[Summit] Signs and fountains

[Jonathan Howard]

Two important, very different topics in the New Year. Just want to let 
you know that the neighborhood association will respond to both concerns.

1. On the signs, thank you very much to Paul for removing and reporting 
these. I left a message this morning for Lt. Schiavulli and he just 
called back. He says that while they can't investigate this one 
incident, he will contact the JCC and area synagogues so they are 
informed and to ask them to report any further incidents. I believe this 
is an extremely isolated act, but making sure all incidents will be 
reported is the only way to know for sure. I also passed Paul's report 
along by email to the Anti-Defamation League's regional office in Boston 
(the closest) with the number for Lt. Schiavulli. (Which is 243-6980, by 
the way.) Of course SNA rejects any such threat to our neighbors. We are 
not, however, well-informed on how best to respond so I asked the ADL 
for advice. I think that Paul's action is probably the most effective 
response, as it would be to grafitti or litter. If you have other ideas 
or contacts we should make here in Providence, please let me know.

2. On the Lippitt Park fountain - I'm thrilled that Jesse has offered to 
launch a long-overdue effort to get our fountain flowing again. I 
remember it wet, but that was a long time ago.

One critical issue looms. The goal of filling the fountain with dirt and 
making it into a planter got incorporated into the draft  neighborhood 
"plan" (more of a list, really) coming out of the neighborhood charette 
held in September. I wasn't at that session, so I don't know how that 
happened, but the Parks Dept. has long claimed that restoring the 
fountain is either impossible or impossibly expensive. I imagine they 
see this as a cheap way to resolve the problem of a waterless fountain. 
The plan is still a "draft" so we can lobby the Director of the Parks 
Dept, Alix Ogden. I'll also ask the Dept. of Planning to ensure that 
alternatives to the planter idea are offered. We may have this on the 
agenda for our Jan. 21 meeting and will let you know.

Jon

-- 
Jonathan W. Howard
Cause & Effect, Inc.
Helping nonprofits create community change
178 Ninth Street, Providence, RI 02906
401.331.2272
jon at ceffect.com