Light-up McIntosh December 15
Light-up McIntosh will begin at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The event will host Santa Clause and an area choir from six local churches will sing.
07.21,06 -- EDITORIAL/POLL: CRA
Friday, July 21, 2006
Editorial/Opinion Poll: Should McIntosh have a CRA?
By Cher Phillips
A question was posed in the comments, should McIntosh have a CRA?
When council member Danaya Wright resigned I figured she would be packing up all her UF student planners and law students and would, for better or worse, take the idea of a McIntosh CRA with her. In light of Wright's resignation, why address the CRA at all? Wright said she couldn't do anything about U.S. 441 in her resignation letter. And let's face it, some of the spirit drained from her gavelwork since the CRA became subject non-grata in council meetings. But then I thought - that's just why people still ask about it, because they were told they couldn't ask about it...
Since the three little letters CRA - standing for a community redevelopment agency - became the Tosh equivelent of a dirty word, people have wanted to express their opinions about it. Depending on the month, the council wanted to hear from some residents but not others. (That has a frightening habit of happening quite often in meetings - has anyone else noticed that particular double standard of late?)
In council meetings, it got to the point this spring where Wright would preface giving a resident the floor to speak or ask questions with, "Does this have to do with the CRA?" Shoot, she even did it to me once. Until I spoke in reply to Joe Phillips' attack on this blog a week or so ago, I never raised my hand to speak in council meetings unless I had an idea or a damned good reason to speak.
Does anyone remember a March meeting when Wright said only people who had property within the proposed CRA could speak? I think Gary Greenburg made an appearance that night and outted himself as having a professional planning graduate degree. He scolded Wright and told her in so many words, we all have a say in what is planned for our community because it impacts everyone.
He was right that night. I've lived in this town nearly seven years and I have a right to my say. We all do; no matter where we live in McIntosh.
So even though my instincts tell me the CRA is a dead issue, I will put up an opinion poll because I did hear from a couple people asking when I would put the CRA question up. If you don't know what the CRA was, I wrote a story about the it earlier this spring, McIntosh divided by CRA, U.S. 441
Keep an eye out in the next day or so. I'm hoping to post a water question in celebration of the upcoming budget hearing on Monday!
posted by Cher @ 1:16 PM,
4 Comments:
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At July 23, 2006 6:09 PM ,
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I think it would be nice to have a CRA for the 441 corridor ONLY. That would make the appearance of the town better, however, I don't in any way think that it should encompass any land except that right on 441.
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At July 24, 2006 6:40 AM ,
said...
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I don't think this town needs to take on any new projects at this time. First, our efforts should be directed towards making it a more positive place to live and have a business without being hasseled by a few with hidden agendas. No, I don't have a business in town. I couldn't stand that level of stress.
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At July 24, 2006 8:28 AM ,
said...
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CRA is code for cutting rights again! We don't want to give up control, people. It wouldn't be prudent, not at this time.
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At July 25, 2006 8:14 AM ,
said...
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How about our town council learning how to budget before any more projects are started?
Editor
Editor and Publisher:
I'm Cher From McIntosh, FL I'm a graduate student at the University of Florida working on a master's degree in Mass Communication. While I was finishing my undergrad degree in journalism last year, I reported on McIntosh, Fla. for an in-depth reporting class. I figured that the reporting and the public record files should go somewhere people can access them. Reporters don't report to keep the information they find to themselves. Some of that reporting is included here in a forum that allows response. McIntosh suffers because with no news coverage, the local government and the rumor mill have too much potential to run rampant over residents. I moved to McIntosh in the fall of 1999. My profile
About This Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to accurately reflect what happens in town public meetings and dispel rumors. I record the meetings and make them available for download. One of the goals of this blog is to offer residents a place to voice opinions. The comments, views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of the editor.
