I'll try to get the 'raw' notes from last night's forum cleaned up today, but here are a few take-aways from last night:
Malia Cohen wants to make McLaren Park a world class destination park. She railed on "downtown monied" candidates, as well as on the Chamber of Commerce for ignoring parks.
Teresa Duqué was so far out of her league that people in the audience were actually laughing at her as she gave her answers. She left the forum before the last question had even been asked.
This forum hit on many topics that Kristine Enea has been intimately involved in for the past five years. Many candidates once again came out in support of many of her ideas. I won't go any further, as you all know I'm a supporter of hers, and tonight was an indication to me as to why.
Rodney Hampton, only 18% of voters "look like you", so if that's the only reason to vote for you, then you'll only ever get 18% of the vote on the best day. And no, I don't want someone in office who's just like me. I want someone who understands land use, knows people who can make things happen, etc. You and I are far from being that person.
As with many candidates, Chris Jackson insisted on bringing locals into process and not making parks for future residents, but for those here now.
Nyese Joshua has no ideas, just rants against everything - "If people are homeless, then talking about parks is moot," and "put a fence around the shipyard land and don't let anyone use it for anything."
Tony Kelly mentioned the New York City Parks directors method of building open space first, raising value of property, and then building out developments as a correct way to go.
DeWitt Lacy made a good point about needing someone in office with negotiation skills and legal acumen in contract law in order to make contracts with developers that have teeth.
Geoffrea Morris sounded like the only one who'd actually used Silver Terrace Park, and like me, is in favor of the artificial turf there - "Have you ever played a sport on a field and tripped in a gopher hole?" This time around I see you as a huge asset in our next supervisor's office. With a little downtown polishing and city politics under your belt, you could be supervisor one day.
Every question Steve Moss answers comes down to light bulbs, toilets, and 1000 doors he's knocked on. But yes, as he and others said, our parks need to be for locals, but too many voices or too big of a plan gets things bogged down - must have realistic park goals
Eric Smith echoed others on the need to help get motivated community members over the brick wall that Parks and Rec puts up in getting locals involved.
Lynette Sweet talked about bringing back parks of yesteryear, with park directors who know what locals want. Money is the main issue that needs to be sorted out.
