HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-5-14 Story Street SID Public Comment from Mary Vant Hull MCAV'
Honorable & Ethical Commissioners, You have a recent NYT
article, headlined, "Vatican Dialogue: Man Is a Technical Giant and
an Ethical Child." That's relevant here: If the Pope were here
tonight, he might tell you that ethically, we are a majority, even if
that is not technically so.
You received 20 protests by the 5 p.m., 4/28, deadline. 15 minutes
later, a neighbor called to ask when the protests had to be in. I said,
15 minutes ago." Another protester asked the same question a bit
later. There have been more. You know that the trials of life —
deaths in families(2), devastating news, trouble with kids or spouses,
being yelled at by the boss, or even getting fired — many tribulations
throw us all for a loop. Ethically, people who missed the boat are
part of a healthy majority protest in the 41 lots here, even though
you have the legal power to impose 50% of the cost on us.
There's no law saying that you must pass this resolution! Com-
mission decisions are often based partly on an ethical element, like
that being discussed at The Vatican. It's you — not bureaucrats --
wh un erstand, Shakespeare's "If we are pricked, do we not
bleed?"
So, we Story Street dwellers have been asked to bleed a disportion-
ate cost here.
The world won't fall in if you postpone E. Story action until you get
a more realistic traffic count in July or August, instead of from a
miserable, rainy, cold September Farmers' Market when both
sellers & buyers had the good sense to stay home. Do it when the
swim pool is open, when lessons are given, when kids & dogs splash
in Bozeman Creek, when the City band & many other performers
draw crowds, when the grass is covered with picknickers.
That nice little chart we got, with its neat, little numbers shows a
false reality. It doesn't know that we residents don't drive the cars
that come from Dell & Bonner; nor that we don't drive the cars that
come from all over the City & from all over the SE suburbs; nor
that, living 5 blocks from Main Street, we often walk or bike instead
of driving; nor that more cars choose a Snow Route like Story; nor
that E. Story IS a through street with stop signs coming into it from
Bogart Place, Dell, Bozeman & Black. Nor that we have a lot of
destination attractions, like Bogart & Burke Parks, the GaIligator
Trail, the Library Trail & Peets Hill Trails! You do not have
another street with Story's unique concatenation of cars from all
over, & therefore with a lower percentage of residents car miles on
it.
This resolution has false premises and no ethical understanding or
humanity in it. Please vote No tonight.