Home | BY WAY OF CREDENTIALS | MY SWEET ACCOUNTABLE YOU | THE ISSUES | ANNOUNCEMENTS | FOR THE THE PEOPLE? | GRIST FOR THE MILL | ECOCENTRISM | MATTERS OF CONCERN I | MATTERS OF CONCERN II | WE THE PEOPLE | GOOD LINKS | VOX POPULI? | HOW MUCH DO WE PAY THEM? | RATE YOUR PUBLIC SERVANT | GLOVES OFF | RATE IT | INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT? | WE THE PEOPLE II | RUN, BABY, RUN | OMNIVOROUSLY YOURS | BLOOMING RIGHT | SPIN DOCTOR | A PLACE TO LOVE III | KID SPACE I | AUTUMN 06 PLACE TO LOVE

NEWS FROM OLD UNTERRIFIED

"...BY PERCEIVING OURSELVES AS PART OF THE RIVER, WE ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RIVER AS WHOLE (WHICH IS FOLLY IN THE EYES OF ALL OWNERS OF THE DAM AND PARTICULAR HORIZONS). "  VACLAV HAVEL

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN
 
 
The Streetscape Committee held a meeting on Nov 1st for the purpose of reviewing the latest version of the plans for Phase I. The meeting made it clear that the committee has chosen to disregard the results of the residents’ survey entirely.


To review the residents’ survey results:

a. 134 surveys were counted (139 were sent in; 5 were received after the deadline).

b. Bulb-outs (curb extensions) at all four corners of all three intersections on German street between Princess street and Church street were rejected by 63% to 29% (85 no, 39 yes).

c. Brick crosswalks at all three intersections on German street between Princess street and Church street were rejected by 53% to 35% (72 no, 47 yes).

d. Cutting down the 5 mature trees on German street near Church street when planting new trees was rejected by 58% to 30% (78 no, 41 yes).

e. Using bulb-outs instead of stone steps at the Church street drop-offs was rejected by 52% to 22% (70 no, 30 yes).

f. Having a planned, updated look to German street rather than an unchanged look was rejected by 68% to 27% (92 no, 37 yes).

g. doing more on German street than just repairing sidewalks and planting trees was rejected by 57% to 33% (77 no, 44 yes).

h. the only aspect of Phase I that a majority of residents sided with the committee on was that German street’s sidewalks need to be repaired; supported by 86% to 11% (115 yes, 15 no).




[] Home | BY WAY OF CREDENTIALS | MY SWEET ACCOUNTABLE YOU | THE ISSUES | ANNOUNCEMENTS | FOR THE THE PEOPLE? | GRIST FOR THE MILL | ECOCENTRISM | MATTERS OF CONCERN I | MATTERS OF CONCERN II | WE THE PEOPLE | GOOD LINKS | VOX POPULI? | GOING POSTAL | HOW MUCH DO WE PAY THEM? | RATE YOUR PUBLIC SERVANT | GLOVES OFF | RATE IT | INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT? | WE THE PEOPLE II | RUN, BABY, RUN | OMNIVOROUSLY YOURS | BLOOMING RIGHT | SPIN DOCTOR | A PLACE TO LOVE III | KID SPACE I | AUTUMN 06 PLACE TO LOVE

NEWS FROM OLD UNTERRIFIED
[]

[]

wlogmnogossip.jpg

 

STREETSCAPE?

Consumers consume. In a consumer society, manufacturers must strive constantly to tempt those who have few material needs left unfulfilled. As an American consumer I see the results of this striving all around me. Occasionally, I make note of little doodads such as battery powered polyester roses, to remind myself that we are a long way from being civilized, since each of us has a different idea of what is essential to his well being. Perhaps somewhere there are dozens of people who would die if they did not own battery operated polyester roses. But I seriously doubt that there is anyone out there who would die if he did not have an insect repellent apron.
Now, it is all very well to wax sanctimonious and get on a soapbox to rage against the machine. In my long experience, sanctimony and rage have their limits. What then must we do, as poor old misguided Leo Tolstoy used to ask?
My community's equivalent of the insect repellent apron is a plan grandly called Streetscape. It apparently involves, among other depredations, cutting town healthy trees and replace them with new ones. The difference is, according to my sources, that experts recommend such actions. Just who these experts are and why do they think that the public is stupid are some of the opinions floating around among town residents,
a) Town Council has a million dollars burning a hole in its collective pocket.
b) The plan is nothing but a way of creating infrastructure for development.
c) At least one Town Council member--and he knows who he is--called surveys designed to find out how town residents would vote on Streetscape, " a new weapon."
c) The mayor does not want Town Council to "take the plan apart."

Reporting on rumors is not an effective way to commit Journalism. The right and good thing to do is to talk to town officials and get the real story. But since the Pete Wilson administration, most municipals officials have taken the attitude that they do not need to answer questions from anyone who might oppose their views. There is always a chance to get information from those who talk off the record, but that is not the best way to inform the public. We all know that the town has some serious problems that are not being addressed. One of them is the need for a new water plant. The cost of water keeps going up and eventually it might become too high for all but upper middle class residents. This might suggest that the administration's unofficial plan to gentrify the town to the point that no under in the lower middle and low income levels. Could that happen, right here in River City? Could the majority our Town Parents really play into the hands of fat cat developers? The question here is, who benefits from grandiose Streetscape plans? Is it the merchants, developers, Shepherd university, real estate agencies, the masses?
It would be nice to have an answer to these questions, but do not hold your breath. Unless the townspeople are ready to descend upon Town Hall to demand their rights, there will be no change in the status quo. Individuals or small groups of individuals trying to get answers can be isolated, ridiculed and rendered ineffective. The key is to organise and everyone knows that in this community we are too individualistic to do anything of that sort.
What happens in this town depends very much on what we want to happen. Ir we leave it to Lance Dom to decide that his vision of Shepherdstown is the right one, we deserve to have him put it into practice. If we refuse to see that the greatest damage being done to Shepherdstown is not gentrification. What is at issue is the democratic process. When the voice of the community is seen as a weapon against the very people elected to represent it, something is gravely wrong. It is up to us to fix it.

Clara Castelar

 PHOTOS OF SHEPHERDSTOWN'S FAUNA AND FLORA http://oldunterrified.org/a_place_for_all_seasons

ISSUE II 2007
ISSUE I 2006

Join Our Mailing List
Email:

Copyright Independent Press 2006/2007

 

Shepherdstown, WV
May 2006
FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE
 

Editorialising

 
 Publishing a web zine that focuses on Shepherdstown might seem superfluous, since reporters working for at least three commercial  newspapers in the tri-state area  cover events in our community. But commercial journalists respond to constraints placed upon them by publishers and editors, who respond, in turn, to contraints placed upon them by advertisers, cronies, politicians, and the little old person in Pawpaw. 
The advantage of a web zine is that it empowers journalists to  do their jobs  without having to have wannabe  corporate barons looking over their shoulders.
Web  zine journalists do not answer to editors who judge what is printable according to how it will affect their chances of rubbing elbows with plutocrats at  the local country club.
The business of journalists is to report, and if that ruffles the sensibilities of self-described pillars of the community, so be it.  Let philistines beware, gristforthemill will honor the first amendment.

Having said that, it is important to add that oldunterrified will comply with libel laws. Interviews will be taped and quote reviews offered whenever necessary. Ours still is a community of good neighbors.  Galloping growth has yet to obliterate its warm and fuzzy side. We will run the usual refreshments-were-served columns about local folks' celebrations of life cycle events. We will print the time honored day-in-the-life critter features small town journalism cherishes. We will print  food and garden columns, announcements of cultural events, and book reviews without relinquishing our right to question authority.   

We will be asking elected and appointed town officials the kind of tough questions commercial media reporters are not always free to askWe want to discuss accountability, to inform the public, to give praise where praise is due and to give voice to those who have not been heard. We have no hidden agenda, we  do not represent special interest groups, we do not receive subsidies from anyone. Shepherdstown is our home. It matters.
 
 
Clara Castelar

smalestred.jpg

Vox Populi?

Feedback, submissions, ideas? Emailtigertiger@frontiernet.net