Do you know what a NIMBY is? It’s a person who protests- you can do this- as long as it’s Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY). Well they have a neighbor- the CAVE people- Citizens Against Virtually Everything- or that’s one of the things I learned at the meeting of “Grassroots Greater Dayton [1]” which I mentioned in this old post [2].
Gene Krebs, State Director of Greater Ohio [3] was the speaker- and he shared with us his ideas about sustainable growth and sprawl. There were about 30 people in attendance, including Stan Earley from the City of Dayton, and Mike Robinette from the MVRPC [4] (the sponsor of Grassroots Greater Dayton). Unfortunately, we didn’t go around the room for introductions- but there were a few other familiar faces.
Greater Ohio is a lobbying organization- that seems to think that all change will come by getting politicians to buy into the forward thinking ideas of containing sprawl. While Krebs makes a great case for his briefing book- the fact is: we have the best politicians money can buy- and no reasoning will deter them from making bad short term decisions.
I didn’t say much at the meeting- but several people came up and asked me why I’m not stepping forward in a leadership role for this organization- and my answer was quite simply that it would be the kiss of death- thanks to my ability to tick off the “powers that be” in Dayton. I have no plans to run for office without either a party- or a team to support my candidacy. However, I hope that by being an active participant- and by reporting on this blog about the ideas discussed- I can help be an agent of change in our community.
Apparently, a few people do read this blog- because three of them were sitting next to me- and asked if I had a blog. They were from the Dayton Public Schools- and are working in the new uni-sex schools- the all boys “Dayton Prep Academy” and the all girls “Earley Academy for Girls.” So this blog is making a bit of a difference.
The meeting ran just over an hour- and was thought stimulating- but more from a standpoint of this is another group formed to talk about the issues- when what we really need is some leaders to face the issues. Maybe when we go to vote in November- sustainable growth can be one of the main issues- according to Gene Krebs’ poll numbers- sprawl isn’t scoring so well on the public popularity scale- yet our elected “leaders” seem to be turning a blind eye. Maybe because developers are such good sources for campaign donations.
If we really want progress- we have to start with campaign finance reform. Just remember where you heard it.