If you haven't already done so, please visit the Hometown Columbia blog and read Jessie's post entitled "Jim Rouse as *ALL* about the money."
Jessie nails it perfectly and I have to say that I couldn't have said it better myself!
Daily
16 hours ago
8 comments:
Blogging in this county is becoming what it initially recoiled from - when so much of what is written is personally critical of others while ho co bloggers lament the lack of readership.
Regarding Michael Cornell, when is the last time any of you spent the amount of time and energy he does serving the county free of charge?
I may not agree with everything a person says, but ridiculing someone only reflects badly on the source - not the target.
And AGAIN, it's the wretched holier than thou civility group who is the source of the latest rotting assault against respect.
Anon:
I would happily stack my hours of volunteer service in this county up against anyone, anywhere, anytime. Be very careful when making asumptions.
What gauls me is that the CA board spends more time on issues like this like and not enough time focused on providing better services for the lien paying residents of Columbia. It is important to recall that CPRA stands for Columbia Parks and Recreation Association. Sometimes I think the board loses sight of that. When Michael Cornell puts a letter like that in the local paper he opens himself to the ridicule that he is getting here and other blogs. And by the way, don't CA board members receive free Package Plan memberships for their service?
While that may not be much compensation given the amount of time spent on CA business is one helluva lot more compensation than I've ever recieved for serving on a board. In fact, most boards I have sat on (and currently serve on) have strongly encouraged board members to make a monetary contribution as well. So don't get on your high horse with me.
As far as lamenting the lack of readership, I have never done that. You are welcome to read and comment on this blog or not. I'll keep posting regardless.
However, just in case you are curious, last month 1,646 folks from 29 countries visited Tales of Two Cities.
-wb
I may be missing something.
I find it interesting that Mr. Cornell would be critized for wanting more opportunity for the citizens in Columbia to be apart of the future planing of that town.
I have been in meetings where Jessie is passionate and explosive in her statments about how Columbia should grow and change.
Thanks for letting me post here WB, Jessie would have deleted my comments, as she has done in the past.
Come to think of it, maybe what I am writing about is not Cornell or Columbia. Maybe it is Jessie's desire to Control what is said.
And you, WB do not open yourself up to ridicule from those who are predisposed to serve that muck?
Please.
Anon5:58/2:00,
I really like the point Jessie made about the Rouse mythos, but I agree with you (sorry JN) that the way she used Mr. Cornell's comments as a launch point wasn't the most civil.
Your calling her out was perfectly appropriate. But you need to man up (or woman up) and put your name or handle out there like she, Mr. Cornell and others have done if you want folks to take your comments seriously (and not be deleted in some cases).
And since you recognized that you may be missing something, I'd suggest that while you've been focusing on your problems with Jessie, you seemed to miss the primary focus of the post which was about the trap that folks fall into regarding the Rouse and Columbia mythos. That's my take on it.
Thanks John S. Boyle
I have no problem identifing myself. My problem was gaining access. I attempted 3 times and gave up and went on as anonymous just to save time. Bad mammers for sure, and just too inpatient on my part.
I am anon 2:00 p.m.
jim Adams.
THanks again John G. Boyle
And I am having problems again so this will be my second anon entry, but I am still Jim Adams.
John G, Boyle what is the Rouse and Columbia mythos.
Thanks ahead of time for your response.
anon 2:00 pm, also know as Jim Adams.
Aha! A name I know. That makes this much easier. Thanks :)
As for the mythos, Jessie summed it up pretty well: "peace on earth, utopia, et cetera."
This is purely drawn from my own experiences, but the vast majority of people I've ever discussed Columbia with talk about it as a social experiment with Jim Rouse as the fururist who dreampt it up. Along with that comes seems to come the inevitable question of "did Columbia fail or succeed?"
Honestly, I've never known a community to draw so much discussion. Most communities seem to get simplistic "oh that's a nice place" or "that's a rough area" comments. The Rouse/Columbia mythos that I see seems to color a lot of people's viewpoint of Columbia and Columbians.
A lot of the folks that I know from outside Columbia tend to either half-mock us as bizzaro communitarians, as an elite enclave of Stepford suburbanites, or as something in between.
As for the folks I know inside Columbia, well... in my opinion, too many "believe the hype," which leads to its own set of issues.
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