I have to admit that seeing the sea of yellow hands being held up by the hopeful citizens last night made me smile. It reminded me of an evening in the spring of 2003 when a group I was involved in earnestly held up little green trees during a common council meeting.
Our neighborhood was passionate about saving our Kinsey Park woods from an 8 foot wide asphalt bike road. We worked hard as a neighborhood, petitioning, leafleting the neighborhood, speaking before the council and parks department meetings, lobbying the aldermen and meeting with the mayor.
All that work culminated in a council vote one night. During that meeting, whenever an alderman said something against our plan, the sea of trees were held high and waved. Fortunately for us, we prevailed with a 7-6 vote.
Seeing the yellow hands last night reminded me of my experience 4 years ago. I had to laugh to myself how holding up that little green tree changed my life so.
My Kinsey Park issue was what sparked my interest in local politics and life has not been the same since!
The Kinsey Park issue also marked a turning point in local politics.
It was only the 2nd incident, in recent times, that the public swayed
the political process.
Since that time there have been a few more times that the public made their voices heard loud and clear.
Our Common Council votes are no longer 12-2 in favor of the mayor's agenda. The School Board demonstrated last night that they are willing to make the tough decisions.
I hope that people will step forward to run for the council and board positions open this spring. It would be such a shame to go back to business as usual.
