Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve been discussing Alexandria on a personal level and the potential and opportunities presented by the community’s renewed spirit and by the nearly $100 million infrastructural project known as SPARC.
Last week, Daniel Smith, Melinda Anderson, and I took a tour of Alexandria. We were scoping out provisional historical districts and properties, in preparation for a visit by the State Historic Preservation Office (which was covered in today’s newspaper). Just as an aside, a designation on the National Register of Historic Places does notprevent a structure from being demolished. However, it is an incredibly important distinction, paving the way for various tax credits (when applicable) and demonstrating the importance of a place’s history and local significance.
Our tour was instructive.
We began in Lower Third. There’s a neighborhood near Augusta Street that is approaching the 50 year threshold, and though it probably does not possess the “wow factor” needed for inclusion in the National Register, it appears to be a stable and healthy working class neighborhood, a place in which pride of ownership shows.
We then dipped down to Samtown/Woodside, an area in obvious need of attention, to check out a small area that we had initially believed to be nearing 50 years old (but have subsequently determined otherwise). As I mentioned in a previous post on walkability, Samtown/Woodside has some obvious obstacles– in large part, this is because the area was developed and subsequently annexed into the City of Alexandria, which means that site development requirements were practically non-existent. There are very few sidewalks, and in many places, the roads are entirely too narrow.
I know many, many people who have lived in Alexandria for the entire lives and have not yet been to Samtown or Woodside. And I am personally ashamed that it took me nearly twenty years before I had ever visited this important area of our City.
Which leads me to a broader point: When discussing the needs of our community, we must be objective. Our needs should be discussed collectively– as a community; they should not be steered by the wants and demands of a small group of individuals. The table should have enough seats for all of us.
If you have no notion of the needs of Lower Third, Samtown/Woodside, and South Alexandria– tangible and obvious needs- then you likely have a distorted view of our most pressing priorities.
Much of Alexandria is blighted and in need of immediate attention– both programmatic and infrastructural.
That said, there is a reason I personally believe preservation is particularly important– not just in the area around the Alexandria Garden District but throughout our fair City. To be sure, I think it is foolish to be stubborn on this issue– sometimes, quite simply, some things are beyond saving. But when we can, we must preserve.
After Daniel, Melinda, and I left Samtown/Woodside, we toured an area near South Lee Street– remarkably similar to the character of Samtown/Woodside, and then on to an area known as Sunken Village, which, believe it or not, is technically outside of the city limits. Sunken Village is, in my opinion, a unique urban problem. As its name implies, the neighborhood has a tendency to flood, and although it appears to be primarily occupied by young families, its infrastructure is ancient. Children crowded the streets due to a lack of sidewalks. Something needs to happen there. It’s outside of the City. There’s no homeowner’s association. Much of the neighborhood is rental property. It’s prone to flooding.
When you tour Alexandria in this way, you have a notion of the scale of blight. It is not isolated to a single area; it exists throughout the City, and therefore, it is a City-wide problem.
Working together means acknowledging our shared challenges.
I implore you: If you haven’t seen your City, go out and see it.
I visited the ‘cheap’ gas station here in downtown New Orleans. And to be fair to the owner, I did buy 89 octane. The 87 was $3.99 but when you play the percentages of overall cost per gallon the added 10 cents for better performance seemed like a steal.
Actually higher octane gas in general is much more of a value now than it has been in previous years. Compare say 8 years ago when regular gas was around $1.29 per gallon. With 89 being 1.39 and 93 being 1.49 — that was 8% more for mid-grade and 16% more for premium. Compare that to the current number 3.99, 4.09, and 4.19 and it’s only 3% more for mid-grade and 5% more for premium. So if you’re going to go broke filling the tank, you may as well treat your car right.
Now in truth, I probably bought my first $4 gas a few years ago in Germany, but there are major differences between Europe and the US when it comes to dealing with this fuel crisis. For one thing although their prices are around $6 per gallon that have only risen by about a third of what US prices have during the past few years. Add to that the fact that things are much closer together, that people generally commute with the train and only drive on weekends, long trips, and for runs to IKEA or Obi (European Home Depot) and the gas equation doesn’t do as much damage to a person’s budget. Many cars there are considerably more fuel efficient as well (although admittedly lax on emissions) and much of the fuel costs are taxes that unlike here in the US are used to fund mass transit be it trains, subways, trams, buses, and even ensuring that cities the size of Alexandria have access to frequent and affordable air travel.
We’ve basically dropped the ball on this in the US. Our government leaders — well a certain party and it’s chief mainly — have not just dropped the ball but thrown it out like the world’s biggest opening season pitch. Regulations have been changed, anti-trust rules ignored, and pockets lined with cash all so that a single industry can enjoy massive profits at the expense of the other 300,000,000 residents of the country.
And…we have dropped the ball as voters and consumers. We have stood by like sheep and allowed these travesties to take place. As voters we have foolishly allowed politicians to waste valuable time arguing over gay marriage and idiotic attempts to legislate morality instead of demanding that they build bridges, trains, hospitals, ensure fair wages and prevent price gouging and market manipulations.
As consumers we have relinquished our most powerful weapon — our purchasing dollar. We have for too long sat back while major corporations have increased their profits at the expense of workers and shoppers alike. We allow companies like International Paper to pollute our air even though they have had the technology to remove all papermill stench for decades. We have allowed Wal-Mart to move into a position where they can dictate everything from product design, selection, delivery and pricing absolutley. We choose to shop at stores like JC Penny and Tuesday Morning who pay their workers in Alexandria half what they pay those same workers in Baton Rouge or New Orleans simply because they choose to do so.
We have accepted a marketplace where most people cannot afford to live independently on a full-time job. We have accepted government policy changes during the Bush presidency that have allowed companies to fire full-time salaried workers only to hire them back as hourly part-timers with no benefits and less pay. We for the most part no longer live under the threat of nuclear war, but we have allowed our own ‘leaders’ to replace the threat of atomic destruction with outsourcing — so workers don’t complain or we’ll send your jobs to Honduras or China, or Indonesia, or…
———–
Wake up everyone. Think back to what your financial situation was like 8 years ago. This of what you paid for a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, electricity, gas, etc. Remember when a college education pretty much guaranteed you a job? Remember when at least a master’s degree did that? Well welcome to the 21st century — and a time when opportunity is quickly becoming the domain of the elite or the economically privileged.
We saw this once before. During the 1920′s and early 30′s when a majority of the educated and highly trained workers of the western world could not find work and could not make ends meet. It’s how we ended up with communism and fascism…
When I first started blogging, I had little concept of the implications and repercussions of the enterprise, which is one of the reasons I have struggled to cement this blog’s mission statement. I write about the things of which I am most passionate, and while this often means I am obsessing over political news, I sometimes have a tendency to write about the banal occurrences of everyday life.
But before I get into blog theory, if you will, I would like to apologize.
I apologize for sometimes taking seriously the opinions and statements of the disconnected, anonymous, and lunatic fringe. I have wasted my time and your time in an attempt to both defend myself against scurrilous accusations and clarify the facts to those who – no matter what- prefer being hyperbolically contrarian.
We can and should be able to engage with one another, to discuss the issues, and to stay on topic and on point without the need for baseless ad hominem attacks, but unfortunately, with the birth of completely anonymous websites and commentary, it’s nearly impossible to avoid.
The ability to speak anonymously is critical to a functioning democracy, but the powers of anonymous speech can be easily abused, particularly by those whose own ideological mission has left them blind and uncaring to the implications their words can have on real people.
Words have power.
Which brings me back to blog theory.
There is a reason I decided to write a personal essay series. (Obviously, I decided to extend the series beyond my original scope, and I may decide to continue to engage on a personal level). There is a reason I decided to write about my father’s death– which occurred when I was living in Houston– and what it felt like to return to Alexandria four years later and watch as people anonymously attacked me, my family, and my father for expressly political purposes. Ironically, my father actually shared the same political persuasion as many of those who have attempted (and who continue to attempt) to disparage his life and his reputation. There is a reason I have decided to write openly and honestly about my own disability, a topic I am likely to return frequently. There is a reason I have decided to become more candid about my own life.
On the Internet, people have a tendency to dehumanize others. They become so caught up in their own egos and agendas that they lose track of reality.
And let’s be honest: The Internet, by virtue of its egalitarian platform (which I would not trade for the world), provides an outlet of expression for those who are otherwise completely disengaged, and indeed, it provides a platform for the ignorant.
I don’t understand the fear that some people have about expressing their real opinions with their real names. To be sure, most in the New Orleans blogosphere use pseudonyms, but for many of them, it’s thinly veiled; they have no problem engaging with one another as real human beings. (Indeed, CenLamar is also a thinly-veiled pseudonym).
They are a community.
In Alexandria, we do not have a true Internet community. With few exceptions, bloggers don’t really work together. Many of them believe in the virtues of depersonalized anonymity, which, to me, seems like a relic, unsophisticated and sensational.
Let’s attempt to speak to one another as neighbors instead of strangers.
Earlier tonight, Erick Erickson of RedState.com- the guy who apparently organized a “blogger’s” meeting with our Governor a couple of months ago- was invited to appear on national television and discuss Hillary Clinton’s reference to Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in June of 1968. If, for some reason, you haven’t heard of this yet, this is what she said to a South Dakota newspaper’s editorial board:
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June,” Clinton told the newspaper Friday. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June.”
Even if one assumes that Mrs. Clinton was referring to the fact that Democratic primaries have, historically, tended to last until the month of June, there are some problems with the examples she references:
- In 1992, Bill Clinton had the nomination virtually wrapped up in March. Sure, he secured the nomination after the California primary, but the contest, for all intents and purposes, had actually concluded three months prior. From PolitiFact.com:
After losing early contests, Bill Clinton emerged in 1992 to battle former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas and former California Gov. Jerry Brown. Clinton swept the Southern states on Super Tuesday — March 10 compared to Feb. 5 this year — then took Michigan and Illinois on March 17 for a decisive victory.
The late March primaries left him with 942 delegates, a commanding lead with more than twice the number of his closest opponent, Tsongas, who suspended his campaign that week.
The 1992 primary is not analogous to the current situation, in which Mrs. Clinton continues to press on, despite the fact that her chances of winning the nomination are mathematically improbable (and, as a side note, this has been the case for well over a month now). That said, I understand her desire to finish the contest; I just think we need to be honest about the numbers and the context.
–Second, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. didn’t even enter the Presidential race until March of 1968, only two weeks before Lyndon Johnson declared that he would not be seeking the nomination. RFK was working in an entirely different timeframe. From Wikipedia:
In 1968, President Johnson began to run for reelection. In January 1968, faced with what was widely considered an unrealistic race against an incumbent President, Senator Kennedy stated he would not seek the presidency. After the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, in early February 1968, Kennedy received a letter from writer Pete Hamill (later acclaimed author of the novel Snow in August). Hamill wrote an anguished letter to Kennedy noting that poor people kept pictures of JFK on their walls and that Robert Kennedy had an “obligation of staying true to whatever it was that put those pictures on those walls.” Kennedy traveled to California, to meet with civil rights activist César Chávez who was on a hunger strike. The weekend before the New Hampshire primary, Kennedy announced to several aides that he would attempt to persuade little-known Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota to withdraw from the presidential race. Johnson won an astonishingly narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary on March 12, 1968, against McCarthy. Kennedy declared his candidacy on March 16, 1968, stating, “I do not run for the Presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I’m obliged to do all I can.”
It’s a fact that Kennedy was assassinated in June, but it remains to be seen why this is relevant to the current election.
Which brings me back to Erick Erickson and his appearance on my all-time least favorite show (that I still occasionally watch), Hannity and Colmes:
Oddly, the Republican stand-in for Sean Hannity was sympathetic toward Mrs. Clinton, repeating her line that the comparison was simply about timing and that, of course, she didn’t intend to raise the specter of an assassination; she was only making historical parallels.
In response, Mr. Erickson first says that he would “trade McCain’s and Hillary’s gaffes for Obama’s gaffes,” and then mentions two blatantly obvious Obama misspeaks– one in which he said that 10,000 people died in a Kansas tornado, when he obviously meant to say “10,” and another in which he said he had been to “fifty…. seven states,” when he obviously meant to say 47 states. Yes, Erick Erickson would have rather made those mistakes than the ones made by Clinton or McCain:
Or, if you have ten minutes:
Fox News also “reported” tonight that “everyone in the Democratic establishment” is asking Clinton to bow out of the race immediately; again, this is patently untrue. Indeed, most of the party, including Senator Obama’s campaign, have repeatedly and publicly said that they understand and agree with Mrs. Clinton’s decision to stay in.
Erick Erickson tells us that he has “said for over a year that Obama is the weaker of the two candidates.” That’s remarkably prescient considering that a year ago, the race had twelve different candidates, not two.
Then, Mr. Erickson mocks Senator Obama for receiving Secret Service protection earlier than most (of course, Mrs. Clinton has been under protection for well over a decade now), suggesting that Obama requested the protection for vanity and not for his own security. Seriously.
He claims “there were stories early on that Obama requested protection and limos so he would look more Presidential.” A complete and total lie.
From CNN.com:
Illinois’ senior senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, told reporters Thursday night that he relayed concerns about the size of the crowds Obama was drawing and other issues to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Reid decided to take the matter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff as an issue for a congressional advisory board, Durbin said.
“I knew the crowds were large … but some of the other information given to us, unfortunately I think, raised a concern among many of [Obama's] friends,” Durbin said.
“Unfortunately, some of the information we found was racially motivated. It is a sad reality in this day and age that Mr. Obama’s African-American heritage is a cause for very violent and hatred, hated reactions among some people.”
Durbin would not elaborate. “I’ve been advised not to talk about any specific security problems or any threats,” he said. He also would not say how he received the information, only that it was from “credible sources.”
The crowds, he said, have been record-breaking. “Naturally, it’s encouraging politically, but it’s also raised a lot of security concerns.”
The Secret Service protection for Obama began at 1 p.m. Thursday, Durbin said.
Chertoff works with a congressional panel made up of half a dozen members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid.
The decision to present the information to the advisory board was a bipartisan one, Durbin said, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, also participating, he said.
Previously, two Democratic Senate sources told CNN that after Reid decided to take the matter to Chertoff as an advisory board issue, further discussions with the Obama campaign ensued and the official request for Secret Service protection was made.
The Secret Service said in a written statement that Chertoff, “after consultation with the congressional advisory committee, authorized the United States Secret Service to protect presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.”
Ultimately, Michael Chertoff decided, and although there wasn’t a credible threat at the time, the sheer number of Obama’s supporters caused concern for additional security. Mr. Erickson’s suggestion that Senator Obama somehow lied about his own danger in order to surround himself with security detail is a reckless fabrication and completely out of touch with the both the realities of this campaign and our country’s shameful history of political assassination and racist violence, which is precisely why Mrs. Clinton’s disingenuous reference to RFK’s assassination has been met with such outrage.
Mr. Erickson, on the other hand, has already proven himself to be a vituperative and manipulative partisan sycophant, and it is ashame that his opinions (staged as light-hearted commentary) are given a platform in the mainstream media. Take, for example, his treatment of the so-called Hamas endorsement of Senator Obama (whose policies toward Hamas mirror that of John McCain). Mr. Erickson claimed that Obama’s campaign was “flattered” over Hamas’s endorsement; he even places quotes around the word flattered, as if to suggest that this was the exact word used by Mr. Obama’s campaign. Of course, this is a reckless lie and stunningly obvious manipulation; if Mr. Erickson were to make this implication about a private citizen, it would likely be treated as criminally defamatory.
Mr. Obama’s campaign has repeatedly said it is “flattered” over the comparisons to President John F. Kennedy.
Hamas mentioned John F. Kennedy in its statement.
Therefore, Erickson believes Obama is flattered by Hamas. Again, SERIOUSLY.
On the day of his death, Lee Deal saved a marine, a very close friend of mine for over 12 years. If it weren’t for him, my friend may not have survived the extensive injuries that he received. To his family, thank you so very much for sending this hero, this angel, to save my friend. I am so sorry for your loss. Lee Deal and your family will forever be in my prayers.
From the News Observer:
The last time Melanie Deal talked with her son, Lee, was the week before Mother’s Day.
“He had flowers delivered — tulips,” said Deal, who lives in West Monroe, La., about 80 miles west of Shreveport.
During their early Mother’s Day conversation, Deal wanted to know if her son had received the DVDs of the Master’s golf tournament she had recorded for him.
“He was a big golf fan,” Melanie Deal said Monday. “He tried to play every chance he got whenever he was in North Carolina.
Three days after Mother’s Day on May 17, Petty Officer Third Class Lee Hamilton Deal, 23, was killed in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday.Lee was a Navy sailor assigned to Camp Lejeune. The Defense Department news release ascribed his death to “enemy action.”
He was assigned to Regimental Combat Team-5, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), and permanently assigned to 2nd Marine Division Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, Camp Lejeune.
In addition to to his mother, Deal is survived by his father, Harry Deal, of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and an older brother, Justin Deal, of Denver.
Lee Deal graduated from West Monroe High School in 2001. He is best remembered among townsfolk as the placekicker for the school football team that won a string of state titles and national championships in 1998 and 2000.
Among Lee Deal’s teammates was his best friend, Andrew Whitworth, a former offensive tackle with Louisiana State University just drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Deal is the third West Monroe football player to lose his life in Iraq.
The summer after graduation Deal tried out as a walk on with LSU and made the team. He decided to join the Navy in what would have been his sophomore year.
“He just wanted more structure, time to mature,” his mother said. “He thought that the armed forces would give him that.”
Deal was deployed to Iraq on March 25. His mother visited with him in Wilmington the week before he left.
“We had lunch on the beach,” she said. “He was funny. A beautiful boy. Maybe I shouldn’t say that because he’s not a girl. But he was extremely handsome.”
And to those who are serving our country in uniform right now, including our friends Dustin Parks and Mike Carlin.
Mike e-mailed me yesterday from Kuwait:
It’s going to be 130 to 140 degrees here soon. Right now it’s a cool 113. If you want the same experience just stick your head in front of a blow dryer and try to breath.
Landrieu invited the Times to the Whitney Plantation, believed to be “the most complete plantation in the American South.” Quoting:
Yet Mr. Landrieu is far less interested in the Haydels than the legacy of the 254 slaves who once inhabited the nearly dozen shacks behind the big house during Whitney’s reign among the largest sugar farms in Louisiana. His muddy shoes planted in front of a row of neatly situated sun-bleached shacks during a recent visit, Mr. Landrieu nudged a reporter toward what he likes to call a living museum:
“Go on in. You have to go inside. When you walk in that space, you can’t deny what happened to these people. You can feel it, touch it, smell it.”
He compared the experience to visiting the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
For Landrieu and others, the trail isn’t about celebrating our antebellum past, which some plantation tours are wont to do; it’s about understanding and learning from our shared history.
Continuing:
“We want to transform the discussion about race and poverty in America,” said the 47-year-old Mr. Landrieu, who served 16 years in the State House of Representatives (his father and sister, Mary Landrieu, also a Democrat and currently a United States Senator, held the same seat). “Many, many white people and black people of good will have been separated by ideological fights that have been powerful. But you can’t transform the discussion if you can’t remember what happened.”
Mr. Cummings puts it another way: “Is black men not caring for their children today in any way connected to slavery? These are the kinds of questions we should be asking. I want to get beyond the moonlight and magnolia myths of the plantation.”
…
“The whole state of Louisiana really is a museum,” he (Landrieu) said.
Louisiana is a living museum. The discussions conjured up by this trail are relevant and timely. Our history surrounds us. And like Mr. Landrieu says, confronting our history together will allow us to confront our future together.
The Arna Bontemps Museum in Downtown Alexandria
…(A) couple of hours north, the Louisiana landscape opens wide, and as you travel along Highway 1 toward the town of Natchitoches (pronounced NACK-ah-tish), home of the Cane River Creoles, the hard stories in Donaldsonville fade under the great magnolias that shade the entrance of Melrose Plantation. This is where the love story of Marie-Therese, known as Coincoin, the grand matriarch of Melrose, took place.
Raised as a slave in the household of a Louisiana military commander, Marie-Therese was later sold to Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer, a French merchant. The two fell in love and she eventually bore him 10 children. Marie-Therese and her children eventually gained their freedom and became wealthy landowners in their own right. As the story goes, Marie-Therese Metoyer owned slaves but also bought many slaves their freedom along the way.
One of her sons, Nicholas Augustin Metoyer, financed the first Catholic church in the United States built for people of color. St. Augustine Catholic Church was founded in 1803 and is located in Natchitoches.
The story of the Metoyers seems to illustrate Mr. Landrieu’s belief that the trail “is about so much more than civil rights — it’s about hope.” He paused, and rephrased his thought for wider appeal. “This trail is really about how hope hits the streets.”
The Central Louisiana leg of the tour follows this itinerary:
Day One:
On scenic Highway 1 below the town of Natchitoches, you will find yourself in a section of the rich in history and culture, a last outpost of the French Creole culture of south Louisiana. This district, instate particular, is unique, having been the home of a distinct group of “Creoles of Color” for more than two centuries. Descendents of the French planter Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer and his common-law wife of African descent, Marie-Thérèse Coin-Coin, they are tied together by blood, faith, and tradition. Today they still form a vibrant group with a strong focus on their common heritage. A number of sites are accessible via a driving tour. Melrose Plantation, the original seat of the Afro-Creole Metoyer family, includes the original “big house” as well as many plantation outbuildings. One of these, the “African House,” is an extremely rare example of African architecture in Louisiana. Melrose was later home to the famed African American folk artist Clementine Hunter, whose work is prominently featured.
Nearby is St. Augustine Catholic Church, the spiritual center of the Creole community. This structure is over two centuries old and still in active use. In the same vicinity, the Cane River Creole National Historical Park includes sections of Magnolia and Oakland Plantations. The park relates the story of plantation slavery in the area, particularly the complex intersections of French and African cultures in the creation of a truly Creole society. The brick slave cabins on Magnolia are particularly striking. Natchitoches has some great restaurants, so be sure to stop at one of them for lunch or dinner.
Day Two:
Spend your second day in Alexandria, home of the Arna Bontemps African American Museum. Bontemps was one of Louisiana’s most prolific African American writers, and this museum, his birthplace, serves as a
memorial to his incredible life and work. Although he left the state at an early age, much of his writing
dealt with black life in Louisiana and the South. As a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, and historian, he
continually opposed the injustices of segregation. An important member of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, Bontemps’ contributions to African American history and culture are immense, as the museum’s exhibits make readily apparent. Grab lunch or dinner in Alexandria, then continue on to your next stop on the trail!
As an addendum, while you’re in Alexandria, it is definitely worth your while to visit the Kent House Plantation. From its website:
Kent House is a classic example of French colonial architecture. Standing on the original land grant from the King of Spain to Pierre Baillio II, it offers a glimpse of the French, Spanish and American cultures that have influenced Louisiana. All three flags fly over the entrance.
The plantation house is one of the oldest standing structures in the state of Louisiana. Together with its outbuildings, it preserves the homestead of a successful Creole family typical of a Louisiana colonial era working plantation.
Kent Plantation House preserves, interprets, and promotes its historic site to educate the public about the history and culture of central Louisiana between 1795 and 1855.
Part of recapturing your City’s inner core requires the creation and development of walkable, scalable areas. It should be a natural side-effect; increased retail and commercial activity along an area like Bolton Avenue can serve several different neighborhoods in a walkable setting. The development of the Lakes District as a mixed-use community can increase opportunities for nearby residents of Claremont and Charles Park (after the Versailles Extension is complete). We may not have walkable neighborhoods right now, but with proper planning, we can mitigate that problem for future generations. One of the most radical proposals I have seen calls for a continuous greenbelt across the City, tracing the lines of Bayou Rapides and Bayou Roberts and snaking throughout town. We have ample opportunities to create a truly walkable community; it’s a matter of shared commitment.
An example of a walkable neighborhood
My house gets a score of 52 out of 100, which is average, because of my moderately close proximity to:
Grocery Stores
0.4 Mi
0.43 Mi
Wholesale Nutrition
0.46 Mi
Super 1 Foods
0.56 Mi
Bruno’s
0.74 Mi
J & K Food Mart
0.87 Mi
Kroger: Store #119
0.87 Mi
Kroger
1 Mi
Asian Pacific Food
Restaurants
0.41 Mi
0.41 Mi
Sonic Drive-In
0.44 Mi
Schlotzsky’s Deli
0.45 Mi
Popeyes Famous Frie
0.45 Mi
Mc Donald’s
0.46 Mi
Taco Bell
0.46 Mi
Domino’s Pizza
0.56 Mi
Burger King
Coffee Shops
0.87 Mi
1.27 Mi
House of Java
1.41 Mi
Lemon Tree Cafe
1.47 Mi
Starbucks
1.78 Mi
Dallas Street Coffe
1.8 Mi
House of Java
2.12 Mi
Community Coffee Co
3.26 Mi
Premium Coffee & Te
Bars
0.46 Mi
0.55 Mi
Spirits Food & Frie
0.69 Mi
Frosty Factory
0.74 Mi
Fatboy’s
1.05 Mi
Hot Shots Inc
1.1 Mi
Daiquiris To Go
1.1 Mi
Big Rick’s Sports B
1.18 Mi
Bayview Yacht Club
Movie Theaters
1.63 Mi
1.8 Mi
Alexandria Six
26.64 Mi
Le Theatre Desbon T
Schools
0.33 Mi
0.33 Mi
Huddle D F Elementa
0.34 Mi
Armitage Vicki Danc
0.37 Mi
First United Method
0.4 Mi
Alexandria Middle M
0.4 Mi
Alexandria Middle M
0.54 Mi
L.S. Rugg Elementar
0.67 Mi
Our Lady-Prompt Suc
Parks
1.06 Mi
1.1 Mi
Bringhurst Park
1.1 Mi
Alexandria Parks &
2.07 Mi
Cheatham Park
2.37 Mi
Street & Parks Supe
2.73 Mi
Hunter Park
4.27 Mi
Kees Park
4.39 Mi
Benton Tracey Dr DV
Libraries
0.89 Mi
1.37 Mi
Law Library
1.76 Mi
Medical Library
1.79 Mi
Alexandria Genealog
1.84 Mi
Rapides Parish Libr
1.84 Mi
Rapides Parish Libr
2.69 Mi
Parish of Rapides:
2.78 Mi
Martin Library
Bookstores
0.71 Mi
0.79 Mi
Pentecostals of Ale
0.94 Mi
Terish Books
1.27 Mi
Waldenbooks
1.49 Mi
Book Inn
1.51 Mi
Catholic Books & Gi
1.76 Mi
Books-A-Million
4.83 Mi
Gold Mind
Fitness
0.34 Mi
0.46 Mi
Curves
0.67 Mi
Banana Hut Tan & To
1.05 Mi
YMCA
1.21 Mi
Premier Athletic Cl
1.21 Mi
Premier Athletic Cl
1.47 Mi
Personal Best Spa
1.51 Mi
Maximum Fitness Cen
Drug Stores
0.42 Mi
0.46 Mi
Super 1 Foods
0.67 Mi
Rite Aid
0.87 Mi
Kroger: Store #119
0.99 Mi
Ray’s Apothecary Ph
1.13 Mi
CVS/pharmacy
1.16 Mi
Walgreen Drug Store
1.45 Mi
Target Stores: Stor
Hardware Stores
0.45 Mi
Clothing & Music
0.53 Mi
An average score might seem to indicate that I have an “average” level of walkable access to nearby resources. But the problem is that I live on a street without sidewalks and the nearest drug store, restaurant, and bank are all located on a major arterial. Now, let’s compare that to a random sampling of other addresses in town:
Charles Park: 14 out of 100
It’s no surprise that Charles Park ranked so low. Although the neighborhood itself is walkable, it’ll take a drive in your car to buy groceries or a cup of coffee. As a side note and for the purposes of irony and full disclosure, my great-uncle Charles White and my grandfather Paul White developed Charles Park, and my father developed Charles Park Extension.
I believe the neighborhood should consider adaptive commercial reuse possibilities along its most heavily-trafficked gateways (many of which are located outside of the neighborhood itself) as a way of addressing this issue.
I may be biased, but I think that the neighborhood– with its expansive boulevards and mixed-income housing units (i.e. Berkshire Apartments)– could become a good walkable community, provided the allowance of different zoning districts along its outer reaches and major collectors.
Alexandria Garden District: 38 out of 100
Again, the Alexandria Garden District is a traditional neighborhood development, and it is also inherently “walkable,” though some streets do lack adequate sidewalks. The reason it scored so low, one would think, is because most retail and commercial activity occurs in other, non-contiguous areas of town.
Still, the Alexandria Garden District remains as one of the State’s best neighborhoods, and its potential for future activity is limitless.
Downtown Alexandria: 65 out of 100
Not a surprise that Downtown scored the highest, although no neighborhood in Alexandria is truly walkable. The problem with Downtown: No one lives there.
But once people are finally given living opportunities, Downtown’s walkability score will likely increase.
Lower Third: 40 out of 100
Lower Third is Louisiana Highway One, and the neighborhood itself is a series of new cul-de-sac developments and small subdivisions. Sidewalks are intermittent, and due to the construction of I-49 and the Pineville Expressway, much of the area is choked off from the City’s inner core.
With the expansion of Sixth and Foisy Streets and the development of the Lower Third streetscape project, this area will also likely become more scalable and walkable.
Samtown/Woodside: 28 out of 100
Honestly, Samtown/Woodside could have easily scored a zero. Most streets do not have sidewalks, and in addition to that, streets are often far too narrow. Moreover, like South Alexandria, Samtown/Woodside has very few neighborhood retail and commercial opportunities.
The Sugarhouse Road extension will squarely focus on increasing transportation access in this critical area of town, and because of this, hopefully, the area will receive a much-needed boost of commercial and industrial development, which, in tandem with smart planning, can create a walkable neighborhood.
South Alexandria: 60 out of 100
Do not be deceived. South Alexandria contains essentially no retail or hospitality opportunities. The construction of I-49 dead-ended numerous streets. Sure, it is in the middle of town and technically close to surrounding resources, but practically all of these are located outside of the neighborhood.
One of the main reasons the neighborhood contains little retail opportunities is because much of its housing stock is blighted and substandard. An aggressive expropriation policy (which is currently being developed) along with an aggressive home ownership initiative (a component of SPARC) are desperately needed to address these issues and transform the neighborhood.
Among other things, I have been charged with researching the best practices for city-wide youth involvement programs.
It’s an issue close to my heart. The average age of our workforce will reach retirement in less than a decade. The Rapides Foundation has also recognized the exigency of the situation, which is one of the reasons they created the “Bring ‘Em Home CenLa” campaign through CAP.
Ever since I was a teenager, I have enjoyed participating in an open public discussion. Back then, The Town Talk featured a “Youth Council,” a group of a dozen or so high school students who wrote weekly columns about local events. I joined the Youth Council during my senior year and wrote prolifically long columns/diatribes (which, for whatever reason, actually got published). I remember writing a 2,500 word essay on school censorship, my magnum opus, and although it was published in full, I was identified as “Lamar Alexander,” the Tennessee Republican who had been running for President around the time. I thought it was comically awesome. I also was involved with different speech and debate events, Voice of Democracy competitions, and mock trial.
Today, there is no Youth Council at the paper. Speech and debate events, unfortunately, are no longer as common. And due, in part, to No Child Left Behind, public school funding for forensics and the arts has been diminished. Moreover, there are few job placement programs and very few internship opportunities.
There is no doubt Alexandria needs to engage with its young people, which is where Alexandria Corps comes in.
This is what we’ve come up with so far:
Throughout the nation, municipalities are beginning to understand the importance of involving young people
in short-term and long-term planning as well as the implementation and organization of certain city
programs and initiatives. Involving young people in the City’s planning process ensures that the needs and
hopes of the next generation are addressed and considered. Our City’s young people are major
stakeholders in the future of this City. It is imperative that City government recognizes and is capable of
responding to the opinions of this stakeholder group, which accounts for nearly a quarter of our entire
population.
Moreover, directly involving young people can create a unique enthusiasm around a project. It can inspire the entire community, and it can help students gain access to opportunities they otherwise could not experience. Statistically, communities which have employed effective Youth Participatory Programs have seen declines in drop-out rates and, relatedly, increases in graduation rates. They also instill civic-mindedness at an early age, and adults who participated in such programs as teenagers tend to be more likely to volunteer, vote, and express their opinions on City projects and programs.
According to a survey recently conducted of nearly 500 municipal leaders by the National League of Cities,
41% believe they are not accurately responding to the needs of young people. This is not simply a political
problem; it can quickly become a workforce problem. Cities that directly engage young people are cities
that attract and retain young people.
The Three Pathways:
Most experts believe that Hampton, Virginia (population 146,137) created the best model for Youth
Participatory Programs. Hampton’s program won Harvard University’s 2005 Award for Innovations in
American Government. Hampton identifies three major “pathways:”
Service: “Short-term meaningful volunteer opportunities introduce civic engagement to a broad range of
youth.” The example they use is an environmental program in which students helped to restore the Virginia
oyster population by essentially harvesting oysters themselves.
We can employ short-term volunteer programs throughout the City in a number of different areas.
Volunteering at the Zoo, for example, should not simply be the province of students assigned community
service for misdemeanor offenses. The City can also partner with organizations like Boy Scouts of America,
the Red Cross, and the Hope House to identify other short-term volunteer opportunities both locally and
regionally.
Influence: “With training, young people can participate in a variety of advisory roles that provide valuable
input.” For example, in Hampton, when teenagers were invited to join and participate in a “local
neighborhood planning process, they dramatically shifted the group’s direction of strategic investments.
Their input that a youth-focused facility proposed by the adults would go under-utilized ultimately saved the City over $3 million.”
We can engage young people in the planning and implementation of the Master Parks and Recreation Plan
as well as the development of a Comprehensive Meta-plan. We may also consider holding a series of
youth-oriented community meetings in order to determine how young people would like to see Alexandria in
the next twenty years.
Shared Leadership: “Youth serve in positions of authority and as voting members on city boards and
committees where they help to create policy.” In Hampton, such involvement resulted in the development of
a new Teen Center.
We can augment the Youth Advisory Council and then direct them to take on project-specific tasks. They
can also help the City to research, write, and propose specific ordinances regarding things like bicycle
safety.
What Can City Government Do?
1. Acknowledge young people as stakeholders in our shared future.
2. Identify skilled youth development professionals.
3. Identify productive work, appropriate tasks, and a schedule to accommodate young people.
4. Create opportunities to influence decisions.
5. Local government should be mindful of consulting young people, particularly on projects affecting young
people.
6. Local government should serve as a resource provider for young people, not merely as a regulator.
7. Share leadership by appointing young people to certain boards and committees.
8. Train young people for these roles of responsibility and allow them to partner with adults to help resolve
certain issues.
9. Hire young people as paid and unpaid interns. Allow them to become involved in the Planning and
Community Services Divisions.
The Hampton Model:
Other municipalities have followed this model, which was created in 1990, with measurable success.
Brighton, Colorado (population 33,000) explains their approach:
It also established that the Youth Commission’s membership will include 26 residents of Brighton; 20 high school-aged students, four young adults between the ages of 20 and 30, and two adults – one School Board member and one City Council member. City Council also charged the Youth Commission with the responsibility of working with the Youth Resources Coordinator and Master Plan Consultant in the creation of the Children, Youth and Family Master Plan.
The third aspect of City Council’s master planning initiative was to hire a consultant to conduct the process. This was done primarily to allow city officials to be equal participants in planning, to allow citizens to drive the process, and to gain the insights of a group experienced in creating youth master plans.
Following an open RFP process (Project #05-050), the firm Onsite-Insights was selected. The principal officers of Onsite-Insights were the chief architects of the Hampton, Virginia award winning youth master planner.
Alexandria Youth Master Plan:
A Youth Master Plan can complement our Parks and Recreation Master Plan, though its scope is distinctly different. A Youth Master Plan will call for a series of meetings with young people, School Board officials,teachers, and various stakeholders in order to assess the present and future needs of Alexandria’s nextgeneration. It will allow the City to determine which neighborhoods are being under-served and which facilities and programs are being under-utilized. Additionally, a Youth Master Plan will identify problems previously unreported or unknown, such as the feasibility of something like a skatepark or the need for a City swimming facility.
Like Brighton, Colorado, we may consider expanding the scope of a Youth Master Plan to include sections
that address the needs of young children and their families. The National League of Cities provides
resources and technical assistance in developing Youth Master Plans.
This is, indeed, a work in progress, and can only advance with the input and the advice of the entire community.
I spent my last year in Houston living in a mixed-income, racially-diverse neighborhood in the middle of town; it was an area that anticipated gentrification, both due to its housing stock and its great location, but it hadn’t quite reached the tipping point– which was a good thing for the working class and nearby college students.
Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is a term applied to that part of the urban housing cycle in which physically deteriorated neighborhoods attract an influx of investment and undergo physical renovation and an increase in property market values. In many cases, the lower-income residents who occupied the neighborhood prior to its renovation can no longer afford properties there. [1][2]
Proponents of gentrification focus on the benefits of urban renewal, such as renewed investment in physically deteriorating locales, improved access to lending capital for low-income mortgage seekers as their property values increase, increased rates of lending to minority and first-time home purchasers to invest in the now-appreciating area and improved physical conditions for renters.[3] Gentrification has been linked to reductions in crime rates, increased property values, increased revenue to local governments from property taxes, increased tolerance of sexual minorities,[4] and renewed community activism.[citation needed]
Critics of gentrification often cite the human cost to the neighborhood’s lower-income residents. The increases in rent often result in the dispersal of communities whose members find that housing in the area is no longer affordable.[citation needed] Additionally, the increase in property taxes (due to increased property values) may sometimes force or give incentive for homeowners to sell their homes and move to less expensive neighborhoods. While those who view gentrification positively cite local reductions in a neighborhood’s crime rate, its critics argue that overall crime rates have not actually been reduced, but merely shifted to different lower-income neighborhoods.[5]
Because gentrification and neighborhood revitalization go hand in hand, gentrification can be “a double-edged sword” with both positive and negative impacts.[6]
Yesterday, Mayor Roy revealed the specific details of a $96 million city-wide revitalization project entitled SPARC (or Special Planned Activity Redevelopment Corridors), and since this project could potentially result in what some would label “gentrification,” now is as good of a time as any to discuss this issue.
It’s important.
Even at the risk of sounding like a mouthpiece or a propaganda arm, I gotta say: SPARC is huge for Alexandria.
In the previous post, I examined McKinney Avenue in Dallas and the way in which the Dallas City government, with the help of the private sector, revitalized their Uptown through a combination of a taxing district and a business investment district and a series of serendipitous market forces. Although McKinney Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood is now, once again, thriving, it’s worth noting that the revitalization took nearly twenty years to come to fruition. Still, Dallas was able to revitalize their Uptown, in large part, because they realized that there is not a cookie-cutter formula to redevelopment. There are models, sure, but ultimately, the best way to ensure for success is to provide room for multiple solutions.
SPARC will immediately tackle problems in multiple areas in the City without the need for a new tax or an increased tax burden. It’s about leveraging our assets in order to improve our shared quality of life index and increase economic development opportunities in our inner core. Overlaying, repairing, and extending streets. New lighting. Business incentives. Thematic signage. Aesthetic enhancements such as brickwork and landscaping. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
In multiple areas.
Effective immediately.
Alexandria’s inner core suffers from severe unemployment rates, low property values, and a track record of violent crime. Revitalization never occurs as the result of a singular catalytic project; a confluence of economic conditions together with a broadly-focused vision can create the necessary environment.
One of the best and most obvious ways to prevent the type of displacement that is sometimes caused by the forces of gentrification is to promote home ownership. To be sure, holding slum lords accountable may sometimes result in turnover, but as long as infrastructural repairs occur in tandem with an aggressive home ownership policy, displacement can be minimized.
Taxes are not meant to be held in a savings account in perpetuity. We pay taxes to provide for infrastructural and quality of life initiatives that can enrich our entire community, projects that address the problems that bog us down. This is not an ideological point; it’s simply the task with which our elected officials are charged: The diligent and dutiful application and expenditure of tax money into projects that can increase opportunities available to the entire community.
If you doubt the validity of these repairs, then I suggest you consult with the voluminous reports, the demographics, and the empirical data; clearly, you will find that we are ignoring our inner core at the financial peril of the entire City.
For some, paving a road to the new Wal-Mart seems like an essential responsibility of government, yet when it comes to improving our inner-city, they believe such an initiative to be a waste of taxpayer money. Today, a commenter on The Town Talk said even if you were to renovate every single house on Monroe Street, it would still be “the ghetto.” Seriously.
And when people publicly say ignorant things such as that, they should be called out: If every house on Monroe Street is renovated, then everyone living in and around Monroe Street will see their property values rise and opportunities increase. Businesses will seek to locate in the area. Civic-mindedness and community involvement will likely increase. (Regardless, the commenter at The Town Talk will likely still believe the area to be in the “ghetto,” because for some reason, he has permanently written off the possibilities of an entire neighborhood and an entire community).
Thankfully, there are far more people who believe in the possibilities, people who celebrate their community and understand the collective benefits of individual participation, and people who understand the need to address our shared “urban nightmares.”
It’s not a big secret that Alexandria has always struggled with its identity, which is one of the reasons this blog tends to obsess over Alexandria’s few remaining historic buildings and places. It’s a way of rediscovering what we’re made of– every one of those places can tell their own stories.
Since I took the job with the Mayor’s Office, I’ve had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about Alexandria’s history. Local history is a passion shared by many in my family. My great-aunts, Sue Eakin and Manie Culbertson (my paternal grandmother’s sisters), wrote the book Louisiana: The Land and Its People, which, I believe, is still the recommended textbook for junior high school Louisiana history classes.
Aunt Sue also edited Solomon Northrup’s world-famous text, Twelve Years a Slave. I’ve written about her scholarship before. Aunt Sue’s approaching 90 years old, and she’s still researching and writing about the subject she loves– Louisiana. If you were to ask her about Alexandria’s history, I think she’d probably agree about our identity crisis.
Alexandria was burned to the ground in 1864, and we’ve had a love/hate relationship with our shared history ever since. As Drew Ward likes to point out, Alexandria can sometimes be masochistic– recklessly preferring demolition instead of preservation. I’d like to think this has changed recently– in part, as a result of the good work done by people like Melinda Anderson, Paul Smith, Charlie Charrier, and Mike Jenkins.
But, undoubtedly, there are others who believe that demolition is easier (and therefore more sensible) than preservation. There are some who believe our inner core and our historic neighborhoods are somehow beyond saving. It’s absurd.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I am in Dallas right now. I return tomorrow. My mother’s family is from Dallas. They can trace their roots all the way back to the very first Dallas settler, John Neely Bryan; a replica of his log cabin is only a block or two away from the Texas School Book Depository.
I bring this up for a reason. My maternal grandfather traveled with us this weekend. He hasn’t been to Dallas since his mother’s funeral, over seven years ago. When we told him that we were going to pick up a family member who lives near McKinney Avenue, he remarked, “That’s a bad area of town.” Actually, less than twenty years ago, it was a bad area. It was similar to the way many Alexandrians view Bolton Avenue– a historic corridor that had become blighted due to decades of neglect.
Dallas decided it needed to rescue this important area, and they invested millions in infrastructural repairs. Quoting from the National Resources Defense Council:
Less than two decades ago, the area could be more accurately described as an urban nightmare. The neighborhood suffered from disinvestment, crime, and decrepit infrastructure — urban ills that have plagued many inner-city neighborhoods around the country. What was once one of Dallas’s most affluent areas had become one of its most undesirable. Nevertheless, speculators bought and cleared land in the 1980s in the area, hoping for a new wave of office development. Their hopes turned sour when the real estate market collapsed in the mid-1980s.
But the weak market created favorable conditions for building new housing in Uptown. When land prices are high, developers usually prefer to build office space, because of its much greater return on their high upfront investments. Low land prices in Dallas made housing development economically feasible close to the central business district.
Seizing the opportunity, Columbus Realty Trust (now Post Properties) bought eight properties in the Uptown area, with plans to build apartments, lofts, and townhouses within walking distance of the area’s existing businesses on McKinney Avenue. In 1988, Columbus formed a partnership with the city of Dallas to revitalize the area. The city created a tax increment-financing (TIF) district, which allowed a portion of tax revenues collected in the area to be dedicated to improving the district’s infrastructure. The water and sewage systems were revamped, utilities were buried, and streets were repaved.
Sound familiar?
McKinney Avenue and Uptown Dallas are prime examples of what can be accomplished. I am not arguing in support of a TIF; since 1988, other municipalities have used more innovative methods. We should consider our options.
Still, I have noticed that the people most negative about Alexandria don’t actually live in Alexandria. Seriously.
To be sure, we have our fair share of Debbie Downers, but for the most part, people are positive, though often impatient for change. Continuing:
In 1993, the Dallas City Council approved the creation of the Uptown Public Improvement District, in which property owners pay a special assessment to cover varied improvements throughout the district. (Such arrangements, usually called business improvement districts or BIDs, are becoming increasingly popular. See the box in our discussion of the MCI Center for an example in Washington, D.C.) Funds have been devoted primarily to security, special events, and capital improvements, including sidewalks, street lighting, and small public parks. Also in 1993, Columbus merged with Post Properties, another company dedicated to urban revitalization through developing high-quality rental properties.
Other developers took notice of the changes in Uptown, resulting in a wave of investment. Businesses flourished as more and more people moved to the neighborhood. By 1998, there were 56 restaurants in the 128-block area. The neighborhood also has a large grocery and drug store, a hardware store, several gyms, and a number of smaller specialty shops.
An important aspect of Uptown’s appeal is that many of its attractions are within walking distance. Wide tree-shaded brick sidewalks connect residential areas with work places, quiet neighborhood parks, and the hopping bars, cafes, and entertainment venues on McKinney Avenue. The city’s only trolley line also runs along McKinney, providing another attractive alternative to driving. It is not uncommon to find Uptown residents like Sandra Christie, who estimates that she had put only 6,000 miles on her car in the six years she had lived in the neighborhood.5
Uptown is providing the urban character that its name promises. The housing stock is varied, including both new and renovated buildings, and comprising lofts, luxury units, and townhouses, all at a range of prices. But the new neighborhood is also predominantly affluent: the average Uptown household income was $99,000 per year in 1998, suggesting that, unfortunately, not all people can enjoy its urban delights.
For those who can, Uptown offers convenience, community, and freedom from their cars. As Ron Baker, a businessman, explains: “I could have gotten a large place for less money in North Dallas or Addison, but I didn’t want the suburban feel. And there’s just a lot of very positive energy here.”6 As Uptown proves, there is a very real market for urban living.
The City of Dallas didn’t do anything extraordinary; they simply put the pieces in place for private industry. They recognized the importance of their inner core, the shifting market demands due to changing demographics, and instead of simply talking and planning, they acted.
I’m in Dallas for my sister’s graduation, and the only cable news channel at the hotel here is Fox. Less than an hour after the story broke, Fox correspondents were referring to Senator Kennedy in the past tense, discussing his weight, and digging up Chappaquiddick.
Kennedy is a giant in American history and given the nature of this story (and the fact that, at the time, Fox had absolutely no idea what was going on), I’d hope they would confer a little more respect. Certainly, he deserves it.
My late father always liked telling a story about bumping into the Senator in Capitol Hill and how gracious and kind he was.
Incidentally, Vickie Kennedy– the Senator’s wife– is a native of Louisiana and the daughter of a prominent Louisiana judge, Edmund M. Reggie.
I’ve never met the blogger who refers to himself as WeSawThat (yes, news alert, it’s actually HeSawThat), but I do know his name. And during the past couple of years, we’ve shared various observations with one another via e-mail. He sends me blog traffic every single day, and I send him traffic every day as well.
Sometimes, his blog is highly entertaining, and sometimes, it is incredibly (almost hyperbolically) offensive. I understand he thinks that he has developed a persona.
I don’t like to get involved with blog wars, but his latest rant about the Tulane Legislative Scholarship is beyond the pale for a few reasons. But before I get into that, let’s discuss the larger story:
I work for a guy who understands the importance of the new media and the Internet. When he was first elected, he wanted to at least introduce himself to members of this new media. Government transparency should always extend itself to the blogosphere, but in order for that to occur, bloggers have to be willing to take the initiative to do their homework, conduct their interviews, and sometimes, even file for public information requests, particularly in a small City with only one newspaper.
On numerous occasions, WeSawThat has been invited for personal sit-down meetings with the Mayor. He has been encouraged to file for public records requests. And he has consistently refused or simply ignored those invitations.
He operates in the conspiratorial underbelly of American politics– the Jeff Renses and Larry Sinclairs of the world. It’s sensational entertainment, information disconnected from the vast body of knowledge and constructed on cherry-picked ignorance– and sometimes, flat-out lies and patently ridiculous distortions.
He doesn’t trust the government. He seems to loathe nearly every elected politician in the State, regardless of party affiliation or ideology. And while this may drive traffic toward his doorstep, it’s not exactly a constructive conversation; actually, the vast majority of his posts contain zero comments from outside readers.
Here’s the problem: It’s perfectly appropriate and acceptable to be skeptical of government and politicians, as long as that skepticism is grounded in objective facts. The irony about WeSawThat is that he constantly reminds people not to trust the corporate media (something he and I can usually agree on), yet, whenever the so-called local “corporate media” reports on local political stories, he tends to bite hook, line, and sinker.
Government can only become open and transparent if government watchdogs actually take the initiative- whether through phone calls, e-mails, or sit-down meetings– to ensure for accountability. You’re not a watchdog if your entire opinion is predicated on what you read in the newspaper that morning.
Which brings me back to the Tulane Legislative Scholarship:
WeSawThat apparently located a document from a former Tulane professor that lists the names of all of the teenage high school students who were selected for the Tulane Legislative Scholarships. Perhaps it is appropriate to discuss whether or not our legislators should be determining which students receive this stipend, though, in my opinion, this is just silliness. Regardless, WeSawThat felt it appropriate to impugn the validity of a scholarship awarded to Lanie Sansing by Chris Roy, Jr. On its face, given the media fixation on the attorney/client relationship between Jacques Roy and Sam Sansing, Lanie’s father, I can understand his initial skepticism. But hold on, we’re talking about impugning a teenager’s academic record– implying that her scholarship was somehow nepotism is to suggest that she was undeserving. Moreover, WeSawThat does not live in Alexandria, has never met or spoken with Chris or Jacques Roy, has never met or spoken with Sam Sansing, has never met, spoken with, or reviewed the academic resume of Lanie Sansing, and, correct me if I am wrong, has never filed a single public records request in his entire blogging career.
He may be entertaining. He may sometimes be scandalous. On local news, however, he is often purposely and recklessly hyperbolic. He simply doesn’t ever take the time to know what he’s talking about, nor does he care to find out. Because, I suppose, he enjoys his anonymity.
Lanie Sansing graduated as valedictorian of her class. I know this because I attended Menard’s graduation ceremonies last night. Lanie and I don’t know each other, but I happen to know at least four teachers at Menard. No one disputes her merits.
That’s why I was compelled to address this specific story. You shouldn’t drag a teenager’s name and reputation into your own public political rants without- at least- giving him or her the opportunity to provide context. Now, any time someone searches for this young girl’s name, they’ll stumble upon a page that essentially calls her into question. It’s simply unfair for her. She’s not a politician or a public official. She’s a bright, young woman preparing to enter college.
And had he taken the time to consult with Chris Roy, Jr. about his decision-making process, he’d find that Ms. Sansing was one of only a handful of applicants within his district and that, in his opinion, she was clearly the most deserving, given her status as valedictorian and all of her other accomplishments. He would also discover that Chris Roy, Jr.’s decision was not based on patronage; it was based on her merits. Chris Roy, Jr. has never been “close family friends” with the Sansings. They only met within the past three or four years– and only because Mr. Sansing was one of his brother’s clients.
Instead of actually doing his homework, WeSawThat went for the cheap and quick political hit.
I would hope that one day he will find the courage and tenacity to reveal his true identity and attempt to actually participate in the process and join the community– truly holding government accountable by requesting interviews, writing e-mail inquiries (even easier), and filing public records requests.
Until then, I hope he will at least attempt to open the lines of communication before publicly impugning local people based on tortured interpretations of media snippets and a refusal to actually engage, even when he’s invited.
Despite the Republican Party’s best efforts, including the recruitment of Dick Cheney (who apparently spoke to a noticeably underwhelming crowd at a small convention center in Northern Mississippi), Democrat Travis Childers beat Republican Greg Davis in yet another race the Republicans were supposed to win.
“[T[he Republican strategy of trying to link Mr. Childers to more liberal national Democratic figures fell short, as it did in Louisiana. Indeed, voters here were bombarded by advertisements equating Mr. Childers with Senator Barack Obama, a tactic intended to turn conservative whites away from Mr. Childers and which some politicians said played on white racial resentments… In the end, tying the white Democrat to the black presidential candidate may have helped Mr. Childers more than it hurt him, as campaign aides reported heavy black turnout, heavier than in a vote three weeks ago when he came within 400 votes of winning.”
A couple of weeks ago, Ryan and I decided to join forces, anticipating that we may have been competing against one another for the same spot.
So, along with Ryan from Baton Rouge, this means two Central Louisianans will be reporting live from the convention floor–yours truly and Daniel T. Smith.
More than likely, updates will be posted at The Daily Kingfish, and then reposted right here.
The convention is in August, and it promises to be an imminently fascinating experience.
I moved back to Alexandria during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. My mother had been operating a residential property management company, which she essentially inherited from my father, who passed away four years prior.
For several months, she was overwhelmed with phone calls from people who needed places to live, which we were able to accommodate, because the turn-over rate was so high.
I hadn’t possessed any intention of moving back to Alexandria. I was working in Houston, and at the time, I was considering applying for positions in Los Angeles. In fact, like many in my generation, I often told people that I would never return to Alexandria.
I wasn’t being arrogant or dismissive about my hometown. My generation is simply more transient, more prone to recognizing the limitless geography provided to us by air travel, more adept at adapting to new environments, more technologically-savvy (and relatedly, more connected to one another), and more curious about the “outside world” because of this. I wanted to be somewhere else because I recognized how easy it would be to be somewhere else– and because, let’s face it: Alexandria was not (and maybe still isn’t) appealing to young people.
But I came back. And I’m not trying to sound heroic or anything; the situation worked itself out for me. It made financial sense, and I knew I was needed. Plus, even though I can live independently, I can drive myself to work, and I can walk without support, I still have a very mild physical disability, so it helps to be around friends and family.
That said, I definitely had a tinge of resentment about Alexandria.
My father died when I was a teenager. He was an alcoholic who was diagnosed with and treated for bipolar disorder; he had been in and out of rehab on three separate occasions. He was always completely earnest in his attempts for recovery, but he had a debilitating psychological and chemical disorder that– despite his intelligence and his charisma– prevented him from recovering.
I know this may sound strange: But two weeks before he died, I knew he was going to die. It wasn’t some strange psychic phenomenon; I knew because I watched him, painfully, devolve.
His death, the result of a single car accident, was the lead story on the local news, and it was on the front page of the paper the next day. For reasons I could not understand then, as a teenager, my father’s death was a news story. People called into talk radio about him. The Town Talk requested pictures of the accident, toxicology reports, and even pictures of his corpse, and when my family sued to prevent the potential publication of this, they ran a story about us, essentially impugning his widow and her teenage children for demanding privacy over the untimely and tragic death of my father– who was a private citizen. (And I mean no offense to the current leadership and staff of The Town Talk, recognizing full well that the current “administration,” if you will, was not involved in any of these editorial or legal decisions). Obviously, it deeply hurt and offended me; it felt as if some were attempting to take a private tragedy and turn it into a sensational news story.
My father was a remarkable and exceptional person. He was valedictorian of his high school class, quarterback for the football team, and when he went to college, he was renowned as the top graduate in real estate. After college, with the help of his father, he started his own company, eventually employing more than fifty people. And I also understand that his success is why his death became news, though I will never understand the newspaper’s prerogative.
For me, the entire thing was very personal, which is why I resisted returning to Alexandria.
Plus, Alexandria seemed stagnant, complacent, and petty– a stubborn small town that refused to grow up and adapt. This was reinforced by a media of outsiders, people who reported on Alexandria but never learned to love Alexandria. There were no Edgar McCormicks– true champions of the City who preached about possibilities, not limitations. But there were plenty of people hoping to make a name for themselves by fanning the flames, both in the media and in the private sector.
Thankfully, throughout the past three years, I have learned to love Alexandria and its opportunities. I have learned to celebrate its assets and its potential, and I have learned that Alexandrians are some of the best, most civic-minded, and most progressive people in this nation– despite whatever impression one may have after reading the newspaper and its online forums.
We face many challenges ahead of us, including, importantly, how to address the voices of cynicism, skepticism, and blind-sighted ideology that have prevented us from truly capitalizing on our assets and realizing our potential.
But thankfully, I believe there are far more of us who believe in progressive and, when needed, aggressive change.
In 1968, President Johnson began to run for reelection. In January 1968, faced with what was widely considered an unrealistic race against an incumbent President, Senator Kennedy stated he would not seek the presidency. After the 
Yet Mr. Landrieu is far less interested in the Haydels than the legacy of the 254 slaves who once inhabited the nearly dozen shacks behind the big house during Whitney’s reign among the largest sugar farms in Louisiana. His muddy shoes planted in front of a row of neatly situated sun-bleached shacks during a recent visit, Mr. Landrieu nudged a reporter toward what he likes to call a living museum:
