Well, I went, but unfortunately it started really late because one of the candidates wasn't on time. I was with my son and had to put him to bed-only heard about 5 minutes but seemed like a decent turnout. I'd like to know what was said if anyone there would like to summarize.

hehe, i was the guy outside eating pizza.

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www.rob-sutherland.com

Well, it was a little more contentious than the other meetings. I was hoping Adam would summarize, because I missed some of what was being said in the very front during the Q and A period.

Highlights:
1) Jack Morley repeatedly referring to Larry Farnese as "Fumo Farnese"
2) Farnese/Kitchen lovefest
3) Morley suggesting we vote Kitchen "Woman of the Year" if we want WAM$$, ie. denouncing quid pro quo politics
4) 27th and Girard is dead in the water (which I thought it was all along, because of the owners dicking around)

There's more, but right now I'm too tired and need to get back to work. (eg, what was that "Darryl could care less" bit all about?)

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"I pray to God you spent those 20 years cleaning up operating rooms"--Tanny

not to mention youngbloods's (michael) comments to jack telling to "shut up and sit down", "man, your crazy" and "this guy is crazy"

it was a very interesting night. i did not leave with a sense of optimism. i liked jack. maybe cause he was (r) candidate he felt that he could be honest and had nothing to loose with a democratic audience? i dont know, it was very amusing. jack kept saying that the supermarket wont happen and that we should focus on small retail stores. i think that he is right.

the comments from the lady with the curly blond hair was a little disturbing. she wants to keep the idea open to having something in both lots. at this rate it aint happening and asking for even more is going to make it even more impossible. michael was right if clark has said that he is going to get it done we need to keep him accountable. if we make it harder the money will end up somewhere else.

i understand kitchens comments about the houses that westrum has made. she says that if you can sell a house for 250K (which is low, i think that they started at 265K and now have sold as much as 400K) you can bring a supermarket. she also said that this is being done without subsidies. i dont know if it was me but i felt like she was saying that westrum owes the community a supermarket. i dont understand this idea of thinking. it sounds like a shake down to me (to quote youngblood). another way to look at it is that if you can sell a house for 400K there is proof that that the area is changing and a supermarket is something that aid and benefit, so a operator should take this into consideration. my feeling was that she was alluding to the earlier.


now darrel, he really doesnt give a rats ass. 3 years ago he was at our meetings telling us that it was "GOING TO HAPPEN" and three years later its not here. he really pushed the note with the help of the cdc's office just before his campaign for re-election and westrums need to rezone the ITD. the super market is a political game card to vail the residents of this neighborhood. look at the meetings and see who comes. he knows that no one here votes and he also knows that our neighbor hood does not care, so why should he care? my sense is that it is rooted with westrum. as kitchen seems to run her game it is a way to make money.

aside from my personal pessimism. i wanted to praise bob, adam and all involved with the coalition because if anything does happen IT WILL BE in direct response to the efforts or the coalition.

btw. adam, nice suit adam!

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www.rob-sutherland.com

I finally made one of the neighborhood community meetings! Yay!!

I was actually surprised by the LOW turnout. Many of the people there were people who were already active in their neighborhoods and so they were "up to speed" with much of the drama that has elapsed. I was disappointed by the escalation of pot-shots, started by Sen. Kitchen (I was taking notes) and continued by Mr. Morley. Regardless of who is in bed with whom politically, the issue was, "give us a decent food market, guys!"

In listening to the whole meeting, I came away with 2 conclusions:

1) More people need to be involved and organized. In their one word responses, organize and communicate were at the top of the line. The more voices we have, the louder the squeak becomes, the more likely something gets done.

2) There is a wariness of Councilman Clarke's interests in our neighborhood. As our Councilmanic Leader, it is his duty to help the neighborhood better itself. Other than a lot of smiles, handshakes, and donations from John Westrum and the Westrum PAC, I'm not sure who he is looking after. There is little sense of true collaboration and compromise at the political, development, and neighborhood level. (oh yeah, that was my one-word answer..comprimise)

As a relatively new resident to the Fairmount/Brewerytown area (2 1/2 years), I am glad I stayed around and I hope that we can see this process through.

Adam's suit was pretty bangin'

sorry to invade the fmt/btown forum again, but I'm a former resident so I'm interested in what's going on around the hood.

i had a feeling nothing would come of this meeting.
it seems it was just an attempt by the repubs to publicly point out the incompetence of the sitting dems. job well done.

but you're right about clarke. he's a giant turd.
all he does its repeat "IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN".
what ever happened to eminent domain proceedings for 27th and Girard?
I believe he brought that up over TWO YEARS AGO!
These are the kinds of situations in which condemnation genuinely reflect the public interest.
But obviously he doesn't give a crap about the public interest.
He's worse than Blackwell. At least she gets things done.

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My restlessness is my nemesis.

and not a bad speaker i might add.

you are right about darrel. the problem is that if the community doesnt care, why should he care. i guess in the ideal situation it would not matter. but he does not put enough effort into his work of doing just that helping the community help itself. but if there is little support from the community to help its self then how can he help. on the other side of the coin. our neighborhood has roughly 5000 people, the neighborhood at one time had 40,000 people. its hard to organize 1/5 of the population and that population needs to care. i too was saddened by the turnout. one thing that it did do is make me want to push harder for the community market and encourage the idea of small business owners to open small retail stores. that is the only way that we ar going to get anything that we want here.

how about encouraging a place like the donut shop near the church to have groceries.

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www.rob-sutherland.com

yes, it seems that organic retail growth (filling existing storefronts) to meet the needs is the best option. that is, the people must do it themselves becuz gov't isn't helping and won't help.

how about getting one of those produce trucks to set up shop on Girard.

or pushing Murray's to either upgrade or get out and be replaced with something better.

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My restlessness is my nemesis.

we have a fresh produce market that will start up again soon that is run by bob and rudy. there is a small group of poeple that are trying to set up a community market/coop. i have been out of the loop so im not sure what is goiing on there. i think that the general idea is that words like "themselves, they" ect. instead uf "us, we and i" we have to open the market, the mareket will start because of our effort and i am starting a market. maybe we should start to pick a business like the donut shop and ask him/her to start carrying produce? if we do this though we need to support them whole hartedly. i dont know if anyone here runs their own buisness but taking something new on like this would be very scary unless there is obvious support and when you look at meetings last night you might be a little hesitant to start something new. stick to hugs and duce cans cause yo know they sell, thats just how it is untill some one takes a chance.

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www.rob-sutherland.com

Between the CSA, and this produce market it seems there is a market for this.

What about Murrays? How much biz would they need to start carrying more fresh stuff?

Would people pay up front (like a CSA) if they knew there would be 1 lb of bananas, apples, grapes, etc with there name on it? I Would.