You may have noticed Lou's silence on the whole Original Highlands Neighborhood Association vs. Wayside Christian Mission moving into Mercy Academy's old building on Broadway issue.
And Lou thinks she'll keep in that way. Her knee jerk reaction is to be horrified by the Not In My Backyard folks. Then again, she does live on the opposite end of the neighborhood, so technically Wayside would not be in her backyard. But I do think everyone has to admit that East Broadway isn't Bardstown Rd. It isn't Highland Avenue. It already has a plethora of social services and health services-- including those running up and down lower Barret. The Mercy building was already a school; that neighborhood would have already have had to learn to live with high pedestrian and car traffic, noise, and a bit of nuisance here and there (uh, kids can be a pain in the tuchas).
Again, I have not gone to meetings or responded to surveys because I just don't know the real ins and outs of it, and I've had bigger fish to fry this summer. That being said, Wayside needs to be somewhere. And the residents of Wayside would be very ill-served by being hidden away in some already impoverished, underresourced, depressing neighborhood (as would said neighborhood be ill-served by a Wayside move there).
I just re-watched the movie Dave last night-- I recommend it to anyone suffering election lethargy. It's a good pick me up. One of the central controversies in the movie is over a homeless shelter whose funding the Karl Rove-y character sneakily vetoed. And Dave fixes the problem by calling a budget meeting with his entire cabinet and saying (I paraphrase), "I need you guys to cut back on some of the pork. We're talking about homeless kids here. You can't say no to helping homeless kids."
And all the cronies start slashing their budgets to find the money to help keep the shelter open. A flurry of cuts of a million here and a million there to eventually add up to more than $650mil. It's this lovely warmhearted scene, where even the most stone-faced wonk bursts into smiles and applause.
Because what can you say when someone says that they want to help homeless kids? No? NIMBY? I don't know.
4 comments:
You could do like OHNA is doing and lie about everything. Like they did when they shut down the Landmarks movement. Lies and fear will influence people, and OHNA has perfected it... especially with the current board.
Yes, it is obvious you do not own property on the Original Highlands. You do not have your biggest investment in Mercys backyard. So I agree with you when you say NIMBY. Not in Mercy's backyard! Please! This is my life savings.
Hey guys, whatever gave you the idea that I don't own property in the OHNA? I do. And I would go so far as to say that it's not just my "life savings," but truly the only savings I have. And I struggle to pay the mortgage every month. I said that my property was on the other end of the neighborhood from Broadway, yes, but my house is in the Original Highlands. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be sticking my nose in the arguement.
Again, I'm staying out of this as much as possible. I got bigger fish to fry. That being said, I am definitely NOT inclined to support this current incarnation of the OHNA. I am pretty disgusted with the rhetoric surrounding the Mercy thing. Too much dealing in feelings and not facts. Kind of like the current administration-- rule by intimidation. IMHO.
Don't you love when someone 'just knows' that you can't know about their arguement because they 'just know' you're lying. That's the OHNA. That's the whole lot of them. Worthless. I don't want Wayside and their outdated vistion in the area either, but I also know the OHNA board (most of them) is about as worthless as humanity can get. Selfish, greedy, and absolutely NO vision themselves. They play defense, they have no goals that don't involve them. They 'just know' you don't live here. Heartless bastards.
Post a Comment