Glenn moyer wrote:
Anthony West wrote:
PennPraxis facilitates a regular monthly forum at
which neighbors who are either for or against the
hotel proposal can communicate and learn. This is not
a panacea, but running meetings is PennPraxis' chief
stock in trade. If regular public meetings can't help
your faction, then yes, PennPraxis hasn't helped it
and can't help it. It's not a sort of Planning
Police, if that's what you have in mind.
Ray,
You might not know how funny this is! At 8AM, Penn
Praxis holds these "regular forums" at the old folks
home. Nurses wheel down their clients for donuts. As
Praxis and Tom do the blah-blah, the folks take naps in
their wheel chairs and the nurses get to go out for a
smoke. Once Praxis shuts up, the folks get to socialize
a bit before they're wheeled away.
(I made a mad dash for the door because the Penn cop was
giving me the eye after I called Tom's drawings
deceptive. They had that drawing where the teeny weeny
10 story building was hiding behind the gigantic 3 story
historic building.)
People don't think Penn Praxis does anything useful.
These geriatric socials are very important for the well
being of these folks. It's meant to make a pretense of
public engagement for Penn but luckily both the low paid
nurses and old folks get some donuts, coffee, and a
little group nap.
If the people who show up at Friends of 40th St.
meetings frequently express concern about the hotel
proposal, then PennPraxis would likely record it in
some way. By the same token, if nobody ever mentions
opposition at any of these regular meetings, that
too becomes a datum -- a way to measure public
opinion. No one owns a copyright to the phrase "the
neighbors", after all.
Hahaha. There are no little green men collecting datums
for Penn Praxis. Besides the sleeping old folks, it
looks like a used car salesman convention at these
"forums." This whole process Mr. West describes in
detail and the little alien data collectors are just
something in Mr. West's head-hahaha!
I'm sorry, glenn, but penn praxis and friends of 40th street
are NOT mere window dressing! they're NOT shams! the people
who attend them are WELL-INFORMED and WIDE AWAKE at 8 am!
just ask al! as a matter of fact, anyone can read all about
penn's proposed hotel, in great detail, in the meeting
minutes posted on the friends of 40th street website. just
click on all the recent links there:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th//reference.html
furthermore, glenn, uchs and shca have been extraordinarily
helpful to the neighbors in their opposition to this
proposed hotel! for one thing, uchs and shca knew about the
hotel plans back in april 2007, long before the public knew
about it in oct 2007 when uc review first published the
story. that was helpful! and ever since then, uchs and shca
have silently witnessed false testimony at the phc and pcpc
hearings -- without saying a word! that, too, was enormously
helpful! in addition, uchs and shca have held numerous
public meetings where the overwhelming public opposition to
the hotel was demonstrated, and, true to their missions,
uchs and shca have upheld and championed their constituents'
mandate to oppose the hotel. that was above and beyond helpful!
and not only that, glenn, but ucd has been very visible and
vocal in their rallying the neighbors over this proposed
hotel zoning question! just like they were before and after
the dock street zoning question last year! in fact, anyone
can read all about ucd's close involvement with this hotel
zoning question on their website:
http://tinyurl.com/5mm3se
if you think about it, glenn, you'll find that the combined
efforts of penn praxis, ucd, shca, and uchs have been
enormously helpful to all our neighbors as they face this
penn-proposed hotel! besides publishing useful details about
the proposal's progress, both uchs and shca have been
extraordinarily vocal and visible in demonstrating how this
hotel is counter to their stated missions. meanwhile, penn
praxis and ucd have used this hotel controversy as a clear
demonstration of how involved they are with the community,
how committed they are to ensuring that the community has a
real voice in shaping their business corridors! could our
neighbors ask for more? could our neighbors be any better
served? I strongly doubt it, glenn! we are the luckiest
people in philadelphia! imagine: having such committed
advocates whenever penn or developers want to have their way
in our neighborhood!
and this is all in stark contrast to our neighbors across
the river, who have to fend for themselves whenever some
large institution determines how a bridge is renovated! if
only other philadelphians would look to us and our
organizations, as THE model of civic involvement and
transparency and sensible development, things in philly
would happen a lot smoother, a lot more transparently, and
not drag on for years, ultimately putting institutions
before citizens!
I can't wait for the next round of help from penn praxis,
shca, ucd, and uchs for this hotel project! their hard work
and on-going commitment to their constituents will certainly
be a well-earned addition to their ever-growing resumes, and
it will serve as a model for civic engagement and
transparency for all philadelphians! in the meantime, glenn,
it would help if you weren't such a nimby naysayer! no one
likes a nimby naysayer!
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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