On Monday I received a call from Katie Cook inviting me to a meeting on Wednesday organized by the city about Strawberry Park. Out of curiosity and since I already spent so much time about Strawberry Park I decided to attend. It was mostly male seniors but for Linda Owens who has done such a tremendous work documenting all the process about the park and the facilitator Dee Endelman.
Dee was/is very nice but I still wonder what this meeting was about (and how much the city is still investing in consulting fees). Clearly the city is in financial trouble (the public works department was closed for two days) and its management is on shaky grounds: the city manager just resigned and pending the results of the upcoming elections the present city council is very much a lame duck.
As far as Strawberry Park is concerned it was not clear that the project as envisioned by the bureaucracy (and endorsed by the lame duck City Council) was halted.
The now leaving city manager had signaled his intent not to go ahead with any construction but apparently the permit process is still moving ahead. So what was this meeting about?
I am not sure. I hope it is not one more attempt to distract the most vocal opponents with a pseudo-concertation effort while the project continues with the goal of putting the community in front of a de facto solution. This is the strategy that has been used since the start and we don't really have reasons to believe it has changed.
I heard that there was a possibility that what had been used as a scientific basis to promote the restoration plan had no scientific basis after all: maybe there were never marshes and only mud flats. This would be but another stone against the "passive-restoration" option. I hope to hear more about that.
Linda said it would be "nice" if the city was admitting it had been wrong and was saying sorry. At this point it still looks like wishful thinking.
I heard the argument that the city had to do something because of the liability issues linked to the state of disrepair of the pier: how come they suddenly realize they are liable while they have done nothing for years?
I heard the argument that since the city is broke and could not reimburse the money they were granted towards a passive/restoration option nad have laready spent, we had to go ahead with this plan: I don't buy the financial argument for one minute in the case of Strawberry Park.
This is the only park for downtown Winslow: it should have been a priority for funding from the millions the community provided for parks. I am convinced that a good alternative project would find financial support within our community.
An interesting point that was not developed was that apparently the Park District does not want to hear anything or be part of anything until the city has clarified the situation, ie dealt with all the opposition.
Who is in charge? was a question asked that was not answered.
You are as confused now or even more than when you started reading? Join the club: I assume it is how most of us felt when the meeting ended.
What remains is the place, as beautiful as ever.
A place that does not need the destruction planned by the city, a place I am convinced would be much better managed by the community experts who have been spending hours showing what should be done (at a much lesser cost than what the city plans/planned).
As we exited I thought it was another sad example of a city bureaucracy (and elected officials) who'd rather hire expensive outside consultants than rely for free on the often world class experts who live here.
I have always been amazed by the number of highly skilled professionals in almost any domain who seem to live here: from trees to medicine, you name it. The same is true for Strawberry Park.
Can the city (bureaucracy and elected officials) listen to the community and respect its choices?
I hope so.
What could provide some hope is that the sheer number of people now involved and pushing for another option than the passive/restoration plan appears too big to be ignored while the strength of the city has been constantly declining (with people leaving, much less money to play with, etc.)
But that could also be wishful thinking. Everybody has to remain vigilant.
Sorry for such a long rant.