the office could be more > effective with greater resources. The timing of the first > Thursday monthly meeting at 8 a.m. prohibits many people > from attending, particularly residents who have school-age > children to attend to. The committee recommends that more > resources should be provided to this office so that it can > hold more than one meeting a month, advertise it more widely > and develop alternative strategies to inform the public. In > addition there is an impression that while the University > does seek community opinion on new initiatives, in fact in > most cases the key decisions have already been made and the > University is unlikely to reverse them.
Yes, the committee's report is pretty good despite seeking info from Melani. Many people do not realize that this meeting was conducted for years as invitation only. It was designed for the anointed only. When I founded the Clark Park Music and Arts Coommunity, I tried to work collabaratively with this Penn office. I took the University at its word and I put forward several proposals based on Penn's initiatives. Specifically, retaining students in the city and constructive engagement with the rich cultural and artistic assets in this community. I asked on a few occasions to present to the anointed at this first Thursday meeting because I foolishly hoped for a constructive relationship with them. I was not permitted and instead presented to Melani's group, the UCCC, in an attempt to work with the anointed. I don't know when they decided to allow other members of the public attend this 1st Thursday dog and pony show. After Councilman Blackwell blasted UCD and Penn, Penn Real Estate sent their people like Andrew Zitcer to watch Bryan from the back of the room. I went to one more of these things directly after UCD's violation of the law was the topic. Penn real estate so obviously tightened this dog and pony show that there was no reason to spend that much time surrounded by the anointed. They post their report in the Review but never the agenda in advance. It is not intended as community outreach by the U. It is part of the courtship with the anointed, as privledged anointed, allowed to support the Penn agenda. glenn -----Original Message----- >From: UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Sep 10, 2008 1:47 AM >To: univcity <Univcity@list.purple.com> >Subject: Re: [UC] PennPraxis and 40th St. > >Glenn moyer wrote: >> These "regular meetings" never have agenda items publicly >> announced in advance. These are not the "public forums" you >> are pretending. Scheduled at 8 AM, it is ridiculous to >> contend that it is the duty of community members to >> dutifully attend all of these meetings for the anointed to >> catch Lussenhop. >> >> The one time he was caught and the geriatric social was >> announced a day or two in advance in the UC review, >> Lussenhop didin't show!!! He showed up next time at 8 AM. >> >> Why must community members attend all monthly 8AM, tightly >> controlled dog and pony shows, or lose their chance at >> voicing their views or asking questions? It's absurd when >> Lussenhop could announce any real public forum which he >> wants to assert. > > > >'first thursday' meetings were evaluated back in 2004 > >http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v50/n23/comm_relations.html > > >> This report represents the findings of the Committee on >> Community Relations for the Fall semester 2003.... >> >> Does the community need a watchdog for University real >> estate activities? >> >> To explore the feasibility of a watchdog role for our >> committee, we first sought input from the community on this >> issue. We met with Ms. Melani Lamond, the secretary (an >> elected office) of the University City Community Council >> (UCCC). This group is an umbrella organization of University >> City neighborhood organizations and special interest groups, >> including Cedar Park Neighbors, Garden Court Community >> Association, Walnut Hill Community Association, Powelton >> Village Civic Association, Saunders Park Neighbors, Squirrel >> Hill Community Association, and a few other groups. The UCCC >> is comprised of the presidents of the individual >> organizations in order to provide one strong group that >> could give advice, share expertise, and build consensus. Ms. >> Lamond is also an Associate Broker at Urban & Bye Realtor, a >> University City real estate office. Ms. Lamond shared with >> us some issues that had been contentious between the >> community and the University but felt that, in general, the >> community, or at least those members who are active in >> community associations, was happy with recent University >> initiatives.... >> >> What impact does the University's real estate policies have >> on the UC communities and how well does it seek and use >> input from its members? >> >> The general feeling of the Committee was that although the >> Office of Community and City Relations does very well in its >> outreach work to the public, the office could be more >> effective with greater resources. The timing of the first >> Thursday monthly meeting at 8 a.m. prohibits many people >> from attending, particularly residents who have school-age >> children to attend to. The committee recommends that more >> resources should be provided to this office so that it can >> hold more than one meeting a month, advertise it more widely >> and develop alternative strategies to inform the public. In >> addition there is an impression that while the University >> does seek community opinion on new initiatives, in fact in >> most cases the key decisions have already been made and the >> University is unlikely to reverse them. Some examples that >> the Committee heard of were the Alexander school and the >> 40th Street project. In both cases, although public opinion >> on these projects was solicited it was well after their >> initiation. Finally the improvement of the real estate >> market, particularly, within the Alexander school catchment >> area, has made home ownership for the less wealthy members >> of our community impossible, particularly for first time >> owners. Despite this, there are more positive feelings >> associated with the University involvement in the community >> than negative expressed by community organizations. > > > >- - - - - > >just to clarify: the penn praxis friends of 40th street >meetings aren't the same as these first thursday meetings. >(though the minutes for both are equally hard to find) > > >.................. >UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >---- >You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the >list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see ><http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
