NRA Meeting

We interrupt this nonsense for a public service announcement.

The Newburyport Redevelopment Authority, upon which I sit, is meeting TOMORROW night, not Wednesday night.

We'll be hosting Jamie Fay from Fort Point Associates. He's reviewed all the legal entanglements that rund up down and all around the two NRA lots, and he'll present his findings tomorrow.

These restrictions - some are based on court-defined historical "ways" to the waterfront or existing state waterfront regulations - could significantly impact any development on the waterfront.

Please attend. 7 pm at the Library's Program Room.

Visit to Flagstaff

Here's my latest on Newburyport Today. A little bit of travel writing with a Newburyport twist.

Wasn't them

This is a fairly decisive response to one of the oddest letters of the LHD debate.

Please note the original letter drew 10 comments, all from people assigning their names to their words.

Ah, the end of Anontyranny. Anonymousity?

Still working on it....

Give it Time

I've steered clear of the Local Historic District discussion for three reasons.

First, Mary Baker Eaton and Jerry Mullins are pushing my position quite well on their blogs, so I really had little to add to make the discussion any more constructive.

Second, I also am listening to the opponents. I can't accurately project their numbers, but clearly a number of people along High Street have an issue with the current LHD proposal. Their voices should be heard.

Third, as folks like Ari Herzog have pointed out, there really isn't a proposal yet. It's hard to argue over a concept when the meat will be in the final details.

But this morning's Daily News presented a new point of view worth highlighting. In this letter to the editor, Jared Eigerman, who says he represents the Citizens for Historic Newburyport, makes a good case for toning down the rhetoric a bit now that both sides have made themselves known.

We regret the distraction caused by a battle of lawn signs, but it would have been foolish for our group not to distribute "yes" signs in response to the "no" signs. Both groups have now shown that they have support in the community. Our hope is that the councilors can cut through the noise and emotion and debate the pros and cons of the LHD concept rationally.

For our part, while our group supports the concept of an LHD, by no means do we believe that it is ready for a vote "as-is." Although the study committee was formed years ago, the electorate wasn't really engaged until recently, and their elected legislators still have nothing in front of them to consider.

Fair point. I know opponents to the LHD like to suggest the plan was drawn up in secret, but that's far from the truth. The committee operated in the open. The public just didn't notice.

But they've noticed now. Many have offered their feedback, and there's still much to talk about. But we definitely need to see this process through to the end.

I'd like to let the LHD Commission complete their work before deciding just as we gave the Charter Review Commission the opportunity to submit their proposed changes to the city's charter.

Let's allow the commission to finish up an actual proposal that can be dissected and analyzed.

Let's allow the Council to make a decision based on all the facts at hand, not just a foggy notion of what a LHD actually means.

At the end of the day, we may find that the argument may be binary with no shades of gray. People may be for or against an LHD of any kind, but I don't think the day is over yet.

Rumble Rumble

Local guy in the know Bill Harris made an appearance before the NRA last week, advising them (including me) of some progress in the discussions of having the US Parks Service taking on a role downtown. (See the post on the NRA blog here.)

In his comments, he suggested that the city had been hoping to get some grants from New England Development to aid the process, but NED only provides such monies for active projects, of which we haven't been.

But Harris suggested - rather off the cuff - that the status could change later this year.

It didn't sound like he knew of anything in particular, just piqued my interest is all. Stay tuned.

Speaking of NED, I had the chance to visit Pinehills in Plymouth this past weekend. I just did a quick drive through and stopped at the market for some snacks to enjoy on the way home from the Cape. I have to say it's not at all reminiscent of Newburyport, a very different project.

North End Yard Sale

Hey Folks,
The neighborhood is teaming up to hold our annual Yard Sale Extravaganza tomorrow, Saturday, from 8:30-2:30 on many streets including Oakland, Walnut, Jackson, Carlton, Collins, Broad, California and Tyng.

Hope to see you there.

From Katie O'Connor Ives

Please note that on Tuesday, April 17th at 7:00 pm in City Council Chambers, the Planning & Development Committee of the City Council will be holding a public hearing on the request to rezone two parcels on Storey Ave. from residential to business zones.  A representative from Tropic Star development who is proposing a CVS at the rezoned area will be available at this hearing to answer questions.

What the what?

Well, we're coming up on two months since my appointment to the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority, and I have to admit,it's been an interesting experience.

Things look a bit different from the other side of the table, when you've got a bit of yourself vested in the outcome.

Today's Globe story on the waterfront lots is Exhibit A.

The article gives a fairly standard overview over the disagreements on what to do with the lot. No real complaints there, but the picture that ran alongside the article. 

What the heck were they thinking?

I typically defend mistakes in newspapers as just part of an imperfect - but important -process. But this picture is difficult to explain.

Boggles the mind.

Anyway, let me take this opportunity to introduce you to the newest blog on the rol1 - the NRA Today. We'll be using it to keep people informed about what's going on downtown. 

Please visit often.

Brown Sugar

Well, a query on Facebook by Councillor-at-Large Ari Herzog about the fate of Andaman Thai restaurant led to a ramble of comments that revealed a new restaurant is coming to town - Brown Sugar. Sounds very promising.

Speedy Recovery

to Barry Connell who apparently suffered a minor stroke.

Walk Your City

I love this concept for Newburyport.

Above is a pitch for money at Kickstarter.com.

When one door closes

While many will miss Fowle's newsstand, it's worth noting that its demise might benefit two other local institutions - Jabberwocky Books and the Book Rack. Jabberwocky posted this on Facebook today.

Jabberwocky Books Already missing Fowle's? Come in and check out our eclectic selection of magazines. If you're looking for something you don't see, ask Paul about it. If we don't carry it yet we may be able to pick up your favorite title.

Book Rack is undergoing serious renovation. I've heard it may add a magazine rack as well. I hope so, it's a smart idea.

Belated Bravo, Daily News

The best advice I ever got as a young reporter came during an internship at the Statehouse. I was sitting across from the Associated Press reporter one day. He asked if I was enjoying myself. I was a BU kid covering John Silber's bid for governor so I was enjoying the hell out of it.

While he was glad to hear it, he told me the best place to start off a journalism career is a small town. His rationale: You want to start writing in a community where you'll see the subject of your article the next day on the street, a place where you know you'll need to answer for whatever your wrote so you'd work extra hard to be fair and accurate (In his words, "a place where the Mayor might punch you in the mouth for what you wrote in the paper.")

We've lost a lot of that in today's culture where anonymity supposedly fosters "courage" and vitriol is offered up as "truth."

That's why I'm thrilled the Daily News finally pulled the plug on the ability for readers to post comments anonymously.

The online comments section had become a stewing pool of bile and venom. I didn't see any constructive coming out of name calling, accusations and manipulation. It didn't serve as an honest exchange of ideas. At best, it offered people a place to dump their garbage and go. At worst, it was twisted competition in rancor and attitude.

No doubt, the decision has diminished the volume of comments on Daily News articles. A study by Disqus, which sells the comment management system used by the Daily News and others, declared that "Pseudonyms Drive Communities," suggesting that posters using fake names generated the highest quantity and quality posts (as measured by likes and replies.)
Those armed with pseudonyms contributed more heavily to discussion boards than those who posted using the Facebook IDs or even those who signed on as anonymous.
Despite the Disqus report, I'm confident the value of the comments will skyrocket. I doubt we'll all be holding hands and singing hymnals at the end of the day, but at least we'll know where other people stand - and we'll know those people actually do exist.

For those who are crying about your freedom of speech, this does nothing to hamper that. You still have every right to say what you feel on the Daily News site, just own your opinions.

Or start a newspaper. Then you can understand how easy it is to put out a paper on a regular basis.

You can also go the anonymous blog route, there is an opening. My counterpart, the P. Preservationist, renamed his blog Brick and Tree. And while he's not declaring his name on the site he is now out in the open as a blogger.

His name is Jerry Mullins.

Everyone say, "Hi Jerry."