[Community_garden] ACGA's first piriority

Sun Jun 17 17:07:04 EDT 2007

I'm not posting this to disagree with Amy, but to add to what she
advised. Community gardens are certainly hot right now, so pulling
together large numbers may be the way to go, but ...

The main thing is to know your City and your commissioners/council
members and the applicable city staff to determine the best course for
convincing the right decisionmakers about the value of community
gardens. I've often observed that in most, but not all, cities the
staff has a lot of power because they're the ones working on and
thinking about matters daily.

So the city staff in that kind of set-up can go a long way towards
persuading the city council or commission. That is the case with our
CG policy initiative, where we are on the verge of a key victory that
would spread the CG ethic throughout the city's practices (without
going into a lot of detail). We were able to enlist the aid of the
Planning Dept. head, who is rewriting the city zoning ordinance (in a
very innovative way), as well as the head of Parks and Rec. In a
meeting Friday with them and the head of the Inspections Dept., the 3
city staffers pledged to take our case to the city commission if
deemed necessary, and they don't expect any resistance at all.

One other tip: look through your city's statutes for supportive
ordinances that may have been on the books since the 1970s, or even
earlier. One of the people on our policy committee was browsing
through the web version of Grand Rapids ordinances and stumbled on a
1975 law that was incredibly supportive - including the word
"promote." I believe this initiative would have gone thru regardless,
but it sure was a meeting-stopper when our project director pulled it
out! There was a big wave of support for "allotment" or community
gardens in the mid-1970s, something I relate to a posting from Libby
Goldstein on this list-serve when Gerald Ford died, that he and Tommy
Thompson included CGs in the comprehensive "Whip Inflation Now"
national program.

Of course, as far as the community gardens vs. housing, especially
affordable housing, that's a tough one to win -- so this may not help
Dorene out. The best I see to hope for is a "both/and" rather than
"either/or" attitude.

Cynthia Price
Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council

On 6/14/07, Amy DeShon <adeshon at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, so the thing to learn from this is not to change their minds yourselves.
> What you need to do is get your supporters rallied behind you as voters and
> go back to the Commissioners with your army! Right? Don't mess with the City
> Department people, they'll have their opinions until the bosses tell them
> otherwise.
>
> See my message "Fighting City Hall", posted to the listserv about a week ago
> for specific information about this.
>
> Start to talk to the other environmental groups in your area, get passing
> your petition around, and produce your dog and pony show. Keep the
> Commissioners informed of what registered voters support you (how many,
> etc). Talk to the press, tell THEM who supports you.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org
> [mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org]On Behalf Of
> Diana Liu
> Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:40 PM
> To: Dorene Pasekoff; community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] ACGA's first piriority
>
>
> I totally agree that we need to change the attitude.  I am very interested
> in learning about community garden, and really think that it has so many
> benefits to the children, families, residents and the whole community.  But
> I am very new to this, so what do we do and how do we do it to change the
> mentality?
>
> Dorene Pasekoff <garlicgrower at green-logic.com> wrote:  Hi, Folks!
>
>
>
> Today, the Chester County Director of Community Development (who also sits
> on the Housing Authority Board) came to see our community garden. He said
> to me:
>
>
>
> "You know, community gardens are just a temporary use."
>
>
>
> Folks, excuse my language, but until we change this attitude among policy
> makers, all our efforts are just pissing in the wind.
>
>
>
> I'm now seeing 17 years of my life going down the drain.
>
>
>
> Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator (for now)
>
> St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth
>
>
>
> A mission of
>
> St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460
>
>
>
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> services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find
> out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
>
> To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:
> http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.commu
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
> The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
>
> To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
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