Tannery Court meeting takes place
While I was out to see Chicago at the Imperial Theatre, the public meeting for residents to discuss concerns around the Tannery Court proposal took place.
According to the newspaper article, the meeting was well attended by about 100 people, who spoke one at a time and respectfully listened to what people had to say.
The majority spoke of the need for the project; but not as it is currently proposed, they want the project to be mixed-income based instead. Councillors Snook and Killen were also in attendance.
Sounds to me like a good example of a well organized meeting.
I just hope that the city realizes that it stands to gain more by listening to people then by shutting down opportunities to speak. People want to be involved, and the city needs to make sure it creates opportunity for people to get involved.
It was a pretty awesome evening. There were definitely more than 100 people there and they were from all walks of life and all income levels. Everyone had a chance to speak in a safe, supportive environment. Every single person who had the courage to speak received applause from the attendees. It was really amazing. I got goosebumps.
It was great to see more than just the ward 3 councilors there. There were several other councilors as well but it was not a night about the city councilors. It was about the people. I think the councilors also recognized this because they reserved their thoughts and opinions and did not take up microphone time from the community. I appreciated that.
Thanks for blogging about this important Saint John development. It may not seem overly significant to others not living in the immediate area but it is creating discussion that may lead to real, thoughtful change to the way our city integrates low income housing across the map. Hopefully it will also point out short-comings in the processes that can be improved upon. It sounds like there is already support on city council for considering this as well.