There is no �Straw Poll� SCAM in NE as Tim Burman
stated in a previous post.
I facilitated the September Holland Neighborhood
meeting in which a proposed Cub Food store for Central
Ave. was discussed. It is true that Bruce Shoemaker
wasn�t at that meeting but his comments do fairly
characterize what took place. No one to my knowledge,
including Bruce, has claimed that an official vote
took place at that meeting. I do not wish to quibble
over the semantics of the word �Straw Poll�. However,
I will describe what took place at the meeting to
which the word refers.
The meeting had an official head count of 103. Most in
attendance were Holland residents though there were
people from several other NE neighborhoods as well.
The meeting had an �open discussion� format.
Councilmember Paul Ostrow and Councilmember Joe
Biernat�s aide gave a general description of the Cub
Proposal. Residents were also given the general
parameters of what the Cub Store would be in terms of
size, location, parking, loading docks etc. The
descriptions were consistent with subsequent
architectural drawings of the project and dimensions
typical of a Cub Store.
With that, residents began to one by one express
concern if not criticism of the concept of a store of
that size with a parking ramp at the location
proposed. Around three quarters of the way through
this discussion a gentleman, when called on to speak,
stood up and identified himself as a local merchant
opposed to the Cub proposal. He stated that based on
what he was hearing that night he felt confidant that
most people in the room shared in his opposition. He
informally asked for a show of hands of those who did
not want this kind of store at the proposed location.
The response was an immediate and overwhelming show of
hands against the Cub proposal. Because all those
arms were up in the air, it was not easy to count
those who did not raise their hand in opposition.
There were very few people who did not raise their
hand in opposition (10 % would be generous by my
count). Again, no one mistook this for an �official
vote� but it made a point that many find hard to
ignore.
However, Tim Burman in his previous post explicitly
ignores to mention this unequivocal show of hands
taking place. And to me, this makes his statements
about there not being anything even close to
resembling a �straw poll� or there not being any basis
for estimates as to where the meeting attendees stood
on the issue very misleading. It also seems to reflect
a notion that residents only have a voice in the
context of strict parliamentary procedure.
The newsletter comments that Tim Burman refers to are
not an indication that the Holland Neighborhood
Improvement Association has prematurely rejected the
Cub proposal and will not review more information
about the project. Rather they reflect the position
of HNIA to date that recognizes that the initial
critical input of residents responding to the concept
of a Cub store at the location proposed precludes HNIA
from supporting this plan at this time. We were
getting phone calls in which residents had the notion
that HNIA was supporting this plan and it was felt
that this needed to be clarified.
It is true that CM Ostrow asked to wait to take an
official vote at a meeting in which representatives
from the developer Sherman Associates and Cub could
find time in their schedule to present to the
neighborhood. And we will be holding such a vote at
our January meeting.
In response to the insinuation that the Holland
Neighborhood Improvement Association will not be able
to hold a fair meeting for the Cub proposal, I must
state that HNIA has (in recent years) maintained a
reputation for holding very well attended, well-run
meetings especially when discussing proposals that
engender strong reactions from stakeholders.
There are many other things in Tim Burman�s post that
I could respond to for clarification but I think
pointing out what he omits when he makes a sensational
claim to a SCAM going down in NE sufficient for the
purposes of this forum.
Tom Fahling
Board President
Holland Neighorhood
Improvement Association
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