MARY L. O’CONNELL
We can all agree that this summer has flown by. It does seem as if we just marked the Memorial Day holiday and now we are approaching Labor Day – the bookends of summer. There is a clip in the night time air that reminds us of fall’s approach.
The City Council returned to regular sessions this week last night. Our agenda reflected the vacation we just experienced and was full.
Issues of importance now before the Council include the conversion in parking from four open spaces (one taxi and three car) to a bus stop in front of The United Bank and the Athenaeum, the taking of the Wielgus farm, and the transfer of control of six properties in the downtown from city ownership (where the Council would retain some say over how the property is used) to the Westfield Redevelopment Authority.
The PVTA has requested that four parking spots along Elm Street in front of United Bank and the Athenaeum be converted to one bus stop. At Council this week I motioned to set a public hearing so that residents could weigh in on this issue. Sadly, we did not garner the seven votes needed to schedule the official public hearing. However, the matter will be discussed in the next L&O meeting set for Wednesday, September 3. Please check the city’s calendar for the exact meeting time. At this meeting the public will be given an opportunity to weigh in on the issue. I would estimate the meeting start time at either 6 or 6:30. If you have an opinion on this either way I would suggest you contact your City Council representative or some of the At-large City Councilors AND attend this subcommittee meeting. Years ago there was a bus stop in this location and both the City and the PVTA understood the wisdom of relocating it for the convenience of residents. It is my understanding that resident Frank Mills and Mr. Santos from United Bank worked on this change. I’d like to a plea that we all continue to visit the downtown businesses even with the challenges of limited parking. If we do not support the restaurants in this area, for example, we will lose them. Of that you can be sure.
The entire subject of the taking of the Wielgus Farm has been hashed over and discussed in detail for years now. The sad part of this issue is that it has divided our community between those who feel we must take the working farm in order to proceed toward building a new school and those who feel that this land-taking is simply unfair. The reality is that we do not need to take the land in order to proceed with the proposed new school construction. The reasons for the delay in the proposed construction are many, including the ignoring of federal and state law, incorrect planning processes, as well as violations of law in our local process. Replacement land is bountiful and there are many sites that would be much more appropriate than the Wielgus farm. Property close to the South Middle School, Amelia Park, and the Children’s Museum strike me as much more appropriate for this type of replacement.
It is unfortunate that before we arrived at this place in time the School Department did not ask the basic question: “What are our true needs and how do we best serve our current and future students?” The answers to this question might have resulted in an entirely different plan. Building a 600-student facility in an age of declining student enrollment in a tight inner-city location is not a wise decision, in my opinion. My concern at the moment is the placement of the current Juniper Park School students when the bell rings on the first day of school in September 2015.
Councilor Flaherty, whom I have observed does think outside-the-box, has recently suggested a second floor addition to the Highland School – similar construction to the recent addition to the Boys and Girls Club.
The arguments for smaller neighborhood schools are many and powerful (I understand the economy of scale but still…) This, for example, is from a study by the Colorado State Department of Education:
“Research on school size points to several conclusions about the benefits of smaller schools. Smaller school size has been associated with higher achievement under certain conditions. Smaller schools promote substantially improved equity in achievement among all students, and smaller schools may be especially important for disadvantaged students. Many US schools are too large to serve students well, while smaller schools, especially in impoverished communities, are widely needed. The evidence favoring the benefits of small schools, however, cannot be generalized to so-called “Schools Within Schools,” which to date lack a substantial research base supporting the belief that they provide benefits equivalent to smaller schools.”
The study went on to conclude that policymakers should “Not design, build, or sustain mega-schools serving upwards of 500 to 2,000 students” and “Acknowledge an upper limit for school size, acknowledgment that means many schools should be much smaller than the upper limit.”
The administration has asked for transfer of control of six downtown properties from the City to the Westfield Redevelopment Authority (WRA). This vote was tabled due to the fact that some property lines are still being verified by the Law Department. I have concerns about turning over this project to the WRA and losing control on behalf of our City Council. The WRA does not hold regularly scheduled meetings and has never actually voted on this change in control. It is unusual to receive a request of this sort without the other board or commission requesting it in a formal vote.
Thank you for reading and please continue to contact your City Councilors with concerns and questions.
Mary O’Connell
Ward Four City Council
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
