[MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] 250 senior living homes

[Hal Wright]

On Feb 27, 2006, at 2:28 PM, James Hooper wrote:

> I have another thought.  My experience says that the township  
> boards listen better to local voters.
>
> Could the ATC sort the PA members by zip code and then we could  
> look at the zip codes along the trail and try to locate members  
> that are in the various townships?
> On Feb 27, 2006, at 12:43 PM, Hal Wright wrote:
>
>> Good to hear from you Michelle, Thyra and Jim.
>>
>> So this dialogue has brought focus onto a big problem (development  
>> pressure) and one solution (activism directed at local government).
>>
>> It's been suggested, I think by Walt, that the best sort of local  
>> government activism is to be a member of the governing body. For  
>> those of us who do not live near the trail, and for many who do,  
>> that's not a realistic possibility. So we are forever in reaction  
>> mode, flooding public meetings when the issue is important and  
>> hoping our voices, or some serendipitous outside force, will turn  
>> the tide in our favor.
>>
>> Reaction-based activism from the outside looking in is difficult  
>> to sustain, particularly at a distance. For example, when the  
>> Alpine Rose development issue was at the early stages, I joined  
>> the BMPA. I made the two hour drive up to Eldred Township once or  
>> twice a month to attend meetings. It made for a late night, and it  
>> became impossible to keep up with my on-the-job responsibilities.  
>> The township residents, while appreciative, knew I wasn't from  
>> around there. Most mistook me for a reporter at first. Not being  
>> from the township, my opinion meant little in any event.
>>
>> If we are to be proactive rather than reactive, my sense is that  
>> media tools will help those of us who don't enjoy proximity and  
>> don't know the local players. A spiffily-produced Power Point and  
>> a short video presentation with the official ATC logo, general  
>> enough to be used at any public gathering and on-point with the  
>> "curb the development" message, would be a good tool. Any one of  
>> us could then present, and all of the presentations would be  
>> unified. It would lend credibility and cohesion to our message,  
>> and make it possible for any RPC member to get on the agenda of  
>> any relevant public meeting.
>>
>> Google-Earth and TerraServer photos of the trail corridor, as well  
>> as close-ups of maintainers, hikers, and impressive natural  
>> sights, would make a good combination.
>>
>> I also think a component of our organized message should be the  
>> damage being done to the environment by inappropriate trail use.  
>> Every time a member of one of our clubs cleans up a bunch of beer  
>> cans or other garbage, he or she should take a photo of the before  
>> and after, and email it to a central account with the date and  
>> location. Every time we see ATV tracks, take a picture and email  
>> it. Every time a car window gets smashed at the trail head, take a  
>> picture and email it. This evidence can be accumulated, and a map  
>> of trouble spots established based on empirical data. This would  
>> make for an impactful presentation, and give us much data to  
>> present to enforcement in an effort to convince them that a  
>> problem exists.
>>
>> I would be happy to help with these efforts, and I do have some  
>> media tools at my disposal. The issue has always been motivating  
>> individual club members to supply content. Maybe with the RPC, we  
>> can get some of that accomplished. For a start, I can set up an  
>> email account where maintenance pictures might be forwarded.  
>> Longer term, I think this should be automated with an online  
>> database, and possibly a mapping function via GPS.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>>
>>
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>

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