DROPPINGS FROM THE BARNICLES
Volume VII, Number 3, March, 2008
THE END OF A GENERATION
Aunt Alma died this past week and with her my Dad’s generation. Alma was married to Uncle Al, Dad’s younger brother. Grandpa Robert Barnicle was born on March 13th 1861 in the village of Arreton on the Isle of White. Alma died on St. Patrick’s Day, 148 years and four days later. I tell Grandpa’s story in www.BarnicleFarms.com > WHAT A LIFE … > Chapter I, pages 21-23. It is a good story. I won’t repeat it but has to do with my last name and my first name also.
Grandpa was orphaned and apprenticed to a saddle maker who he didn’t like. He ran away and at 18 he signed onto a French cargo ship on which he crewed for the next 12 years. He jumped ship in New York and was hitchhiking around the world when he met Grandma Mae in Dubuque, Iowa. They were married on March 31st, 1891 and moved to St. Louis in 1892 where he opened a saddle and harness business and raised nine children.
Robert was baptized Anglican and became a Catholic when he married Mae but his religion was anchored in the works of Charles Dickens. He must have read most of Dickens’ 30 novels and 28 short stories in the years he sailed the world. He was a big man but a very gentle man. Dad told me he never remembered him even raising his voice to one of his children. Every night Grandpa would sit in the hallway between the two dorm rooms (five girls in the room to the right and four boys in the room to the left) on the third floor of their house on Julian Avenue and read Dickens to his kids until they fell asleep. All nine have Dickens names. Dad is named Edwin after Edwin Drood from the book The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Although I have gone all my life under my second name, I’m a junior, hence an Edwin. My sister is named after our aunt Dorrit. Dickens wrote a book called Little Dorrit.
I read Great Expectations, my first Dickens novel, in high school,. I remember Pip’s story as if I heard it yesterday. Ten Dickens novels later I am now reading Our Mutual Friend. It takes time but it’s worth the effort. Listen to his description of Reginald Wilfer, a poor clerk:
“So poor a clerk, though having a limited salary and an unlimited family, that he had never yet attained the modest object of his ambitioned: which was, to wear a complete new suit of clothes, hat and boots included, at one time. His black hat was brown before he could afford a coat, his pantaloons were white at the seams and knees before he could buy a pair of boots, his boots had worn out before he could treat himself to new pantaloons, and by the time he worked himself around to the hat again, that shining modern article roofed an ancient ruin of various periods.”
WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND WHAT IS YOUR STORY?
Howard Zinn’s book, A PEOPLES HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES tells the story of our great country not from academic research or from the proclamations of our politicians or from the books and diaries of our generals and captains of industry. Rather, Zinn wrote his book based on information he gathered from soldiers in the trenches, workers in the factories and the stories passed on from generation to generation in neighborhood community gatherings. It is a wonderful book which should be read by everyone who cares about our country. While reading Zinn’s book I came to a deeper appreciation for my book WHAT A LIFE, WITH MY WIFE, AND MY NEIGHBORS TOO and these monthly DROPPINGS FROM THE BARNICLES. This is the kind of material Zinn uses for his people’s history.
The Internet has opened the door to anyone to write their name and their story in the people’s history. I send these DROPPINGS to my blog (see below) for comments from the world.
Aunt Alma was buried in a quiet ceremony. The family is planning a memorial for Alma and with her passing the generation of Barnicles we now remember in blessing. I hope this DROPPING will be around for future Barnicles to read so their memory stays alive.
Maybe someone will suggest we read a passage from Dickens as part of our memorial.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Droppings from the Barnicles, February 2008
MY WIFE IS LORRAINE SO WHY AM I LIVING IN MARY’S HOME?
Lorraine and I didn’t grow up in Mary’s Home, Missouri but we were lucky enough to have found it. Mary’s Home is an unincorporated village on a bend in the Osage River 30 miles south of Jefferson City. No one can say how many live in Mary’s Home. The number is not important. It only measures the human capital. It is the social capital which is most important and best predictor of the quality of a neighborhood and its organizations.
To taste what it feels like to live in a wealthy neighborhood community come to the Corner Market for breakfast some morning between 6:30 and 8:00. If you aren’t invited into the conversation listen in. If you can get a word in edgewise ask a question. Any one of the breakfast club members or Sandra, the owner, or one of her staff will be more than happy to answer your questions but be warned, you may be invited to join in and stay longer than you planned. Whatever happens, you will feel welcome. After breakfast walk around the 100 year old store. Go upstairs onto the balcony. Be warned again you might be tempted to spend more money than you had planned to spend for breakfast.
Before you jump in your car take a quick walk through downtown Mary’s Home. Judy, the manager of our credit union, will be happy to tell you about its 40 year history serving the community. Are you impressed there is a $2M credit union in a tiny place like this? Wait till you see our full service bank at the end of the block. On the way, pay a visit to our 100 year old church. The door is open. Before you reach the Bank of Mary’s Home at the end of the block you pass by our K to 8 school and the old community hall with a gymnasium and bowling alley. The new community center just opened to take care of the expanding number of students.
Old Ten Mile Road starts and ends at the Corner Market. In those 10 miles you will pass more than 20 home based businesses. Some are visible like our farm and Benny Bax Auto Repair. Most hidden in and behind the homes along the road. All are the engines of our healthy economy. Barnicle Farms is a small part of the Mary’s Home neighborhood economy. We rent out our land to a neighbor’s cows. We export Barnicle Farms Pickled Black Walnuts (PBW) to customers in six states. Lorraine sells scarves and quilts at the Missouri Products stall in the Corner Market.
NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTIONS ARE THE MISSING LINK
If we understand and accept the premise there are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector it becomes obvious neighborhood institutions are the missing link in the development puzzle. Economics is the science of making choices and the choices we make have to do with our values. A neighborhood’s economy can be measured in money but a more important measure is the relationships which build a neighborhood community. Social capital is the true measure of a neighborhood’s wealth. As the ad says; “for everything else there’s MasterCard.”
OIKOS, our other business on Old Ten Mile Road is dedicated to building a healthy national economy, one wealthy neighborhood at a time. In 1966 I discovered an explosive power hidden in the village of Kikai Kelaki, a community united around a common object of their love, their neighborhood. The success of the Kikai Kelaki Credit Union and the explosion of the credit union movement throughout Cameroon are well documented. You can read about it in my book, www.Barniclefarms.com > WHAT A LIFE… Joseph Nkey’s question; “Can I pay for my son’s school fees with fire wood?” (Page 58) started a conversation which grew over the next 42 years into a $600,000 (US) village credit union and spawned a $65M (US) credit union league which makes 80% of the micro loans in the Cameroon. (Google “Cameroon Credit Unions”)
The story of Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank is a good story. Credit for Kikai Kelaki is just as good if not better. If you are looking for speaker with a good story send me an email or give me a call. I am a good story teller and I tell the story behind the story.
Lorraine and I didn’t grow up in Mary’s Home, Missouri but we were lucky enough to have found it. Mary’s Home is an unincorporated village on a bend in the Osage River 30 miles south of Jefferson City. No one can say how many live in Mary’s Home. The number is not important. It only measures the human capital. It is the social capital which is most important and best predictor of the quality of a neighborhood and its organizations.
To taste what it feels like to live in a wealthy neighborhood community come to the Corner Market for breakfast some morning between 6:30 and 8:00. If you aren’t invited into the conversation listen in. If you can get a word in edgewise ask a question. Any one of the breakfast club members or Sandra, the owner, or one of her staff will be more than happy to answer your questions but be warned, you may be invited to join in and stay longer than you planned. Whatever happens, you will feel welcome. After breakfast walk around the 100 year old store. Go upstairs onto the balcony. Be warned again you might be tempted to spend more money than you had planned to spend for breakfast.
Before you jump in your car take a quick walk through downtown Mary’s Home. Judy, the manager of our credit union, will be happy to tell you about its 40 year history serving the community. Are you impressed there is a $2M credit union in a tiny place like this? Wait till you see our full service bank at the end of the block. On the way, pay a visit to our 100 year old church. The door is open. Before you reach the Bank of Mary’s Home at the end of the block you pass by our K to 8 school and the old community hall with a gymnasium and bowling alley. The new community center just opened to take care of the expanding number of students.
Old Ten Mile Road starts and ends at the Corner Market. In those 10 miles you will pass more than 20 home based businesses. Some are visible like our farm and Benny Bax Auto Repair. Most hidden in and behind the homes along the road. All are the engines of our healthy economy. Barnicle Farms is a small part of the Mary’s Home neighborhood economy. We rent out our land to a neighbor’s cows. We export Barnicle Farms Pickled Black Walnuts (PBW) to customers in six states. Lorraine sells scarves and quilts at the Missouri Products stall in the Corner Market.
NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTIONS ARE THE MISSING LINK
If we understand and accept the premise there are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector it becomes obvious neighborhood institutions are the missing link in the development puzzle. Economics is the science of making choices and the choices we make have to do with our values. A neighborhood’s economy can be measured in money but a more important measure is the relationships which build a neighborhood community. Social capital is the true measure of a neighborhood’s wealth. As the ad says; “for everything else there’s MasterCard.”
OIKOS, our other business on Old Ten Mile Road is dedicated to building a healthy national economy, one wealthy neighborhood at a time. In 1966 I discovered an explosive power hidden in the village of Kikai Kelaki, a community united around a common object of their love, their neighborhood. The success of the Kikai Kelaki Credit Union and the explosion of the credit union movement throughout Cameroon are well documented. You can read about it in my book, www.Barniclefarms.com > WHAT A LIFE… Joseph Nkey’s question; “Can I pay for my son’s school fees with fire wood?” (Page 58) started a conversation which grew over the next 42 years into a $600,000 (US) village credit union and spawned a $65M (US) credit union league which makes 80% of the micro loans in the Cameroon. (Google “Cameroon Credit Unions”)
The story of Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank is a good story. Credit for Kikai Kelaki is just as good if not better. If you are looking for speaker with a good story send me an email or give me a call. I am a good story teller and I tell the story behind the story.
Monday, August 20, 2007
“Imagine a country the size of France suddenly sprouting in the middle of the United States. … Think how curious we all would be, how interested to discover who these people are and where they have come from. …
Now imagine something different. There is a new country, just as big and just as rich in culture, but no one sees it. … This country is decidedly American. And unlike the first image, it is emerging not only in the cornfields of Iowa but on the streets of the Bronx, all across the country from Seattle to St. Augustine.”[1]
Doctors Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson did exhaustive research over 13 years to conclude there are three predominant subcultures in the United States. Their numerous studies, interviews and focus groups are documented in their book, THE CULTURAL CREATIVES. The Moderns, “about 48 percent of the American population”, believes “in a technological economy that is reshaping the face of the globe.” The remainder of the country is almost equally divided into the other two groups. Traditionalists make up “about 24.5 percent of the US population or 48 million adults”. For the last 100 years much has been written about the Traditionalists and the Modernists. Almost nothing has been said about a third subculture until Ray and Anderson introduce us to the Cultural Creatives.
Ray and Anderson have a hard time fitting 50 million Cultural Creatives into a box. Except for the fact that 60% are women; the Cultural Creatives do not display any other demographic pattern. They are best identified by their values and beliefs. Ray and Anderson list 23 values/beliefs where Cultural Creatives have highest agreement. Their highest agreement, 93%, is with the statement “Want to rebuild neighborhood/communities”.
A fork in the road
The Industrial Age for all the good it has done has run out of gas. Continuing to do what we have been doing for the last 200 years and expecting a different result is madness. Our nation has reached a fork in the road and has three choices, take one road, take the other or turn back. Now picture two men and two women approaching a fork in a road. Each represents 50 million adults between the ages of 18 and 65. One is a traditionalist, two are modernists and the fourth is a cultural creative. The traditionalist wants to turn back to a world where father knows best and where he can afford a home and support his family comfortably on his secure 40 hour a week job. He is confused because he is beginning to understand that turning back is no longer an option. He feels betrayed by his government that is doing nothing to protect his job from going overseas and his family from run away housing, education and health care costs.
The two modernists are a young married generation “X” couple with high tech jobs. They are living in a $300,000 house in the suburbs. They are confident modern technology will solve our social and economic problems. There is no hesitation in their decision to go forward on the information age superhighway.
The cultural creative also wants to go forward but throughout her youth and as a young adult she had been taught to adapt and not to question the way things are. Then several years ago she became involved in a neighborhood issue. A developer was planning a project which would bring harm to her community. That was the beginning of an uncharted personal journey into areas she had never been before. With some fear and unease as she began asking questions she had never thought of or dared to ask.
Culturally creative women in the leadership
As we declare 2007 to be the year of the neighborhood and launch The Center for the Study of Neighborhood Economics it should be obvious the woman, the cultural creative at the fork in the road, should be the focus of our attention. Women, in my opinion, are much more likely to be attracted to neighborhood economic development plans. They, most often, manage the household and make the economic decisions. Women are looking for long term change and will be best able to ignore the barrage of advertisements offering short term fixes. Women have been engaged in a 100 year battle for equal rights. Women have taken leadership in demanding our male dominated government end the war in Iraq. They know what it is to set long range worth-while goals and they know the joy of overcoming strong opposition and achieving their goals.
We do not exclude anyone from joining us in our plan “to build a healthy national economy, one wealthy neighborhood at a time.” Everyone is welcome, Traditionalists, Modernists, Cultural Creatives, men and women. But the odds are stacked against anyone who believes long term systematic efforts are needed to solve our current social and economic problems and we need culturally creative women in leadership to overcome these odds.
[1] Paul M. Ray, Ph.D. & Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D., THE CULTURAL CREATIVES, Three Rivers Press, Random House, New York, NY, 2000.
Now imagine something different. There is a new country, just as big and just as rich in culture, but no one sees it. … This country is decidedly American. And unlike the first image, it is emerging not only in the cornfields of Iowa but on the streets of the Bronx, all across the country from Seattle to St. Augustine.”[1]
Doctors Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson did exhaustive research over 13 years to conclude there are three predominant subcultures in the United States. Their numerous studies, interviews and focus groups are documented in their book, THE CULTURAL CREATIVES. The Moderns, “about 48 percent of the American population”, believes “in a technological economy that is reshaping the face of the globe.” The remainder of the country is almost equally divided into the other two groups. Traditionalists make up “about 24.5 percent of the US population or 48 million adults”. For the last 100 years much has been written about the Traditionalists and the Modernists. Almost nothing has been said about a third subculture until Ray and Anderson introduce us to the Cultural Creatives.
Ray and Anderson have a hard time fitting 50 million Cultural Creatives into a box. Except for the fact that 60% are women; the Cultural Creatives do not display any other demographic pattern. They are best identified by their values and beliefs. Ray and Anderson list 23 values/beliefs where Cultural Creatives have highest agreement. Their highest agreement, 93%, is with the statement “Want to rebuild neighborhood/communities”.
A fork in the road
The Industrial Age for all the good it has done has run out of gas. Continuing to do what we have been doing for the last 200 years and expecting a different result is madness. Our nation has reached a fork in the road and has three choices, take one road, take the other or turn back. Now picture two men and two women approaching a fork in a road. Each represents 50 million adults between the ages of 18 and 65. One is a traditionalist, two are modernists and the fourth is a cultural creative. The traditionalist wants to turn back to a world where father knows best and where he can afford a home and support his family comfortably on his secure 40 hour a week job. He is confused because he is beginning to understand that turning back is no longer an option. He feels betrayed by his government that is doing nothing to protect his job from going overseas and his family from run away housing, education and health care costs.
The two modernists are a young married generation “X” couple with high tech jobs. They are living in a $300,000 house in the suburbs. They are confident modern technology will solve our social and economic problems. There is no hesitation in their decision to go forward on the information age superhighway.
The cultural creative also wants to go forward but throughout her youth and as a young adult she had been taught to adapt and not to question the way things are. Then several years ago she became involved in a neighborhood issue. A developer was planning a project which would bring harm to her community. That was the beginning of an uncharted personal journey into areas she had never been before. With some fear and unease as she began asking questions she had never thought of or dared to ask.
Culturally creative women in the leadership
As we declare 2007 to be the year of the neighborhood and launch The Center for the Study of Neighborhood Economics it should be obvious the woman, the cultural creative at the fork in the road, should be the focus of our attention. Women, in my opinion, are much more likely to be attracted to neighborhood economic development plans. They, most often, manage the household and make the economic decisions. Women are looking for long term change and will be best able to ignore the barrage of advertisements offering short term fixes. Women have been engaged in a 100 year battle for equal rights. Women have taken leadership in demanding our male dominated government end the war in Iraq. They know what it is to set long range worth-while goals and they know the joy of overcoming strong opposition and achieving their goals.
We do not exclude anyone from joining us in our plan “to build a healthy national economy, one wealthy neighborhood at a time.” Everyone is welcome, Traditionalists, Modernists, Cultural Creatives, men and women. But the odds are stacked against anyone who believes long term systematic efforts are needed to solve our current social and economic problems and we need culturally creative women in leadership to overcome these odds.
[1] Paul M. Ray, Ph.D. & Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D., THE CULTURAL CREATIVES, Three Rivers Press, Random House, New York, NY, 2000.
LETS NOT FORGET – WE ARE A NATION OF NEIGHBORHOODS
In his 1835 paper on Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: "In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine into associations is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all others."
Robert Putnam, a sociologist at Harvard University lists three kinds of assets in every community, Physical Capital, Human Capital and Social Capital. Social Capital is the "resources embedded in social relations among persons and organizations that facilitate cooperation and collaboration in communities."
Economics is the science of making choices and the choices we make have to do with our values. There are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector. There is a social sector because there is a set of values different from public and private sector values, the “priceless values” MasterCard talks about in its advertisements. These are the values which make up Putman’s Social Capital. These are the values embedded within the neighborhood associations de Tocqueville defined as the bedrock of our democracy.
The Industrial Age introduced a new system of organizing and educating society into nuclear families and generations of people who would fit into the home-to-work, work-to-home job routine. Large corporations dominated the private sector. Big government took power away from local government. The shift to big-is-better destroyed so much of the neighborhood associational life de Tocqueville admired. When government tried to address social problems with a war on poverty it made the problems worse. Its decision to partner with the corporate sector only exacerbated the problems. It became obvious neighborhood organizations were the missing link in the development puzzle. Public projects and public/private partnerships do not include neighborhoods.
Our inability to include the neighborhood in the problem solving process was never more apparent than it was in the way our nation addressed the 9/11 crisis. The first scenes on our TV screens were of airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers and then into the Pentagon, the two cathedrals of the corporate and government sectors. Our enemies understood the symbolism. What they misunderstood was what de Tocqueville recognized as the power behind the American Democracy. Before the smoke cleared our TV cameras turned to scene after scene of neighbors rushing to help their neighbors. Remember the expressions on their faces. America’s power is not in its towers it is in our ability to join together and form associations to address issues. The terrorists did not understand this. Unfortunately our government didn’t either. When our neighborhoods asked what they could do we were told to go shopping.
Timing is everything. We don’t learn until we get our backsides caught in a deep crack. In 1977 we were just getting over Watergate, a failed war in Viet Nam and riots in neighborhoods. People were looking when we introduced the Neighborhood Assistance Act. NAA is a tax credit to (1) corporations that invest in projects in (2) endangered neighborhoods which had been reviewed and approved by (3) local government. The law requires all three sectors to be involved in solving problems. We designed a simple two-page application which could be submitted any time. Letters of commitment were attached to the proposal. In the beginning all the investments went into neighborhood projects but as time went on the state bureaucracy turned the application into a multi-page and complicated exercise. Now most of the applications come from agencies with professional grant writers.
It’s been thirty years since we introduced NAA. We are again involved in another series of Watergates, another failed war and public protests. It is time to revisit NAA and enact similar laws. We need to redefine America in the way de Tocqueville saw our country in 1835, as a nation of neighborhood associations.
In his 1835 paper on Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: "In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine into associations is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all others."
Robert Putnam, a sociologist at Harvard University lists three kinds of assets in every community, Physical Capital, Human Capital and Social Capital. Social Capital is the "resources embedded in social relations among persons and organizations that facilitate cooperation and collaboration in communities."
Economics is the science of making choices and the choices we make have to do with our values. There are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector. There is a social sector because there is a set of values different from public and private sector values, the “priceless values” MasterCard talks about in its advertisements. These are the values which make up Putman’s Social Capital. These are the values embedded within the neighborhood associations de Tocqueville defined as the bedrock of our democracy.
The Industrial Age introduced a new system of organizing and educating society into nuclear families and generations of people who would fit into the home-to-work, work-to-home job routine. Large corporations dominated the private sector. Big government took power away from local government. The shift to big-is-better destroyed so much of the neighborhood associational life de Tocqueville admired. When government tried to address social problems with a war on poverty it made the problems worse. Its decision to partner with the corporate sector only exacerbated the problems. It became obvious neighborhood organizations were the missing link in the development puzzle. Public projects and public/private partnerships do not include neighborhoods.
Our inability to include the neighborhood in the problem solving process was never more apparent than it was in the way our nation addressed the 9/11 crisis. The first scenes on our TV screens were of airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers and then into the Pentagon, the two cathedrals of the corporate and government sectors. Our enemies understood the symbolism. What they misunderstood was what de Tocqueville recognized as the power behind the American Democracy. Before the smoke cleared our TV cameras turned to scene after scene of neighbors rushing to help their neighbors. Remember the expressions on their faces. America’s power is not in its towers it is in our ability to join together and form associations to address issues. The terrorists did not understand this. Unfortunately our government didn’t either. When our neighborhoods asked what they could do we were told to go shopping.
Timing is everything. We don’t learn until we get our backsides caught in a deep crack. In 1977 we were just getting over Watergate, a failed war in Viet Nam and riots in neighborhoods. People were looking when we introduced the Neighborhood Assistance Act. NAA is a tax credit to (1) corporations that invest in projects in (2) endangered neighborhoods which had been reviewed and approved by (3) local government. The law requires all three sectors to be involved in solving problems. We designed a simple two-page application which could be submitted any time. Letters of commitment were attached to the proposal. In the beginning all the investments went into neighborhood projects but as time went on the state bureaucracy turned the application into a multi-page and complicated exercise. Now most of the applications come from agencies with professional grant writers.
It’s been thirty years since we introduced NAA. We are again involved in another series of Watergates, another failed war and public protests. It is time to revisit NAA and enact similar laws. We need to redefine America in the way de Tocqueville saw our country in 1835, as a nation of neighborhood associations.
A JEFERSON CITY NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
In April 1994 a drug war broke out in the neighborhood adjoining "The Walls". Bullets landed in several of my constituent's yards. At our first neighborhood meeting each person in the room vented their frustrations about City Hall, the Police, the drug houses and do-nothing politicians. That remark hurt. I was their city councilman. I reminded the meeting we had a similar problem with drug houses in the 80s when I was on the council. We drove drug houses out of our ward. We know how to drive drug houses out. The question is how can we keep them out?
I answered the question by telling the Independence Plan for Neighborhood Councils (IPNC) story. In the early 70s Mayor Weeks of Independence and members of his city council were frustrated by the lack of citizen participation. Far too often, developers would present plans, staff would comment but nobody from “the public” would come to the hearing. Only after the contract was signed and the ground broken did a neighborhood association appear in opposition to the project. The mayor appointed a committee of citizens to study the problem. They recommended the IPNC which was adopted by the city. The plan established a Council of Neighborhoods which would work with the city in reviewing and approving all future development projects.
I shared IPNC materials with the neighborhood group, the Mayor, and City Council. I attempted to get the City of Jefferson to pass an ordinance similar to the one passed by the Independence City Council. The City Manager and several department heads visited Independence and were impressed with the IPNC but in the end it did not get city council support and the idea was dropped.
The IPNC materials encouraged the neighbors to organize the Central East Side Neighborhood Association. CESNA organized a "Neighborhood Watch" and a Block Party in an empty lot that had been the place where the shooting occurred. Four hundred turned out to take back their neighborhood. By the end of the year CESNA had closed the drug houses and cleaned up the neighborhood. CESNA published "Neighbor News" and organized a series of events including beautification days, a grandparent day and a recognition party to honor the police who helped CESNA drive drug traffickers from the neighborhood. The Police Chief remarked that he had never in his lifetime seen this kind of appreciation given to a police officer.
Most neighborhood organizations start because of a crisis. Unfortunately they die as soon as the crisis passes. Without a pressing issue and without a Council of Neighborhoods support and recognition CESNA faded away. Almost.
In 2002 several CESNA survivors met with forty neighborhood residents and stakeholders to form the Eastside Neighborhood Development Association in order to have an effective voice in planning for the area. The state built a Health Laboratory in the 900 block of East Capitol and wanted to purchase adjoining homes for parking and landscaping. The city and state adopted a plan for the Missouri State Prison (MSP) site. ENDA wanted to make sure the Eastside neighborhoods will benefit and not be hurt by these plans. The Mayor and City council welcomed ENDA’s participation and appointed ENDA members the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Task Force.
In his 1835 paper on Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: "In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine into associations is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all others." The Industrial Age destroyed much of the neighborhood associational life de Tocqueville admired. Too often in the shift to big-is-better the neighborhood’s agenda is pushed aside by the private sector’s rush to a short term fix or the public sector’s need to control. The City of Jefferson should be congratulated for its willingness to work with ENDA and other neighborhoods. Neighborhoods have demonstrated their ability to work with the city and developers.
In April 1994 a drug war broke out in the neighborhood adjoining "The Walls". Bullets landed in several of my constituent's yards. At our first neighborhood meeting each person in the room vented their frustrations about City Hall, the Police, the drug houses and do-nothing politicians. That remark hurt. I was their city councilman. I reminded the meeting we had a similar problem with drug houses in the 80s when I was on the council. We drove drug houses out of our ward. We know how to drive drug houses out. The question is how can we keep them out?
I answered the question by telling the Independence Plan for Neighborhood Councils (IPNC) story. In the early 70s Mayor Weeks of Independence and members of his city council were frustrated by the lack of citizen participation. Far too often, developers would present plans, staff would comment but nobody from “the public” would come to the hearing. Only after the contract was signed and the ground broken did a neighborhood association appear in opposition to the project. The mayor appointed a committee of citizens to study the problem. They recommended the IPNC which was adopted by the city. The plan established a Council of Neighborhoods which would work with the city in reviewing and approving all future development projects.
I shared IPNC materials with the neighborhood group, the Mayor, and City Council. I attempted to get the City of Jefferson to pass an ordinance similar to the one passed by the Independence City Council. The City Manager and several department heads visited Independence and were impressed with the IPNC but in the end it did not get city council support and the idea was dropped.
The IPNC materials encouraged the neighbors to organize the Central East Side Neighborhood Association. CESNA organized a "Neighborhood Watch" and a Block Party in an empty lot that had been the place where the shooting occurred. Four hundred turned out to take back their neighborhood. By the end of the year CESNA had closed the drug houses and cleaned up the neighborhood. CESNA published "Neighbor News" and organized a series of events including beautification days, a grandparent day and a recognition party to honor the police who helped CESNA drive drug traffickers from the neighborhood. The Police Chief remarked that he had never in his lifetime seen this kind of appreciation given to a police officer.
Most neighborhood organizations start because of a crisis. Unfortunately they die as soon as the crisis passes. Without a pressing issue and without a Council of Neighborhoods support and recognition CESNA faded away. Almost.
In 2002 several CESNA survivors met with forty neighborhood residents and stakeholders to form the Eastside Neighborhood Development Association in order to have an effective voice in planning for the area. The state built a Health Laboratory in the 900 block of East Capitol and wanted to purchase adjoining homes for parking and landscaping. The city and state adopted a plan for the Missouri State Prison (MSP) site. ENDA wanted to make sure the Eastside neighborhoods will benefit and not be hurt by these plans. The Mayor and City council welcomed ENDA’s participation and appointed ENDA members the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Task Force.
In his 1835 paper on Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: "In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine into associations is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all others." The Industrial Age destroyed much of the neighborhood associational life de Tocqueville admired. Too often in the shift to big-is-better the neighborhood’s agenda is pushed aside by the private sector’s rush to a short term fix or the public sector’s need to control. The City of Jefferson should be congratulated for its willingness to work with ENDA and other neighborhoods. Neighborhoods have demonstrated their ability to work with the city and developers.
Neighborhood institutions are the missing link
If we understand and accept the premise there are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector it becomes obvious neighborhood institutions are the missing link in the development puzzle. The question then becomes how do we identify and recognize and engage these associations in the process? This critical first step involves a new vision. It requires a redefinition and a new understanding of the importance of neighboring and the neighborhood institutions supporting neighborhood values. It recognizes the need to reach out and support the neighborhood associations that build the community and foster neighboring.
If we understand and accept the premise there are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector it becomes obvious neighborhood institutions are the missing link in the development puzzle. The question then becomes how do we identify and recognize and engage these associations in the process? This critical first step involves a new vision. It requires a redefinition and a new understanding of the importance of neighboring and the neighborhood institutions supporting neighborhood values. It recognizes the need to reach out and support the neighborhood associations that build the community and foster neighboring.
My wife is Lorraine so why am I living in Mary’s Home?
Lorraine and I didn’t grow up in Mary’s Home, Missouri but we were lucky enough to have found it. Mary’s Home is one of the rare finds in Rural America that has survived the destruction the Industrial Age brought to our neighborhoods and their economies. Mary’s Home is an unincorporated village on a bend in the Osage River 30 miles south of Jefferson City. No one can say how many live in Mary’s Home. The number is not important. It only measures the human capital. It is the social capital which is most important and best predictor of the quality of a neighborhood and its organizations.
If you want to taste and experience what it feels like to live in a wealthy neighborhood community come to the Corner Market for breakfast some morning between 6:30 and 8:00. If you aren’t invited into the conversation listen in. If you can get a word in edgewise ask a question. Any one of the breakfast club members or Sandra, the owner, or one of her staff will be more than happy to answer your questions but be warned, you may be invited to join in and stay longer than you planned. Whatever happens, I know you will feel welcome. After breakfast walk around the 100 year old store. Be sure to go upstairs onto the balcony. Be warned again you might be tempted to spend more money than you had planned to spend for breakfast.
Before you jump in your car take a quick walk through downtown Mary’s Home. Judy, the manager of our credit union, will be happy to tell you about its 40 year history serving the community. Are you impressed there is a $2M credit union in a tiny place like this? Wait till you see our full service bank at the end of the block. On the way, pay a visit to our 100 year old church. The door is open. Before you reach the Bank of Mary’s Home at the end of the block you pass by our K to 8 school and the old community hall with a gymnasium and bowling alley. The new community center just opened to take care of the expanding number of students and just in time to accommodate you and many others at our parish picnic on September 2nd.
If you end your visit to Mary’s Home with a ten mile drive around Old Ten Mile Road, which begins at the Corner Market and ends at the Corner Market, you will pass more than 40 home based businesses. Some are visible like the farms and Benny Bax Auto Repair. Most hidden in and behind the homes along the road. All are the engines of our healthy economy.
Now you know why I am living in Mary’s Home and why I raised such a stink with the Jefferson City Council for inviting another destructive Wal*Mart into our local economy.
I wrote this on purpose
Of course you are invited to our parish picnic on September 2nd. It is a great event. Not only is it the mother of all parish picnics, it is a demonstration of the power a community has when its members work together. Of course you are invited. Come early and buy your dinner tickets before the hall opens at 11:00. But the purpose of this article is not to promote our picnic nor is it to sell real estate in Mary’s Home. My purpose is to show how important healthy neighborhood institutions are as the building blocks for a healthy neighborhood economy and community. If I have another purpose it is to encourage you to go back to building and rebuilding your own neighborhood community. You don’t have to move to live in a better neighborhood.
Lorraine and I didn’t grow up in Mary’s Home, Missouri but we were lucky enough to have found it. Mary’s Home is one of the rare finds in Rural America that has survived the destruction the Industrial Age brought to our neighborhoods and their economies. Mary’s Home is an unincorporated village on a bend in the Osage River 30 miles south of Jefferson City. No one can say how many live in Mary’s Home. The number is not important. It only measures the human capital. It is the social capital which is most important and best predictor of the quality of a neighborhood and its organizations.
If you want to taste and experience what it feels like to live in a wealthy neighborhood community come to the Corner Market for breakfast some morning between 6:30 and 8:00. If you aren’t invited into the conversation listen in. If you can get a word in edgewise ask a question. Any one of the breakfast club members or Sandra, the owner, or one of her staff will be more than happy to answer your questions but be warned, you may be invited to join in and stay longer than you planned. Whatever happens, I know you will feel welcome. After breakfast walk around the 100 year old store. Be sure to go upstairs onto the balcony. Be warned again you might be tempted to spend more money than you had planned to spend for breakfast.
Before you jump in your car take a quick walk through downtown Mary’s Home. Judy, the manager of our credit union, will be happy to tell you about its 40 year history serving the community. Are you impressed there is a $2M credit union in a tiny place like this? Wait till you see our full service bank at the end of the block. On the way, pay a visit to our 100 year old church. The door is open. Before you reach the Bank of Mary’s Home at the end of the block you pass by our K to 8 school and the old community hall with a gymnasium and bowling alley. The new community center just opened to take care of the expanding number of students and just in time to accommodate you and many others at our parish picnic on September 2nd.
If you end your visit to Mary’s Home with a ten mile drive around Old Ten Mile Road, which begins at the Corner Market and ends at the Corner Market, you will pass more than 40 home based businesses. Some are visible like the farms and Benny Bax Auto Repair. Most hidden in and behind the homes along the road. All are the engines of our healthy economy.
Now you know why I am living in Mary’s Home and why I raised such a stink with the Jefferson City Council for inviting another destructive Wal*Mart into our local economy.
I wrote this on purpose
Of course you are invited to our parish picnic on September 2nd. It is a great event. Not only is it the mother of all parish picnics, it is a demonstration of the power a community has when its members work together. Of course you are invited. Come early and buy your dinner tickets before the hall opens at 11:00. But the purpose of this article is not to promote our picnic nor is it to sell real estate in Mary’s Home. My purpose is to show how important healthy neighborhood institutions are as the building blocks for a healthy neighborhood economy and community. If I have another purpose it is to encourage you to go back to building and rebuilding your own neighborhood community. You don’t have to move to live in a better neighborhood.
Friday, August 10, 2007
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