Dan Lawlor: Bonfire of the Vanities

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Dan Lawlor, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

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Years ago, my dynamic late aunt, a professor, moved out to Seattle. By happenstance, one of her return visits coincided with when Buddy was sentenced in the early 2000s. The constant coverage of Cianci during her stay, in the Journal, in restaurants, in stores, made her remark, sadly, "It's like I never left. Everything is the same." We can't do this again.

In the last few years, we've weathered near bankruptcy, and under Mayor Taveras and the Council entered a situation of positive, stable finances. Yet, preventing bankruptcy is a first step. People need to believe in the city - and while the Mayor's Office has done great work with trying to bring good government and order to the city's finances and management, a late term bond for road repairs (that ran out of money) won't be a big make or break. The tensions in the city now echo a line from the past- why do some parts of the city get all the attention while other parts of the city are neglected? 

Narratives

The vacuum from City Hall has left space for competing narratives.

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One narrative is the city as high-end innovation hub, on the one hand related to cool start-ups and the burgeoning downtown social scene, and the other through the screed of Angus Davis denouncing the location of a potential downtown parole office as a "criminal convention center" or James Barr denouncing the bus terminal as "a trash strewn mecca for vagrants." The "hip" city supporters seek state investment for cool folks to hang-out in the Superman building, moving (but not housing) the homeless around Kennedy Plaza, and tens of millions for a train- yes, a train- connecting Brown to Rhode Island Hospital.

Another narrative focuses on neighborhoods as hubs of innovation, and is located in the hearts and realities of various neighborhood community organizations - from community stores to the awesome non-profit arts sector. This is a view of the city focused on narratives and relationship, with stories, spaces, and local jobs - from after school coordinators to bakery workers. This view of the city would love better, reliable bus options, safer parks, walkable streets, and more opportunities for their kids in schools and in their neighborhoods. Skeptical about most politicians, folks in the neighborhoods nevertheless appreciate a symbol or sign of goodwill.

The final narrative is of a city lost, a view related to working class neighborhoods gone drug hubs, high property taxes, governments led by elite that forget and neglect the basics of the schools. It speaks to broken windows and rising gunshots, it relates to gun battles with the police and realties of neglect. It is a story of unresponsive and alienating bureaucracies, boarded up stores, and Call of Duty games. This is a neglected city, where stripping is a major industry, where criminalized drug dealing is common, where fights and brawls, broken bottles, and broken homes persist. This scenario of the city lives on in the minds of some, to the point of polluting folks from seeing possibility and positive changes. 

People will respond to hope or fear. With Taveras' withdrawal from City Hall and his embrace of the Governor's race, latent forces are waiting to be summoned. Some people in the city are very nostalgic for the past. Some are yearning to impose a future. Some want to grow. The city's Mayoral candidates have a unique chance to give life to a city of neighborhoods, or to foster a never-never land that divides and isolates the downtown from the rest. Child poverty is over 20%, joblessness hovers around 10%, women are under-represented in city leadership, and the city's drop-out rate, a symbol of an unresponsive and chaotic school system, is 15%.

Options

So, we have choices: Like many cities, we can create exclusive enclaves, give power to a prince, or craft a strong, broad city. Those are the options this fall. For those nostalgic for the 1990s- remember, in 1999, the highpoint of the Renaissance, 26 people were killed in Providence. In 2000? 30 people. Last year? 15. 

Yet, facts aside, we are living at a time ripe for a demagogue (from our jobless rates to cuts in city services, people are unsettled). Our well-intentioned, but, at times, disconnected political establishment has helped make this so. Distrust, visions limited to one side of the highway, petty arguments- all of this is the stew for resentment, and resentment loves company.

Moving Forward

I say, if we want alternatives, we can't just speak to the chattering classes.  Go to the high-rises. Go to senior centers. Go to Park Groups, Little Leagues, Neighborhood Advocates- meet actual people. I fear some of the supporters so eager to dedicate city resources for a new and hip city, along with the personal ambitions of our political leaders from Cicilline to Taveras, have put the city in a position where you-know-who will rise to power (or at least take away from debating real issues for several months), and hopes for a better city will stay hopes. 

Unless people who believe in the possibilities of our city organize, the top down approach to running this town, whether out of touch or Machiavellian, will win out. The truth is, voter, you deserve better than the across-the-board-corrupt past, and you deserve better than the one side of town latte future. You have a lot of good choices, just be careful. My advice? Don't trust Cianci. The gondola looks great - but it has holes.

 

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