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The Defender attacks
05/11/2007 3:40 PM by John M
Invoking Don Imus, the article Church Hill gentrifier says it’s hard living around poor people in the May/June issue of the leftist Richmond Defender quotes an Aug 2006 email to Church Hill Neigborhood Block Captains and a comment on this site in a character assassination piece on Laura Daab (leader of the CH Block Captain program and force behind the push for O&H designation for Church Hill North).
2 things jump out of the article to me. The first is kind of funny, the repeated use of “gentrifier” as a slur. I can’t help but want to push back against that. My second observation, and more troubling, is that the article is annonymous. Phil, y’all can do better than that.
Gentrification certainly has a negative connotation, though calling someone a “gentrifier” is just silly.
While the revitalization that is occuring in CH is a good thing for the city and the community as a whole for many different reasons, let’s not forget that there are many not-so-hidden downsides.
Gentrification displaces people. That’s both a historical and substantive fact. Moreover, many of those who are not displaced often find themselves/their families struggling even harder to make ends meet because of the additional economic burdens.
This is not to say that the community should just let the old houses rot, or to have individuals interested in restoring houses to move into cookie-cutter suburbs, just that people should be sensitive to the plight of their neighbors, many of whom have helped establish CH and in the coming years will probably be forced out by the rising property values and concomitant tax increases.
Community planning in this regard must factor in such issues in both the short term and long term interests of CH.
Advice is not spelled advise!!! Two completely different meanings.
Old
Displacement is NOT a result of “gentrification.” Lance Freeman, an Assistant Professor at Columbia University conducted a study with the hypothesis being that displacement is a result of gentrification. To his suprise, he found out that that was not the case. He also cites many studies that make the displacment claim points out their underlying falacies.
Mr. Freeman found that long time residents preferred to stay put because they too wanted to live in a nicer neighborhood and enjoy the amenities and benefits brought about by urban renewal. There was no noticable movement out of the neighborhood by the existing residents.
The study can be found on the Urban Affairs Review website at http://uar.sagepub.com Unfortunately, you have to buy the article, but maybe it can be found for free elsewhere.
The title of the study is “Displacement or Succession?: Residential Mobility in Gentrifying Neighborhoods” by Lance Freeman
Here is a 4/26/05 discussion of this study from NPR: Gentrification: Blessing or Blight?
There is also a recent article that uses a larger survey effort in Portland OR (Freeman’s methodology was more qualitative) that had similar results. If anyone wants to read these articles, e-mail me (bob.stokes@vcu.edu) and I will e-mail you the PDFs.
pair is not spelled pear, 2 completely different meanings.
I am curious as to who made the Don Imus comparison here. CHPN or the Defender? Either way, the use of this comparison is completely out of line. Don Imus was guilty of making a very stupid (and not really very funny) racial joke. Though I have not read the defender article, I have seen the original block captain email and the post on the CHPN website, and nowhere was race ever mentioned. A comment was made as to the results of economic inequalities. Making an “Imus” reference brings race into the mix. Not only is this imflamatory, it is terribly irresponsible journalism. It does a diservice to the community, to the readers , and most definitely to Ms. Daab.
The Defender, not CHPN, made the initial Imus reference.
To “Hmmmmm”,
One or even two studies does not necessarily mean that “no” displacement occurs.
I am curious though to read these studies and their methodologies and their limitations. Especially to see how generalizable the results are.
I am willing to reconsider my understanding if the weight of the evidence suggests otherwise. But again, one or two studies will not sway me. I am in a field where a prominent researcher received a great deal of media and political interest after publishing/promoting a study (which subsequently led to widespread legal changes) only to have four replication studies finding no effect.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t trying to claim that gentrification is all bad. Just that with any social change there is going to some negative effects. Often they are hidden or unintended.
I want to read this article in the Defender, but can’t find it on the site. Can anyone tell me where I can get it – or perhaps have a hotlink.. ? Thanks.
The Defender has never had all of their articles online; this appears to be one that didn’t make the cut.
John and CHPN readers,
Following is the story you’re referencing that appears in the May/June issue of The Richmond Defender. (John, you know that, as editor, I take responsibility for all articles in the newspaper.) I’m posting it here so this discussion can focus on facts, not conjecture. A few comments of my own follow.
—–
Church Hill gentrifier says, it’s hard living around poor people.
Ever wonder what your neighbors say about you when you’re not around?
Well, wonder no more, if you live in Church Hill and one of your neighbors is the person who runs the Church Hill Block Captain Program.
The Defender recently came into possession of an e-mail sent to all Block Captains back on Aug 1, 2006:
“It’s hard living around poor people and drug addicts,†the e-mail stated in part, “they will always steal us blind and assault our lives and there is not a lot we can do about it accept (sic) make it harder, and even then, they rip us off!
“I know I am offending some by saying this, but that’s the reality in this town. I tell you, being back in the Midwest really gave me a sense of how shitty our neighborhood can be.â€
Don Imus should be so bold.
The author is Laura Daab, who has also been leading the effort to get the Church Hill neighborhoods north of East Broad Street declared a Historic District. If successful, homeowners will have new – and usually more expensive – guidelines they’ll have to follow when fixing up their properties.
Here’s another of this gentrifier’s insightful sociological observations, this time posted on the online Church Hill People’s News of Aug. 28, 2006:
“Most white folks in the neighborhood are from middle-class backgrounds and lived in the suburbs growing up,†Daab wrote. “Violent, intrusive crimes are not something they’re accustomed to, and I dare say will not put up with for long before they pack up and move on.â€
Of course, not all those who might move would be missed.
Daab did not return a call to her Church Hill home from a reporter working on this story.
—–
We thought the remarks by Ms. Daab were newsworthy because (1) she heads up a block captain program that affects the lives of many Church Hill residents, both middle-class and working poor. (2) she has been pushing the issue of creating a new historic district in the area and (3) her remarks are similar to many comments we have heard over recent years as the neighborhood “changes.”
I’m personally very familiar with the Church Hill area. The Richmond Defender is published by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, a community organization that began in Church Hill in the summer of 2002 and continues to hold its bi-weekly meetings there Church Hill. From November 2000 till April 2006 I lived across the street from Chimborazo Elementary. When I was a staff writer for the Richmond Free Press, I wrote many articles about Chimborazo Playground, one of which resulted in the reconstruction of the playground house. We have close to 50 distribution sites in the area. We’ve delivered more than 1,000 free blankets to low-income people in Church Hill who were facing high home heating bills. And we get regular feedback from our Church Hill readers on the issues raised in this story.
Our newspaper isn’t opposed on principle to people with means moving into older neighborhoods, buying property and fixing it up. The issue is that affordable housing is being taken off the market.
That process is obviously taking place in Church Hill. In the five years I lived in the Chimborazo neighborhood, eight households left my block. Most were low-income renters, replaced by homeowners. I watched that process first-hand. (Maybe I should write a nice academic paper on it that can be quoted in this debate.)
There are advantages to the city in this process, in the sense of increased taxes paid and fewer demands on social services. That’s why the politicians encourage it. But for the people affected — most of whom work hard for a living but are not paid enough to maintain a middle-class lifestyle — it’s the same thing as being driven out.
Now, add to that process an attitude that regards poor people as the enemy, and you’ve got a class tension. Throw in the issue of race — as Ms. Daab does in her comment in CHPN — and you’ve got a very volatile mix.
Is there an answer? Sure. The nonprofit Boaz and Ruth up in Highland Park has been buying up and rehabbing houses, starting businesses and revitalizing local business associations. But they do as a nonprofit, interracial community effort. And they pay particular attention to helping older residents in the area stay in their homes.
If there is a similar effort under way in Church Hill, I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard of it. And we’d be more than happy to do a story on it.
Further, we’d be more than happy to work with folks in the Church Hill neighborhood to start a face-to-face dialogue about these issues. Maybe a community forum. Or, more modestly, a moderator-facilitated discussion.
What bothers me about many of these posts is the defensiveness that often morphs into class and racial arrogance. (And please, when you’re talking about middle-class homesteaders and low-income longtime residents, you’re talking race and class, even if your language isn’t as crude as that used by Ms. Daab.)
If you’re relatively new to the neighborhood, and sincerely have the interests of all your neighbors in mind, you might want to think about ways to reach out and bridge the divides of race and class. Not as missionaries — we have too many of those — but simply as people who appreciate the neighborhood and are concerned that everyone there can live a decent life in peace and harmony with their neighbors.
Frankly, it shouldn’t have taken the Defender to point out Ms. Daab’s remarks. There should have been a firestorm of protest by the very people she seek to speak for. That would have made a contribution.
I hope if you’re going to disagree with our newspaper’s running this article, fine. But I challenge each and every one of you to also take up the issues involved here — the removal of low-income housing from the neighborhood. The tensions caused by race and class, which exist everywhere in our society but which are forced into sharp relief when an older, low-income neighborhood sees a large influx of new residents with more resources.
There are consequences on how these issues are approached. You can live as neighbors in a harmonious neighborhood, as I did for five years, or as settlers protected only by your dogs, security systems, block captains and the police.
There is a choice.
in the spirit of dialogue
Phil Wilayto
Editor
The Richmond Defender
I don’t think many in the neighborhood have any issues living in a neighborhood –shoulder to shoulder– with low income residents. We appreciate the diversity of the neighborhood. I do believe that Laura Daab’s comments were taken out of context. I think we all would agree that we don’t appreciate the lawless behavior that seems to prevail with some low income folks in the neighborhood. Frankly, I could care less if these social outcasts are being forced from the neighborhood. That couldn’t happen soon enough for me. Not all poor folks live a life of crime. The Church Hill area has suffered for years due to the over-concentration of low income housing. There is still plenty of affordable housing in the area. The Richmond Region should share some of the burden that these folks place on a neighborhood. The gentrification of Church Hill has and will make this happen. Finally, Chesterfield and Henrico will have to deal with the issues that have historically plagued the inner city. Many of the older suburban developments surrounding the city limits have become an enclave of the poor and underpriviledged in recent years. These folks will still have a place to live–it just won’t be concentrated in one area.
Keep going Laura….. most of us support all of your hard work and dedication to help this area turn the corner.
“You can live as neighbors in a harmonious neighborhood, as I did for five years, or as settlers protected only by your dogs, security systems, block captains and the police.
There is a choice.”
hmmm. in an ideal world, i think this is a fine idea. we all want a harmonious existence with our neighbors. i don’t think there’s a soul who doesn’t want CH to be a better place for ALL – black, white, lower income, higher income.
but when you speak of residents protecting themselves with dogs, security systems and the police, you are inferring protection from crime. and if we are talking about criminal activity in CH, i’d like to ask the CH folks who have been awakened by gun shots outside their doors or have been broken into and robbed how “harmonious” they feel. there is nothing wrong with wanting to protect your family and home from activity that we KNOW takes place in our neighborhood. perhaps you’d suggest we invite a drug dealer or thief in for lemonade and talk it out?
Fact is, block captain programs, town watches, community policing, etc. are all processes that facilitate community building. My guess, though, is that these are not the substantive issues that excite Phil. He would probably prefer food co-ops, or some Saul Alinsky type of community building. Anyway, not to fan any flames because I sort of agree with both parties a wee bit. It is truly difficult to live around folks who deal drugs and shoot each other; and this neighborhood could use a better dialog for sustaining its economic and racial diversity. After all, it is why most of us self selected into this neighborhood in the first place. Linked find a report done by HUD in its journal of Cityscape on the topic (with case studies) on multi-racial city neighborhoods around the country. http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol4num2/current.html
Reading how other neighborhoods have faced the dual threats of gentrification and racial block busting might inform a more educated dialog here.
The next of the Mayor’s 7th District Roundtable Meeting will be next Monday, May 21 at EDI @6PM. As was decided at the previous meeting, the topic of the meeting will be timely and relevant to this discussion.
From an email from Tory Edmonds announcing the meeting:
John M, will you give me a call please 🙂
“Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is a phenomenon in which low-cost, physically deteriorated neighborhoods undergo physical renovation and an increase in property values, along with an influx of wealthier residents who may displace the prior residents”
And how is this bad for society?
Is the goal to set aside run down areas of the city that cannot be improved so that we can all feel more P.C.?
The statement of Ms Daab was stupid. But for the defender to take one stupid person’s comment and expand it to indict the revitalization of a whole city is ignorant.
“And please, when you’re talking about middle-class homesteaders and low-income longtime residents, you’re talking race and class”… No Mr. Wilyato I am not. You have brought the issue of race into this discussion with me, not I. Had these areas of the city not lapsed into the “wild wild west” I would not be considered a homesteader by you.
Who’s fault is that? Mine? So I should not take pride in the fact that a bunch of young “middle-classers” came in, spent money and time on a section of town to make it safe and liveable? If I had such a problem with race and class why would I move to Church Hill?
I suggest it is you that stops looking down from the soapbox and discuss what we, “the gentrifiers”, really feel… because my dogs, alarms, and money will make sure that this change is irreversable.
I stand by my below rant from the “plenty of ‘hood left” thread.
I don’t give a rat’s ass what color my neighbor is. Nor do I give a damn what they do for a living. I do care, however, whether my neighbor contributes or detracts from the sense of community in my neighborhood. There are endless activities that could be characterized as either contributing or detracting, of course, and most people exhibit elements of both. But, under any reasonable defintion, anyone earnestly trying to rid the neighborhood of crime is contributing. Anyone who is commiting crime or facilitating it is detracting. That’s not a race issue, it is a quality of life issue.
As I have said before, I refuse to feel guilty for increasing my neighbor’s property values. I also refuse to feel guilty for protecting myself and my family with (trained and properly fenced) dogs and a security system, especially since some low-life deadbeat m*********er broke into my house and robbed us. And the suggestion that my defensiveness of my family and my home is somehow racially motivated is one of the most idiotic and self-referential things I’ve ever heard.
The improvement of a community is not a zero sum game. Everyone can benefit from it. I don’t think it is being “racial[ly] arrogant” to think that existing residents of a blighted or transitional neighborhood should welcome those that are intent on improving the community. It’s simply rational.
well said, archie.
Lance Freeman has done many studies and has published at least one book on ‘gentrification’:
http://www.urban.columbia.edu/freeman/
Dont let the comments about the Defender bother you. Its just a simple ploy to enrage residents on the Hill. Any angry responses will be used as fodder for another “attack” article.
Laura has been a kind and committed volunteer to improve the neighborhood in which we all live.
Remember all the times the Defender cooked breakfast for the neighborhood, before we cleaned up all the abandoned junk on the streets and allyways.Remember when the Defender organized public meetings to show elderly residents how to file for a cap on their property taxes.
Oh wait? That was Laura.
Mr. Wilayto’s propaganda piece, “Gentrifier says it’s hard living around
poor people†has used a very valuable member of our community as a tool to
exploit the very people he claims to advocate by quoting out of context,
twisting meanings and spreading hatred and fear-mongering – all for the
cause of “the people,†“equality†and “diversity.â€
I ditto Paul’s remarks. Where were you those 6 years on the Hill when Laura
was riding garbage trucks, cleaning up alleys, meeting with residents of all
races and income levels to improve the neighborhood, attending community
meetings, writing in advocacy of renters to the RTD and the Rev. McQuinn,
and organizing a really effective neighborhood watch block captain program?
You want more? O.K. She’s organized fundraisers that give money to
important causes in our community and gives regularly to the Food Bank.
Last summer, there were 60 house break-ins, numerous assaults and many car
thefts. A really busy summer for the neighborhood watch block captain
program and the CH Crime Watch. Oh yeah, that’s right you weren’t here then.
You were here when it was “harmonious.†Well, one of your out-of context
quotes that was embedded in the Block Captain email was a letter to console
a woman who had just had her house ransacked. If you read the whole email
you’d see that Laura also talks about how she and her husband have been
victims of crime in CH many times. But, she tells the woman to hang in
there and stay put because of the “friends and neighbors that she loves.â€
The other quote is her repeating what her neighbors had been calling her and
telling her about – yes, the white middle-class ones.
Write an academic article about gentrification? You can’t even write a
decent newspaper – if that’s what you can call it. YOU are the person who
moved out of CH that won’t be missed. Go terrorize some other fine citizen
and neighborhood.
You claim to want a dialogue, and yet when a dialogue was taking place in this venue and through emails, you chose to take a very small portion of that dialogue, that seemed to offend your sensibilties,, print it out of context, to further your persoanl political agenda.
I also question the motives of the party who made you aware of this original email. Why would this person hang on to a 9 month old email, just to have it released as the North of Broad Historic district initiative is about to be voted on.
Mr. Wilayto,you are “defending” no one. You are engaging in the tawdry, sensationalist journalism we see way too much of these days.
Instead of actually articulating thier position, the defamer, fell the lowest common denominator…cry race…now they can throw in the evil-du-jour personna of Imus.
Fine, Mr. Wilayto, you may call me anything you wish. I have neither time nor patience to argue with you. You are too close minded… you are the one that sees color… you see boundries…you find excuses of why you can’t… we find ways to do. You envy us and probably hate yourself for it. We are change, change that is good. You are status quo. The same status quo that has worked sooooo well for the City of Richmond.
By the root of your argument you want to keep the poor in squallor. Have you thought where the additional tax dollars created by our improvements go? Surely not to me, because I am your typical middle class, I don’t need the nanny-state, stand on my own, I wont make excuses, Joe Taxpayer.
I would like to say that each time I step out of my door, onto my clean steets, and safe neighborhood I will think of you in contempt but that is not true. You aren’t worth the energy. I will just enjoy the view.
I don’t know about the canonizational tone of some of these emails in full support of Ms. Daab. Although CHPN has since pulled the posts, I once had to be a ‘defender’ against her once calling me a nazi.
Ann:
You are mistaken. I was responding to a woman named Anne, who called ME a neo-nazi, and you had posted on the same thread as Ann. I have NEVER called anyone a Nazi. I responded to you instead of her about the Anne’s insulting reference and I apologized directly to you having mistaken you for her. John M can verify this.
I too remember Ms Daab and the others on her task force (myself included) being referred as neo Nazis. I am on this site with some regularity, and that is the only time I remember seeing that word tossed about
I have refrained from entering this frenzy, but now I feel compleeled to defend my wife. Ann, I remember the post that referred to Laura and her group as Neo Nazis, and I also remember how terribly upset she was that ANYONE would use this term. I would suggest you be able to back up such a slanderous claim before you start posting it. I have no doubt your memory on this matter is , clouded,selective, or perhaps just wrong
rubberneck remembers correctly: There was a one-time commenter that referred to the task force as a new-nazi organization. That comment, and a latter reference to that comment, are the only 2 previous times that this has come up.
The comment by Anne (with an e) where she said, in reference to a Church Hill North O&H presentation, that “This sounds like some kind of Neo-Nazi organization where opposing views are not allowed as was the case at this meeting” can be seen here. There were 2 or 3 comments after that, in the same discussion, between Ann (no E) and Laura that were basically confused and mistaken identity, and I deleted them and then locked that thread.
A latter reference by Laura to this name calling by Anne (with and E) can be seen here.
Hey Archie Bunker!!!
How do you feel about High on the Hog?????
Old
First of all let me state that I am not against the preservation of the historic integrity of our neighborhood or against any historic designation, nor am I pro crime or trying to make people feel at all guilty for trying to improve the neighborhood.
However, I have been wondering when Ms Daab’s thoughts and rantings would get some public attention. It seems that while she has been “doing good”, she has also done her share of damage along the way. I can relate a personal experience- and I am neither poor nor a drug addict, and I am against crime and for historic preservation. I have renovated several houses here in the neighborhood, and take pride in the fact that I was involved in reducing crime, beautifying the area, and preserving the historic character of the neighborhood. I was the Church Hill Association Block Captain for the 2100 and 2200 Blocks of East Leigh Street for several years.
In early September 2006 (remember the crime spree) I offered to help with the CHA Block Captain Program by recruiting new Block Captains and by assisting with setting up a training for Block Captains by the City Police. I checked with Ms. Daab every step of the way. After putting out my time and energy to assist the program, Ms. Daab suddenly went off the deep end and stated the I was no longer recognized as a CHA Block Captain. My name disappeared from the CHA Block Captain List and I no longer received any more information from Ms. Daab. She also told me not to contact her nor to attend any meetings. The 2100 and 2200 Block of East Leigh Street were left without a CHA Block Captain. I was given no reason for her action. I was somewhat concerned that the implication would be that I had done something illegal or unethical to deserve being booted from the Church Hill Association Block Captain Program.
While I was angry about being booted out as a Block Captain, I wanted to handle the situation in an appropriate manner.
I contacted the Board of the CHA to express my concerns and ask for an explanation of why I was no longer recognized as a CHA Block Captain. It took a while to respond, but I met with the President over lunch and explained the situation. He stated that he understood my position and would get back with me. That was my first and last official contact with the CHA. However The CHA did discuss the issue and determined that the Block Captain Program was indeed a CHA program. They then established an oversight committee to assist with the program. Soon thereafter, at a membership meeting, the Block Captain Program was moved from under the CHA and was placed under total control of Ms. Daab. However, despite no control or oversight of the program, the CHA was requested to and still funds the Laura Daab Block Captain Program. As I have experienced personally, she alone determines who will be a Church Hill Block Captain. I have yet to receive an explanation from either the CHA or Ms. Daab of why I was kicked out of the Block Captain Program.
I have been a good citizen of Church Hill/Union Hill and worked hard to make the neighborhood better. I have been a long time member of the Church Hill Association and a founding member of the Union Hill Civic Association and Friends of Jefferson Park. I have helped organize clean-ups and neighborhood groups. I was a good Block Captain.
Just like anyone else, I think I deserve an explanation as to why I was kicked out of the CHA Block Captain program.
I dont understand why the CHA has never responded to my request for an expanation. I also have had a hard time understanding why Ms. Daab would treat a volunteer the way she treated me. But after reading her rants and talking to others who have received similar treatment, you can begin to see her true colors. Sure she has done some good things, but you have to wonder at what cost to the neighborhood. Isn’t possible to build a safe, clean, beautiful, historic neighborhood without disrespecting people with different points of view and insulting poor people and others with different backgrounds? The bottom line is that we will all be safer and better off if we work to build a diverse community based on respect for eachother. Labeling poor people as criminals and thieves is just divisive and irresponsible. And when all of this comes from the “leader” of the Block Captain Program and the Historic District designation , it can only do harm to both efforts.
33 responses to “the defender attacks” WOW!!! i never thought “the defender” had that kind of credibility, seems like a lot of folks have got their panties all twisted. i suggest you trash this topic and get yo-self a vodka tonic.
Now might be the appropriate time for this link:
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/18/043121.php
From the CHA Board Minutes December 2006: Old Business: A decision was needed regarding the Block Captain status of being a CHA entity or belonging to Laura Daab. It was determined by documentation presented by Richard that the Block Captain program by virtue of name association, funds received and publicity had been inextricably linked to CHA and the vote was nearly unanimous to this finding. It was then recommended that Laura Daab continue to lead the Block Captain Program BCP, but utilize a committee approach (with 5 – 7 members), to make decisions and administer operations under her lead.
Unanimously everyone present for the Board meeting – positively recognized her extensive and untiring devotion, her development, her leadership and the training that she had been providing in the past and hoped that she would continue to do so in the future, (under the recommended committee format – as voted on by the Board).
One might ask why the CHA Board had decided to establish an oversight committee for their Block Captain Program?
One might also ask why the Block Captain Program was removed from under the CHA after that, yet still receives CHA funding?
I’m gonna need some cheese to go with all the “whinin’ crackas”
I do declare! I honestly tried not to respond to so many “gripes” about the block captain program which deserves much praise. But, I couldn’t resist.
Laura Dabb is doing a good job dealing with a remarkable assortment of personalities, including Mr. Conkle who does need to know why the CHA has never responded to why he was “ousted as a block captain.”
I remember about 20 years ago when I was teaching at a rural high school outside Richmond (30 miles away) and a Hell of a drive each day, when the students found out I lived in Church Hill. “Aren’t you afraid?” they all asked. My reply to those students was: “No, because we work together on the Hill.” That was true then, but now there is a new “ilk” which has come because it safer.
No doubt robberies and break-ins still occur, but Laura and Shelby Long, and the Church Hill Association work to make Church Hill what it is and was. It is unique!
Many of the pioneers are gone, but Church Hill is still one of the best areas in Richmond, or for that matter any other place in this country, to live. It has not become or gotten to be that way because of complaining about being rejected by the Block Captain Program. Go to a meeting and ask “WHY!???!” Don’t just sulk like a “ninny and sit in the shadows. We need willing, positive, souls! Perhaps you could do another chore.
Sincerely,
Lu Motley
It appears from the various posts on this site that Bill has neither sat in the shadows nor sulked. Airing a grievance in a public forum like this is hardly sitting in the shadows. Trying to invigorate the program on his side of the neighborhood (where it has languished) is hardly sulking.
It is my experience that the Church Hill Association, whether on purpose or not, creates an atmosphere of exclusivity. Your post only underscores that. Who would feel welcome after just being called a “ninny”? Bill merely articulated his side of an already public disagreement – and he never name-called.
To all sides: these vitriolic personal attacks sure do discourage this Hill Newcomer (who loves the neighborhood and has no intention of leaving) and probably many others from getting involved in any of your various causes.
Amen Hill newcomer. Amen.
No one called anyone a “NINNY!” To use
“like” is just to compare. It suggests, and frankly if the damned shoe fits, for God’s sake grow up!
OLD
This seems to have innevitably devolved into a kind of testy back&forth that could really just go on&on so I’m locking comments on this post. Let me know if you *really* *really* have to say just one more thing on this.