Hi again! The following was originally posted to the e-group venue, but I was asked to post it here as well. Enjoy! And, thanks again to all who participated. I'm still getting over how awesome Julie's kids were:
''A big thanks to everyone who turned out for the St. Pete High clean-up. We picked up something like 41 full garbage bags of trash in our neighborhood, in the blocks immediately around the high school, in just a few hours. The situation was even worse than I had thought, having not been into the section immediately bordering the west of the high school for a while. It was literally buried in trash--everything from liquor bottles to fast food wrappers to cigarette buts to tires to all manner of candy wrappers, etc.
Those of us who live right in the area of St. Pete High really appreciate everyone turning out from the far corners of the 'hood to help out. Janel got some priceless photos and hopefully we will not only have succeeded in cleaning up a section of our 'hood, but also in making a creative and effective statement via the photos to the school board. They claim they want to be good neighbors, yet what they actually do is gain property by threatening homeowners with the Right of Eminent Domain, a law that really would have been within their rights to use, yet at the same time a total misuse of the intent and purpose of the law. They would have used it because they COULD, but not because they should. They did not NEED that land for any urgent public good that would override the rights of the homeowners who, in at least several cases, had been there for generations. But I digress! (That's what happens when I get me started on the School Board/St. Pete High issue!) My point is, they claim they wish to be good neighbors, yet they
use our city blocks as a trash dump. This is unacceptable. I think our clean-up and the photos thereof will serve as a powerful reminder that this is a NEIGHBORHOOD not a dump, and complete with active neighbors who won't tolerate becoming a superfund site just because the high school doesn't care. Thanks to everyone who turned out for this! Especially Julie's kids, who worked very hard and picked up an amazing amount of trash! Yay, kids!
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Shalom,
Edna''
''A big thanks to everyone who turned out for the St. Pete High clean-up. We picked up something like 41 full garbage bags of trash in our neighborhood, in the blocks immediately around the high school, in just a few hours. The situation was even worse than I had thought, having not been into the section immediately bordering the west of the high school for a while. It was literally buried in trash--everything from liquor bottles to fast food wrappers to cigarette buts to tires to all manner of candy wrappers, etc.
Those of us who live right in the area of St. Pete High really appreciate everyone turning out from the far corners of the 'hood to help out. Janel got some priceless photos and hopefully we will not only have succeeded in cleaning up a section of our 'hood, but also in making a creative and effective statement via the photos to the school board. They claim they want to be good neighbors, yet what they actually do is gain property by threatening homeowners with the Right of Eminent Domain, a law that really would have been within their rights to use, yet at the same time a total misuse of the intent and purpose of the law. They would have used it because they COULD, but not because they should. They did not NEED that land for any urgent public good that would override the rights of the homeowners who, in at least several cases, had been there for generations. But I digress! (That's what happens when I get me started on the School Board/St. Pete High issue!) My point is, they claim they wish to be good neighbors, yet they
use our city blocks as a trash dump. This is unacceptable. I think our clean-up and the photos thereof will serve as a powerful reminder that this is a NEIGHBORHOOD not a dump, and complete with active neighbors who won't tolerate becoming a superfund site just because the high school doesn't care. Thanks to everyone who turned out for this! Especially Julie's kids, who worked very hard and picked up an amazing amount of trash! Yay, kids!
=====
Shalom,
Edna''
