Working for [comm]unity

Tonight may be a loaded night. Full of emotion, intensity and, hopefully, not heartbreak. I am trying to hold it all prayerfully and trust all will be well.

Of course, I am referring to the city council decision on a proposed development for my beloved Milford Main School. It's been such an awe-inspiring couple of weeks and I simply could not have imagined that so many people could rally together in such a community-minded way.

My neighbors, whom I never knew before, Joe and Janet, began knocking on doors when they found few others attending hearings and meetings while the proposed development seemed to sail through city channels.

I attended the first public hearing in front of the planning commission, kept up on the minutes of the second one and also when the city board of zoning appeals approved a variance in density for the property. I made sure to attend the public hearing happening before city council. I stayed for three-and-a-half hours, while the night owls remained until it ended about 1:20 a.m. About 40 people spoke after city staff, the developer and his experts made their case over 90 minutes. People's words moved me. People from all over Milford and all walks of life. One unrepresented group, children, were eloquently captured in one artist's words.

It was at the steps to the city building I encountered a new group, STOP Milford on Main, that had emerged with a terrific logo, t-shirts, petitions and, soon, yard signs. One of them started a Facebook page with, regular and relevant posts and spot-on info-graphics. A neighbor on the other side of town jumped in. Carl was involved about a dozen years ago when a developer wanted to plant houses in a flood plain on some very pristine, natural land. A small group organized, hired an attorney and with  much effort, founded ValleyView, now a 150-acre nature preserve and education center, in South Milford. After the tense hearing before council, he contacted me about gathering those opposed to what the developer calls Milford on Main. We both suspected there were other, small groups and interested individuals out there that we wanted to collect.

I offered my studio in Milford Main as a meeting space. After all, we were focused on Main; plus, I felt it was something I could do and I love showing off the place. Many people wander in and are surprised at the shape its in: better than they had anticipated. Enough inspectors through the place have hinted that the oldest section, mine built in 1912, is the soundest and that any asbestos is properly abated. It is only a problem when exposed such as during demolition. While it is true that renovations over the years have stripped some of the original charm, there's still plenty in the large classrooms with chalkboards that stretch down entire walls. In one meeting, the developer said there was no character or chalkboards left. He's visited me twice and, apparently, hadn't noticed.

Carl had said he'd like me in the mix as an example of what can continue to happen in Milford Main. This is a reason I have kept Artsy Fartsy at Main through inspections, wall-busting and weeks of dust as the Rookwood fountain was removed. Programs like Artsy Fartsy that serve the community belong here. I dislike he idea that the school for kids on the autism spectrum will leave. They have been so happy here.

So 20-something turned out for our first meeting at Main and we had a healthy discussion and managed some organizing. I am eternally grateful to the neighbors who braved cold weather and closed doors to collect hundreds of signatures. Their take was that so many were in the dark and, once informed, not in favor of the massive development.

Like wildfire, this energy has spread. It gives me hope and courage that our elected representatives will do their job. The best thing to come out of all of this is meeting more good people who happen to be my neighbors.

• When has something dire brought people together?
* What are examples of when even just one person has made a difference?
• What about democracy in action inspires me?
• How do I find freedom of speech sacred?
• How can I remain Spirit-led in trying experiences?


I had all but
lost hope

turning the key
in the studio door
as often as I
could get there

praying over
the room and
down the halls

hosting my
Artsy Fartsy kids
with as much energy
as we could muster

and spraying
that all over
the building

and, just as the
forgotten paperwhites
bloomed from
cracked dirt and complete
disregard

life sprung into
action

neighbors
linked arms

and
together

worked for
the community

for
unity

Creator not a destroyer

The debate today is which topic would be most meaningful to write about:
A) Boundaries and how I must keep them as I open my studio tonight to what could be some negative energy. Would be a good follow up to the last post on vulnerability.
B) How in certain, odd moments, Quakerism resonated so deeply within me that I think I was always Quaker.
C) The injustices and misinformation I witnessed attending a public hearing on the building I occupy with my studio.
D) All of the above.

Think I am settling on D because I can't seem to unbundle any of these threads. 

Of course the place they connect is within me and my experiences this week. And they also focus on the fate of a place very near and dear to me: Milford Main School, where Artsy Fartsy was birthed and flourishes. I have been following the fate of this building for years, but most especially since I moved in the spring of 2012. It was always my understanding that is would not be a permanent home as the district was attempting to, somehow, disassociate from it.

For months, I have attempted to gauge the interest and energy level of the community in rescuing the building, but no one seemed interested. A group for preservation formed, but petered out. There's been a lot of talk and fond memories of Main, but no one has put their money where their mouth is until recently. A developer was the sole offer to the school district for the building. Many others passed it over. His plan is intense: 92 apartments aimed at seniors, wiping out so much of the space the public has come to rely on as theirs.

His plan has passed frighteningly fast through city re-zoning channels. Frighteningly. And it all came to a head Tuesday evening in a six-plus hour public hearing. I had thought this building remaining was a dead issue, until Tuesday. Something like 40:3 spoke in opposition to the plan, which dismantles the school. Maybe there is hope, I sang all the way home.

Which is why I agreed to host a meeting tonight in my safe space to see where the energy is flowing. However, some are only bent on stopping the current project, nothing more. And stopping it at almost any means. My view is that if the city could see a new vision, they may not feel so compelled and desperate to say yes to what's on the table. I am a creator, not a destroyer.

Unfortunately we have arrived in this space because of years of non-action and no one stepping up for the community. The district has not wanted the building in ages and the city, it turns out we learned Tuesday night, actually declined the district's free offer of it. Why was it quiet and no public discourse? Who made that decision for us?

We also learned that the district is tearing down two other schools, not historical like Main, giving the property on which one sits to the neighboring township for $1 and taxpayers will foot 73% of those tear-down costs. What if we'd rather those funds go to preserve Main? No one asked the public.

The public hearing was run more like a trial and unlike any I have ever experienced, which is pretty many with my long tenure as a local-government reporter. The city attorney facilitated the meeting insisting that everything be clear for "The Record" should this go to trial. Anyone who wished to speak had to be sworn in.

Did I just hear that, sworn in? I asked myself. Good thing I had written two letters and had not planned on speaking, because I would not have taken the oath. Quakers believe your word should always be impeccable, so there is no need to swear. I have asked the city attorney about that, but not yet received a reply. I also stood alone not saying the pledge of allegiance in that gathering. I have always thought it intolerable to pledge allegiance to a thing. Yes, the things represents our government, but that is not what rules my life. Of course I am law-abiding and respect and value our democratic process, which was in full form Tuesday evening. It wasn't until I became Quaker that I had a reason for that gut feeling. Quakers don't pledge to anything or one but God, otherwise it puts that person or thing above God in their view. Mine, too.

The developer and his expensive entourage had first crack at the public hearing and they all played to the council seated ahead of them on a platform above the audience. [Our Quaker Meeting disassembled its low-rise platform years ago so as not to place anyone at a higher level than another.] It was an hour and 45 minutes into the meeting before the public got its turn. The self-appointed time keeper, the attorney, said they had only taken 38 minutes. Besides not believing his accuracy, I heard almost a warning in those words, as if residents should shush themselves. They were limited to 2 minutes each, but that was never enforced.

After three-and-a-half hours, I left hearing nothing new in the last hour. I applaud the council members and residents that stayed until the bitter end, 1:15 a.m. I have never witnessed a public hearing lasting that long. Residents had a lot to say, perhaps more than one hearing can accommodate.

The fancy money spoke fancy and cited pedigrees. The middle-class residents spoke from the heart, some more eloquently than others, some very emotional and others twisting bits of truth. I grew somewhat uncomfortable with where I was sitting as a group hysteria formed: people cheering others on and jeering at comments with which they disagreed. At times, it felt more like a sporting event.

I merely listened.

So, what to DO with all of this? Extend the invitation, ask respect for the safety of the space, pray all day in the space and let Spirit do the rest.

• How do I keep healthy boundaries?
• How can I get sucked into others energy?
• Are there spiritual practices to keep me on track?
• How do I live with integrity?
• How do I let Spirit in on all aspects of my life?


a quiet
writing
day
eroded

by obnoxious
drilling
outside

seeping
through
the windows

into my
brain and
around
my heart

like a
lethal vine

drilling
that preceded
construction

as if it
were a
done
deal

when
it wasn't

agitated,
I wandered
to the
most silent
room

at the
interior

where,
by no
accident,

I discovered
the forgotten
bulbs
in parched,
cracked soil

sending up
green shoots

there is life
yet
in this
old building

Listen to this post:

A sorry lesson

I don't like to get political in this space, but I just have to say that I am disappointed by local government. My school district and my city. Certainly, they have done some very good things. But when it comes to a prime and public piece of real estate, they have failed miserably.


And yet, maybe the public has a role here as well. We ALL have been terrible stewards of the Milford Main School. All talking about how important is it, but doing little to change anything. Yes, there was
an advisory committee that trumpets how it

made the recommendation some years ago for the district to divest itself of the building and even some ideas on repurposing it. However, the district always seemed clear it was not their job to re-purpose and has limped along thanks to tenants who discovered the charming, if less than perfect, and reasonably priced space. We're here to educate, they sing, while constructing new elementaries and upgrading other buildings. They have an operations manager.

For years, I have heard the city was offered the building and declined, yet council has voted to purchase and raze a downtown gas station for parking and a building at the Little Miami Trail head.

And the public LOVES the building, yet any recent effort to do anything with it has been invisible. Years of talk and inaction bring us to where we are now: at the knees of a developer who insists on a density higher than typically allowed, and a new zoning. Why the zoning variance for the higher density was approved, 3-2, before the actual zone change (from institutional to multi-family) seems so backward and reactionary to me. We have a city admitting they are deciding development issues on a case-by-case basis, abandoning and having not renewed a 1997 land-use plan in which the community participated.

I sat through three-plus hours of an initial public hearing in which the clear majority of speakers, yes mainly affected residents, objected to the density and massiveness of the proposed 92-apartment structure for seniors. I understand there was standing-room only at the last hearing and yet the project was approved.

Now on to city council Feb. 3

The developer has gone to great lengths to find a suitable project that meets a need, makes money, complements his Riverwalk development and is palatable enough to get approved. He has said he desires the highest and best use. I say the city ought to be looking for the best use. This has been public property after all to which many children have had access for running around at recess, playing in the gaga pit, tossing some baskets, riding bikes and skateboards. Not to mention church and event parking. That will be reduced to a 4,000 square-foot triangle at the five points intersection and 190 parking spaces to be shared by 92 one-to-three bedroom units and the churches.

The two affected churches have written letters of support of the project to the city. I was somewhat surprised. The developer approached me, too, and I politely declined. It's a lovely project, but I am not sure this is the best plan for this site.

If things progress surprisingly swiftly as they have and the measure moves through council so easily, we'll have to accept this major change in our neighborhood. I certainly hope it fills a need, is successful and accommodates seniors, otherwise it will be marketed to whomever can afford the $1200-$1500 monthly rent.

I hope we learn the lesson of what happens when we are reactive, not proactive here. Had we been proactive, there would be a new plan designating a very studied and beneficial use for the land that benefits all. And, if a developer came along and deviated, s/he could be denied. Better yet, maybe we'd be planning a community center funded by a bond issue, grants and private donations that we could all enjoy.

It's not too late for other properties such as the former Millcroft Inn and vulnerable, historic landmarks.

Sadly, even though 46 students trudge in every weekday with their teachers, aides, principal and staff, the St. Andrews kids storm in lunch and the hand full of artists still make art, Main has lost it's shine. The 1912 portion of the building I occupy is never cleaned unless I do it, all sorts of inspectors and workmen stomp in leaving their trash, dirty footprints, disturbing me by helping themselves to my studio and poking holes in walls looking for asbestos, leaving swirls of dust and debris. And no one else cares.

That's a sorry lesson to convey to Artsy Fartsy kids: that no one else cares about the space that has been sacred for us. They already typically feel as if no one cares. On the upside, it's not about the location, our efforts and energy will thrive other places.

If you have an opinion, write city council or attend the Feb. 3 meeting when it will be discussed.

Listen to this post: