Built to Last: First Suburbs Fights to Keep the Inner Ring Thriving

It's a pretty powerful thing to be in a room with 200 like-minded people, as I found myself in while attending the First Suburbs meeting on Thursday night, April 29.  First Suburbs is a non-profit advocacy group that focuses on issues facing the inner-ring suburbs (literally, the "First" Suburbs) and advocates to make their issues a priority for our elected officials.   
 
First Suburbs focuses on Housing, Infrastructure, and School Funding, since Federal and State policies on these issues tend to favor (and financially benefit) the newer, farther-out suburbs. By promoting the sprawl of these new suburbs, these policies deplete the resources of the older communities that make up the inner-ring suburbs. 

What I find most interesting at these meetings is the tenacity of the First Suburbs membership. Their questions are direct and to the point, they present their issues clearly, and they are not the least bit shy when asking invited politicians to support their agenda. Usually, a politician's choice not to attend a First Suburb meeting in the first place speaks volumes. If you are a smart politician and disagree with the group's policy points, you're probably not going to show up at the event anyway. 

 
Nonetheless, below is a summary of some of the question and answer sessions between these parties at last night's meeting:
 
 
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Question on Housing presented to Diane Lello, Acting Regional Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and John Pickett, Executive Director of the Delaware County Office of Housing and Community Development
 
QUESTION: Will you both work with the First Suburbs Project to make housing equity and mobility a priority in Delaware and Chester Counties by convening representatives of the Housing Authorities to: 1) Explore ways to use existing programs to promote housing choice and mobility, and 2) propose new ways to promote housing choice and mobility including a joint application to HUD for any new programs designed to increase housing choice for low income and families with special needs? 
 

Further, as we explore existing programs we need to look at how the current fair market rent calculations are reducing choice and mobility for section 8 voucher holders. We believe that can and should be changed. Will the HUD office agree to review how the fair market rent is calculated so as to better promote mobility and freedom of choice? 

ANSWER: Yes.

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Question on Infrastructure presented to State Senator Ted Erickson and Representatives Ronald Waters and Bryan Lentz
 
QUESTION: Will you work with First Suburbs to build support with the legislative representatives on the PENNVEST board to create a separate “fix it first” funding mechanism for sewers within PENNVEST?
 
ANSWER: Yes.

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Question on Education presented to State Senator Ted Erickson and Representative Ronald Waters and Senator Anthony WIlliams (via Rep. Waters)
 
QUESTION: Can we count on you to be champions for our school districts and work with us to:
 
- challenge efforts to weaken the formula in ways that undermine our communities?

- advocate to improve the formula so that is also addresses the costs of special education?

- advocate to make sure we have an adequate level of funding without taxing our communities out of existence?

ANSWER: Yes.

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I'm fully aware that there are probably not any elected officials that would come to the First Suburbs meeting and answer “no” to questions like those posed above. However, as someone in the audience with many of those same concerns, I found it very encouraging to hear affirmative answers from the officials present at the meeting. Straight answers are usually a rarity among elected officials, aside from a select few, often at a very local level. And while the succinct Yes/No answers can turn to convoluted grey areas in many instances, last night I heard nothing but resounding a "Yes" in all of their answers. 

I would like to give an big "atta boy" to the politicos that showed up last night. It took courage and conviction, and I really respect that. Nonetheless, I do wonder why a lot of other regional officials that represent constituents in the inner-ring suburbs were not there. Noticeably missing were State Senator Dominic Pileggi, State Representative Nick Micozzie, and State Representative William Adolph. I do realize and understand that our elected officials have a long list of groups that request their attendance and plenty of work to do, but I come from the “must be willing to move a mountain" crowd. So while the three named above probably had a legitimate reason not to be there last night, I do hope that by not being there, they now have an even better reason to be there next time. 

As for me, I can't wait until the next First Suburbs event. I am thrilled that I went last night, and was pleased to see that the meeting was so well organized and ended up being a productive experience for all involved. It is very reassuring to know that the First Suburbs organization, with its massive support, is actually having a positive impact on our inner-ring communities.

Line up your friends for next time! If you are interested in joining a group of folks who love their homes and communities as much as you do at the next First Suburbs meeting, please call or email me. 

 

 

Happening this Weekend in Lansdowne, May 1

The Great Things that Spring Brings

Just a reminder to make sure your calendar is clear for this Saturday. In case you didn't know, this week marks the first really big Saturday of the season in terms of things to do in Lansdowne, so be sure to include some of the events listed below in your plans. Bring your friends, too!

Lansdowne Arts & Crafts Show: The third annual Lansdowne Arts and Crafts Show will take place from 9 am to 3 pm in the North LansdowneAvenue parking lot next to the PNC Bank. Rain date is Sunday, May 2. Enjoy Arts, Crafts, Music, Food and Fun - See what Downtown Lansdowne
has to offer! See our list of artists here.

The Dream of a Darby Creek Greenway Centennial Celebration: This year marks the 100th anniversary for Arthur Shrigley, President of the Natural History Club of Lansdowne, to publicly suggest the idea of a green way of protected and preserved beauty along the Darby Creek. The
Darby Creek Valley Association will honor this by celebrating the continued progress on the development of this greenway at the Twentieth Century Club on Saturday, May 1 from 10 am to noon. more

At The Garden Church: Yard Sale; All-You-Can-Eat Pancake Breakfast sponsored by Epiphany House: Fuel up for the big day at The Garden Church, Lansdowne and Stratford Avenues, from 7:30 to 11:00 am. Adults $7, kids 5 to 17 $5, and kids under 5 free. And don't miss the church's Spring Yard Sale, which takes place from 9 am to 3 pm.

Red, White and Bluesy Spring Social

The Union Athletic Association hosts its second annual Red, White and Bluesy spring social fundraiser at 7 pm, featuring live music from the Joe Stephenson Trio and the Overbrook String Band. The $30 admission includes refreshments and a full buffet. Wrap up your day with a night of celebration and good times at the Twentieth Century Club. Proceeds from this event support the Union AA's Fourth of July fireworks and celebration. More info

10 things I love about Lansdowne, in no order really...

1. People: Lansdowne folks are friendly, helpful, and active participants in the community. Wherever you are, you can usually expect a friendly "Hi," even from passing strangers.

2. Food: Regency Cafe, Sycamore, Provisions, Doyle's Deli & Grille, Paul Revere Pizza, My Old Place Bakery, Travers Food Market, Mar-Win Shop n Bag...no matter what you're hungry for, there's something good to eat nearby.

3. Lansdowne Farmers Market: Twenty-six Saturdays filled with local and organic fruits and veggies, live music, and artists. It's a place to socialize, meet new friends, and shop. What could be better? It starts May 29, 2010, so mark your calendars!

4. Lansdowne Arts Festival: Three days of art and music at the Twentieth Century Club in Lansdowne. September 10, 11 and 12, 2010.

5. Lansdowne Arts and Crafts Show: Just days away – Saturday, May 1, from 9 am to 3 pm in the parking lot across from the theater (Google "30 North Lansdowne Avenue" for directions). Over 30 artists out in the fresh air – a great way to kick off Spring in Lansdowne!

6. Walking: A truly walkable community, Lansdowne boasts parks, shopping, dining and some fabulous residential neighborhoods within its one square mile, and is well served by public transit. Want to see the highlights? A walking map is right here. And if running is more your thing, join us for the Memorial Day 5k on May 31, 2010.

7. No Place For Hate: There is not a lot of drama in Lansdowne and we like it that way. We get along, like good neighbors should. No matter who you are, or what you are there is a community group for you, and all volunteers are welcomed.

8. Leadership: Jayne Young is the hardest working mayor in Delaware County! You couldn't ask for a better town cheerleader. She is surrounded by similarly hard-working elected officials, who use common sense when running our community. It's good local government in action.

9. Music: Whether is the Lansdowne Folk Club, the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra, music at the Lansdowne Farmers Market and the Arts Festival, or the Lansdowne Summer Concert Series, there's something worth hearing. Most of Lansdowne's musical events are planned by the talented Bob Beach, a living, breathing Lansdowne treasure who even hosts concerts in his house!

10. Communication. We have our own email newsletter, Discover Lansdowne. Written with a healthy dash of wit by one of Lansdowne's finest volunteers, Grace Caputo, the newsletter is funny, sharp and quirky. It's an easy read and and an entertaining way to find out what's going on in town. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Did I miss something? Do you know of a person, place, or event in Lansdowne that deserves mention? Feel free to let me know what you love about Lansdowne!

An Invitation: The First Suburbs project

The First Suburbs project is hosting an event next Thursday, April 29th at the Media
Community Center. The details are below but, in short, the premise is that First
Suburbs is an advocacy group that has chosen the 3 issues that affect inner ring suburbs like ours. The 3 policy points are: Housing, Education Finance, and Infrastructure.

The purpose of these events is to gather as many people as possible and to invite our legislatures to see the crowd we can gather. The crowd impresses upon our elected officials that we are all voters, and that these issues are important to us hence they should listen to us.

Its pretty powerful stuff and I have seen real progress in my favorite topic of all,
Education, although, honestly, as a resident of a inner ring suburb, all the issues are important to my family and community.

I am asking you to attend this event with me. Its a very structured event and I am betting you get a good feeling from the positiveness in the room.

Thanks ahead for considering my ask...

Event Details:

April 29, 2010 , 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Media Community Center, 301 N. Jackson Street, Media, PA 19063

First Suburbs has these meetings because:
The First Suburbs Project will hold three regional public meetings throughout southeastern Pennsylvania between April and June. Each public meeting will address our unified issue agenda and secure support from key decision-makers for specific policy that impacts our communities. Legislators, administrators and gubernatorial candidates will be asked to join with us to ensure that infrastructure, housing, and education policies and funding mechanisms recognize that stabilizing and revitalizing our older developed suburbs is vital to the prosperity of our communities and of our entire region. Building on our most recent large public forum and drill and give emphasis to current specific policy and opportunities. The public meetings are designed to get our voices heard and demonstrate the power of our communities and our coalition. All organizations and community members who care about the future of our townships and boroughs should be present.

The First Suburbs message is:
The message that we’ve taken to our elected leaders is that policies proposed in legislation must take into consideration the needs of older built-out suburbs like those in southeastern Pennsylvania. We are emphasizing that the entire metropolitan area’s health and vitality is tied to the prosperity of the older suburbs. In the past, federal policies in housing, transportation, infrastructure and education – the issues that we’ve adopted as our own – have focused on addressing problems in the urban center and in expanding opportunities in the newer suburbs, skipping over the older suburbs. The Brookings Institution refers to this as a "policy blind spot" because it ignores the plight of our older first-ring suburbs. In our efforts to educate policymakers, we can change this practice and ensure that appropriate policies help guide federal funding through strategic priorities designed to strengthen older, asset rich communities like ours.

For more information on the First Suburbs Project, contact Angela Clinton
Southeastern PA First Suburbs Project, 267.977.9654, angela.firstsuburbs@gmail.com

The Lansdowne Theater is Alive!

It was my absolute pleasure to volunteer at the Lansdowne Theater yesterday. It was the first time that a show took place in the Theater since 1987 and yesterdays act, an acapella group named Straight, No Chaser, was a great start. About 1100 people came from near and far to see the theater and hear the harmonious sounds of 10 well-tuned voices. Built in 1927, the Theater's Moorish architecture clearly showed it's once splendor. The show was fabulous...an amazing experience to see the seats filled and to see folks moving about the grand foyer.

The revitalization of the Theater has been the project of the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corporation since 2005. If you do not know the history of Lansdowne's beloved theater, I would encourage you to learn more at their site.

The Theater is one of the cogs in the wheel of economic development in Lansdowne. It's very important to Lansdowne's future and I am thrilled that is in such good hands. Please donate to the revitalization, if you can. The Lansdowne Theater is worth saving, it represents a link to a grand time in our history, and its a key to our even grander future.

Please if you have any stories about the Theater, please share them with us. I was lucky to be in the company of folks yesterday that used to go as young teens...one gentleman even shared how he used to sneak in with his friends (lol).

Ah yes, one more reason to love Lansdowne...we have a Theater!

Clean Up and then the THEATER!!!

There is a good reason to clean!

Lansdowne begins spring with a Saturday clean up of the Central Business District. Come out and help, if you can. Its starts in the Parking Lot at 30 North Lansdowne Avenue (right across from the theater) at 9 am. Bring your gloves, supplies will be provided.

THE THEATER!!!
The Lansdowne Theater will open its doors to an audience for the first time since 1987. For this special night, the a cappella group Straight No Chaser takes to the stage to perform the first of what could be several fundraisers. For more on this exciting event, see the DelcoTimes.com article.

Do you have a story to share about the theater...
Did you go there when you were a kid? Did you make-out in the back row during a movie? What was the theater like? What role did it play in your life? Please share you stories....

Lost for Words, and Words of the Lost

I am not usually one to be stuck for the right words, but the senseless shooting of a promising 18-year-old man has me really searching. Not only did a young man lose his life, but the upward trajectory of violence among and against our youth continues to take its toll on our entire community.

Yesterday's event took the life of a young man that was a member of our community and by many accounts had a lot to look forward to. While the loss of Mohamed Kamara may be seen as merely a statistic to some, it is without question that far too many children are taken before they even have a chance to make their mark in this world.

The other piece of this sad story is the hate-speak that follows such a tragedy. As I followed the story at DelcoTimes.com today, the hate speech started coming out quickly in the comments section. Words like "those kids", "that school", "those people who moved in" and "that community used to be" were used far too often. People are so quick to make assumptions and don't give a second thought to judging someone that they clearly know nothing about. To stoop to such a shallow level of discourse, and I use that term loosely, is beyond scary to me.

Violence amongst our youth is everywhere. Rich or poor, black or white, in the city or the 'burbs, our kids are in the crosshairs far too often. It is nothing less than an epidemic, and hate speech does nothing to help matters. In fact, I will argue that the hate speech actually promotes more violence, and those blaming others for being violent are actually perpetuating the violence through their words.

What has me frustrated the most is that I do not know of any solution. I am tired of the violence, yet I am even more tired of the hate speech. Children need our love, they need our hugs, but they definitely do not need judgment and hate.

Those who share my opinion, and there are undoubtedly plenty within this community who do, need to make their voices louder. We need to stand together for all of our children before it is too late. I am sure that I speak for many when I say that our prayers go out to the family and friends of Mohamed Kamara. Please know that the pain of your loss is not felt alone.

Thanks for listening.

Jennifer

P.S. To those who speak negatively about the Penn Wood High School and the William Penn School District:
With rare exception, the students of WPSD are amazingly beautiful, talented and promising. I, as a WPSD board member, and more importantly, a Lansdowne resident, will not allow OUR 5,500+ children to be judged by people that do not know them. If you are interested in really getting to know our students, watch this blog for events that are open to the public and come out and see them for yourself. If you are not open to OUR children, please, by all means move from our community. Lansdowne is NO PLACE FOR HATE and we mean those words.

Hey, I'm Home...and I learned some things while I was away...

You might not know it but as School Directors, of which I am one, we have a small budget for Professional Development. That means, that the job we were elected to do is enormous and comes with very little training so we set aside some funds to educate ourselves. Luckily, I am a business owner and have some ideas about running a business, not an $80+ million one, but nonetheless, I do understand businesses. That is what your school district is, right, a business where the product is educated kids.

Well, I just got back from 3 days of School Board director immersion at the National School Board Directors Conference. Yes, this trip is paid for by the taxpayers, and I will argue until the day I am un-elected to serve (which I hope is never because I truly love the job of school board director as I get to be in the fore front of helping 5500 children), that the more I know about being a School Director the better the taxpayers and students of William Penn School District will be.

But I digress...here is what I learned, in brief and more details will be forthcoming...I plan to share lots.

This is what you should know about education in our country and in WPSD:
1. Unfunded mandates run rampant. The No Child Left Behind legislation is being changed, goals and time lines moved, and while we might have thought Obama got it...he and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan might really do some damage.
2. We, as a country, have almost no plan on how to best educate kids in poverty or in rural areas. They are asking good folks like Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization whose goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem, but our Nations plan is really not developed. For more on Canada see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Canada
3. WPSD is doing some things really right, but clearly our work is going to become even more challenging as we wrestle with funding, mandates from up above and pensions.
4. We are not alone...many, many school districts have issues very much like ours.

I come home tired and, quite frankly, pretty depressed that there is so little to help kids in poverty learn, but I also come home angry. Angry that we spend more on our jail system then our education system, angry that the job of school districts is made so difficult by top-down legislation that professes to help and yet, supplies no help, just pages and pages of rules and mandates, that even the experts are not sure what they mean or how to best implement them.

Bottom line, its frustrating, but I am way smarter then I was 3 days ago. I intend to take those smarts right into our schools. ALL children are our future, not just the middle class and upper class ones...we need to act like it. We need our country to get it, as a lack of a national commitment to educating EVERY child works its way to little Lansdowne with a huge effects.

It arrived...me and my iPad meet.

It was 10:30 am. The dogs started barking. I looked outside and saw the vision I had been thinking about for the last 30 days. Yes, the UPS driver was walking up my driveway. Much to my glee, under his arm was my iPad!

I enter the house, screaming of my good fortune. Carefully, I open the box. There it was.

It's smaller than I thought. It's a little heavier too. I had no idea 1.5 pounds could weigh so much. It easily synced to my Mac and in mere minutes I was ready to go. I spent the next hour arraigning my icons, re-arranging my icons. Then I explored the 1000s of applications for my new iPad. I downloaded a movie. I held it like a new child.

Guess what happened next. My kids demanded a turn. I turned to my iPhone. Why? To post my new arrival on Facebook! Not only do I love my iPad, I also wanted my friends to be jealous!