[Durham INC] Neighborhood meetings around Old North Durham Park

[Peter Katz]

Hi John,

   Thanks for this email.  This is becoming a big, complicated issue for our
neighborhood.  On one level it is about the soccer field, on another it is
about public/private partnerships and the difficulties in funding our city
parks, and to El Kilombo it appears to be about gentrification/neo-liberal
capitalism.  I wish I were kidding about the last one, but I am not.
   One correction that I would like to add, is that El Centro Hispano's
involvement has been mainly in a supportive capacity helping to interface
with the Latino community.  Their position is still neutral.  
   I would encourage anyone who's interested to attend the meetings.  I am
hoping for less drama and more productivity.

Peter Katz
President, Old North Durham Neighborhood Association


-----Original Message-----
From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
Behalf Of John Haws
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 2:53 PM
To: inc-list at rtpnet.org
Subject: [Durham INC] Neighborhood meetings around Old North Durham Park

INC members may be interested in the community meetings around Old North
Durham Park. Ray Gronberg wrote a well-balanced piece here:

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/12456917/article-Old-North-meetings
-to-go-ahead?instance=homefirstleft

The next two meetings are:

Sunday, March 27, 2011, 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, 2011, 1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m.

And will be held at Durham's main library.

http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/departments/parks/DisplayAnn.cfm?vAnn_ID=3669

The first meeting was incredibly contentious. El Kilombo Intergalictico, a
local group of Duke grads that models itself after the Zapatista movement in
Chiapas, recruited numerous neighborhood families and brought a good bit of
anger and frustration to the first meeting. Anita Keith-Foust also brought
her brand of commentary. There was much shouting, and tremendous
grandstanding, by El Kilombo.

Basically, Central Park School For Children (a Durham Charter School), along
with a neighborhood coalition including Bob Chapman, TROSA, and El Centro
Hispano, wants to contribute money toward (and have some say in) improving
the park (the city would be the one doing the actual planning and work). El
Kilombo (and I surmise Keith-Foust) see this as an intrusion into their
community, and I think they believe this private-public partnership sets a
precedent for a system of economic inequality, and usurps their and their
community's right to self-determination. 

The City says the park will remain a public park, no matter what, and
without the donations of CPSC and the neighborhood coalition, the park is a
very low priority for improvement.

If it's anything like the last meeting, it will at least be dramatic,
although not necessarily productive.

- John

p.s. Please save the debate over charter schools, and expressions of Love or
Hate for CPSC, for another thread.

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