All this he promised, and through sunset's gate He swept me, past the lapping lakes of flame, And red-gold thrones of gods without a name Who shriek in fear at some impending fate. Then a black gulf with sea-sounds in the night: "Here was your home," he mocked, "when you had sight!"
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Glenn Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 8:38 AM To: J. Matthew Wolfe; 'Anthony West'; 'University City List' Subject: Re: [SPAM] Re: [UC] How park planning really works Thanks Matt, It's refreshing to see an honest account and I think historical accuracy is a very big deal. There is another point that is very important. After all the disingenuous attempts to block your motion, I believe the acceptance of the UCD plan by the membership of FOCP carried by a slim margin because the proponents lied to the membership. You may remember that the proponents of the UCD plan claimed that it was too late to do a plan honestly including the participation of FOCP members or park stakeholders. They lied by insisting the plan was dead with no action scheduled. They also insisted that before any individual portions of the plan would be implemented in the future that the "community" would have plenty of opportunities to raise issues or questions. It was almost immediately clear that we were lied to about the plan being dead with no intention to implement it. Parts of the plan were implemented almost immediately after the vote like moving and changing the play area. The lies to me were continued during this time about the reasons that park stakeholders were barred from the planning committee even as the new play area went up. Do you know what lie I finally received about barring the Clark Park Music and Arts Community? The FOCP president you backed told me that in addition to my bad character that CPMAC did not have the same 501 c 3 status as FOCP and SHCA and that is why Penn would not allow us to be part of the "community." He was mad at me because the FOCP looked like propagandists and outright liars after the City Paper covered the FOCP survey against park users. I don't know if you were aware that FOCP was claiming that nearly a third of local residents called the police against the Clark Park festival and Woodland Ave Reunion. It was something like 80% of the community wanted FOCP to take action against us. Like with the dog park, UCD partners seem to always get at least 80% approval of all good folks with their surveys. The FOCP leaders came across as bullies and liars. They blamed me for not accepting my punishment and obeying their rule even though I begged Paul, Cindi, and Sue not to make idiots of themselves. I think they believed because I had long hair and associated with those they considered park criminals that I wasn't going to be able to show that their survey was not simple idiocy; but an intentional attempt to manufacture a false problem. Back to the present times. Last November, Mr. West posted a lie on the listserv claiming that 17 public meetings had been conducted and that the UCD park plan was now policy. Of course, it was the first time we heard about the UCD plan since the motion to reject it was barely rejected by the FOCP membership. Blocking your legitimate attempts to communicate with the membership is a process that has gotten much worse under the iron rule of Mr. West and Siano. I did not know Mr. West and I took your advice and voted for him. Wow, were you wrong! Matt, I know you sincerely believe that civic associations like FOCP and SHCA are more of a positive than negative for the community. You are wrong about that. As an example, I built an excellent relationship with various parts of the Department of Recreation when I started the CPMAC. The FOCP were the most notorious civic association of cranks among these city employees. More than once, I had to make a serious explanation that we had nothing to do with them. As a further example of harm, I had posted how the same FOCP leaders back then prevented me from proposing the farmer's market to the community via FOCP membership meeting. The negatives far outnumber the positives from these associations, which are increasingly recognized as a lobbying platform for neighborhood bullies. These organizations have no intention of reform and the treacherous UCD partnerships are just the latest problem in a long history of the evolution of these associations. West Philadelphia would be much better off if we demanded that these organizations be shunned by all funding or governmental agencies because of their actions against the public and community . I have been much too passive against these groups and have not taken the kinds of actions against them as they have so often done against my own community service. I think those of us willing to act up need to join together not only against the UCD rule but also to once and for all put a stop to the damage by the leaders of these contemptuous organizations like FOCP/SHCA. Sincerely, Glenn ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
