entire charrette was a time honored process via many other cities and has finally arrived here in River City with new enthusiasm and participation. It reminds me of my favorite notion that anyone who debates politics must first have voted in the election of the officials about whom they are complaining - if you don't vote, you can't bitch. Period.
If you don't make your voice heard in the future of downtown, then sit on the sidelines. That goes for citizens and elected officials.
Sure, the word on this could have been pushed harder by the administration, Council, Dept. of Community Development, Venture Richmond, and certainly the traditional "media," but word did get out, people turned out in huge numbers and the process is not yet over.
The message was delivered that the Richmond of old is not the Richmond of now or of the future. River City residents are involved and have ideas that should be heard.
People - and this is true anywhere - are always ahead of the leaders who represent them. It is up to the leaders to keep pace with the ones who are out in front. The ones who blindly follow their elected leaders and do whatever they tell them to do are the ones who get left behind.
It is a lesson that sometimes is too easily lost by some of those that - ironically - represent us rather than the other way around.
~
The only reason it became an issue is because one lone voice at Council spoke up and complained about the lack of African-Americans at the opening sessions and no one smacked down the assertion as they should have (though Councilman Pantele made a pretty good attempt).
The speaker was correct in that there were far more white people than black at the opening sessions. He was wrong in intimating there was a conspiracy to exclude other races from planning the future of downtown.
Never mind that these sessions were not the final word; never mind that the planners will hold another session before presenting a final version to Council; never mind that any final version will be debated and voted on in Council.
Apparently, e-mails, news stories, blog posts, and town meetings are not seen as enough advertising of the event, so one person brings up the race card and several were willing to play it. The Free Press ran nothing in the issue published the day before the kick off; neither did The Voice newspaper, both of which tradtionally serve the African-American community. The Voice did not, thankfully follow the Free-Press' example.
It was far easier or the Free Press to run the headline "Sea of Whiteness" after the fact and bitch and moan about it rather than own up that they missed the boat. They failed to mention that Ellen Robertson - who represents downtown in the 6th District - held a town meeting the week before the kickoff and her aides gave an hour to Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond to detail how the sessions would work (even though Robertson did not attend the meeting herself). Meade practically begged everyone there to attend.
Councilwoman McQuinn of the next door 7th District held a town meeting on July 21, and she did mention it briefly, but as one in attendance told me, that the low attendance of her own meeting might be because people were at the charrette.
At the Council meeting last week, McQuinn and others were upset because the the sponsors of the event did not publicize it well enough, even though all of Council was informed of it beforehand and some chose to push the event and others did not. It made sense for Robertson to publicize it - it is mostly her district, but she can't make people attend. McQuinn said she met with the consultants beforehand so my impression is that some on Council felt little need to get the word out themselves and leave it to the consultants and Department of Community Development.
After one email from Venture Richmond two weeks before the event, John Sarvay from Buttermilk and Molasses was the one voice who nearly single handedly pressured/challenged other media outlets and organizations to publicize the event, only after the blogging community spread the word like wildfire. His efforts were successful and other groups, media, and neighborhood associations spread the word.
From Council, Mr. Pantele, Tyler, and Graziano attended the opening sessions and after the dust up last week they returned along with Ms. Robertson and McQuinn (I did see Marty Jewell at one of the open design sessions).
The last time they did a master plan like this 10 years ago only 20 or so people showed up, which defines the difference between Richmond of the past and the Richmond of the future. Ten years ago people were not aware of such meetings and no one knew where to voice their opinions of even if they would be heard.
Today, people do care and take time out their busy days to attend such events and interject their opinions on the future of this city. They come with opinions and ideas and don't care what others think or with the pretension that the old guard will seize the day and implement their own best solutions or government will just muddle through. This is a process where everyone is welcome, the process is ongoing, the race card is a joker, and the future is on our hands.
The entire charrette was a time honored process via many other cities and has finally arrived here in River City with new enthusiasm and participation. It reminds me of my favorite notion that anyone who debates politics must first have voted in the election of the officials about whom they are complaining - if you don't vote, you can't bitch. Period.
If you don't make your voice heard in the future of downtown, then sit on the sidelines. That goes for citizens and elected officials.
Sure, the word on this could have been pushed harder by the administration, Council, Dept. of Community Development, Venture Richmond, and certainly the traditional "media," but word did get out, people turned out in huge numbers and the process is not yet over.
The message was delivered that the Richmond of old is not the Richmond of now or of the future. River City residents are involved and have ideas that should be heard.
People - and this is true anywhere - are always ahead of the leaders who represent them. It is up to the leaders to keep pace with the ones who are out in front. The ones who blindly follow their elected leaders and do whatever they tell them to do are the ones who get left behind.
It is a lesson that sometimes is too easily lost by some of those that - ironically - represent us rather than the other way around.
~
Labels: blogs, change, development, gov't, media, misc. Richmond
posted by Jon Baliles | 8:10 AM
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