Neighbors,
Although no community forum exists for us to gather and converse about
neighborhood issues, most people in West Philly now recognize that they
have been lied to about Clark Park. (This public list is the best we have.)
Many people never even realized that Clark Park would be closed, because
the various park sub-cultures were barred from the planning, and their
grass roots personal networks which spread information were only fed
misinformation and lies. (Members of the FOCP voted to change this in
April 2004, but the only result was that I was banned for lifetime from
FOCP meeting agendas, and nothing ever happened.)
Now, I think that many of you might be more receptive to a discussion of
public space since the visual data confronts the neighborhood each day,
as we enter the new year and 2nd season of the closed park.
Rationale for extended closure: Park sub-cultures are the gem that
supports community in a diverse neighborhood, BUT THESE ARE EXTREMELY
FRAGILE.) Closing the park, at the middle of one season and keeping it
closed at the beginning of the 2nd season, is a deliberate tactic used
to destroy and recreate public spaces in gentrified zones.
FOCP leaders have long known that park sub-cultures are fragile and
loosely organized. They always exploited this vulnerability when they
attacked groups one-by-one. (e.g. dog owners, festivals, drummers,
etc). And ATTRITION is the strategy that is behind this plan by the
Clark Park Partnership to keep the park closed (It's based on the legal
strategy used in a confrontational system).
Those of us heavily involved knew that volleyball, the drum circle, poor
people sitting, etc.
would never be allowed back into the upscaled privatized park. Those
people who understand principles of representation knew that reality for
several years because all of these groups were banned from all secret
dealing about the park. Their fate has long been sealed.
The rules of city permits will continue to be abused in an
unconstitutional manner to prohibit all new and unwanted groups in the
future. But attrition, (they will give up and go elsewhere), will allow
the Clark Park Partnership to avoid taking whole park sub-cultures away
in handcuffs for breaking unconstitutional permit rules.
I didn't have a crystal ball when I predicted that the park would be
closed for an extended time. I simply studied gentrification and the
destruction of public space and community. This is an established
process and Clark Park has followed the process exactly ever since UCD
announced it was saving the park many years ago.
Clark Park and this neighborhood have been pilot projects intended to
study expansion of plutocracy throughout the city. Whether we close our
eyes or not, the people who are behind this study our reactions, study
the use of civic associations, and their wins and losses. The Clark
Park we loved is finished just like diversity in the neighborhood is
finished. But we can help other neighborhoods succeed even though we
buried our heads in the sand and lost the community we cherished! I
hope we can finally start having civil conversations about this without
our leaders' ad hominem, red herring, and straw man tactics destroying
discussion. Look at the data; look at the fence.
Thanks for your attention,
Glenn
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