[Summit] Comp plan proposal -- what do you think

[John Bazik]

That's one reason why we need instant runoff elections.

On June 8, 2024 11:21:08 AM EDT, Christopher Buecheler <cwbuecheler at gmail.com> wrote:
>The question of "how do we make things actually happen vs. just being
>individual voices easily ignored?" is a good one, and while the answer is
>straightforward: collective action, organization, voting for politicians
>who will do the right thing ... the actual execution of that is more
>difficult.
>
>A thing I've found very frustrating during my time in Rhode Island is that
>one of the most reliable occurrences in state and local elections is that
>three or more progressive candidates will run, all of them refusing to step
>down until election day regardless of what early polling shows, and then
>split the vote, allowing a more centrist and corporate-aligned Democrat to
>move into a position of influence. It happens so regularly it's becoming a
>little tedious in its predictability, and I think it's had a profound
>negative impact on Providence and Rhode Island as a whole. A more effective
>strategy would be for candidates who don't have the votes to drop out and
>endorse the strongest progressive in a given race, but because the left is
>very caught up in ideological purity tests and more-progressive-than-thou
>posturing, that rarely happens.
>
>Talking openly about this between progressives and figuring out a way
>forward that involves more strategic cooperation would be incredibly
>helpful in getting politicians elected whose interest is more aligned with
>the people and less aligned with corporations, developers, etc. I don't
>have all the answers, here, but I think entities like the Working Families
>Party are a good start.
>
>-Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>On Fri, Jun 7, 2024 at 2:32 PM Elizabeth Grossman <eggbdk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 
>> So what, if anything, do you all  think the neighborhood *as* *an*
>> *entity* should advocate for; and when; and who would do the advocating?
>> In my experience it is really hard to prevent unwanted things from
>> happening through individual voices. I have tried on various occasions.
>> My position:
>> I agree of course that we cannot let the people who want just to gain
>> financially determine the outcome.
>> But opposing bad outcomes is not enough to get us good ones
>> The bigger question is who will in the end be willing/able to build much
>> needed housing that is the sort we want and what would it take to make that
>> happen?
>> Elizabeth
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jun 7, 2024, at 12:22 PM, Jesse C. Polhemus via Summit <
>> summit at sna.providence.ri.us> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> I totally agree, Chris!  Great points.
>>
>>
>> - Jesse
>>
>> On Friday, June 7, 2024 at 12:15:58 PM EDT, Christopher Buecheler <
>> cwbuecheler at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Jesse,
>>
>> > These six-story buildings on Hope would be built on private land, and
>> the government has virtually no ability to enforce the controlled rates you
>> mention.
>>
>> Fair! But that feels like a problem to me. And I know that changing laws
>> is not a fast or easy thing, but if the govt has the ability to rezone an
>> area, it should have the ability to control the costs of some percentage of
>> what's being built there.
>>
>> Mark, I'm in complete agreement re: further greening North Main. There
>> should be green space requirements for anything built there (and an effort
>> to pull stuff back from the curb). And I am definitely not against
>> developing affordable housing there. I'd just like to see it developed
>> *here*, too. Especially if development is coming anyway, which it sounds
>> like it is.
>>
>> None of this is easy, cheap, or fast. I fully acknowledge that. The
>> question we have to continuously ask though is "who benefits?" and if the
>> answer is mostly or exclusively "people who are already rich" (eg,
>> developers), then we have to find ways to change that. My suspicion is, at
>> the moment, these zoning changes will benefit developers more than they
>> benefit the neighborhood ... but they COULD benefit the neighborhood if
>> control can be exerted.
>>
>> -Chris
>>
>> --
>> Christopher Buecheler - @cwbuecheler.bsky.social
>> <https://bsky.app/profile/cwbuecheler.bsky.social>
>> https://cwbuecheler.com | https://cwbwriting.com
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>>
>
>-- 
>Christopher Buecheler - @cwbuecheler.bsky.social
><https://bsky.app/profile/cwbuecheler.bsky.social>
>https://cwbuecheler.com | https://cwbwriting.com


John
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