I am encouraged by these responses to update my engagement:
I came to the site today (I'm still here, sitting on my car hood with
jumper cables next to me, waiting for someone to offer help, or for me to
be inspired to reach out and ask for it... dead battery, pretty sure...ah,
the metaphors...)
Anyway, i took a bunch of photos through the lens of what are all the most
obvious action items for this Walgreens parking lot site, per my original
email describing this site.
That all said, i went to Trader Joe's for some lunch. Through the natural
course of my existence, i spoke with a manager about what they do with all
the reusable bags people leave behind/ lose. There's a potential action
item there for our sustainability and transition teams...
So, its about encouragement and support. Trader Joe's apparently has been
at this site since 1997, same year Shoppers World... transitioned. What's
incredible (and the 99 has similar style... in fact, this may be a
seasoned strategy/way rationalized companies develop community welcoming
energy at new locations) what's incredible is that they have murals or
other artistic displays celebrating/ honoring Framingham, in their
businesses. That's wonderful!
It shows me these corporate partners care, at that time certainly, about
their sense and place of community. I'd love to compare the photos of the
renovated/ remodeled/transitioned from the "grand opening" of this paying
lot and landscape plantings from 20 years ago with present day...
Additionally, i am inspired by the concept of letter writing. A well -
crafted and inspirational letter that is signed by a number of respected
community organizations can help revitalize these partnerships, and help
develop relationships and leadership skills, all around, for our
collective future. What do we have to offer as a community for the
nurturing of this concept?
Specifically, where it becomes a government issue, is that we have the
opportunity to expand our scope and create value. Good investments return
value. For example, maybe a dream part - time job could be doing exactly
what I'm doing now with taking the pictures or understanding our urban
landscape... except for the waiting around part...this is a position that
could be created by the mayor, for example, and I hope I would hear about
it to potentially throw my hat in the ring! That would be ok.
*networking request* please pm me any connections or recommendations/
referrals to any local landscape architecture firms...
I advocate strongly we invest in ourselves and each other. And, I'd like
to add, that other communities pay their council members much more than we
do, and for some of municipalities, it's respected and appreciated as a
full - time job. I can't even imagine how many hours our current 11 have
devoted already in service... but I'm quite sure all of them are
technically underpaid, whether people agree or not... but hopefully they
are each working out the balance so it doesn't matter in the wash, and we
can always help by thinking about things a little differently, as a
practice.
Your devoted servant,
Amanda Shepard
650-776-7480
On May 14, 2018 11:42 AM, "SCraighead" <<email obscured>> wrote:
I would not hold my breath waiting for the manager to run to get cones or
even do anything about the MOAPH.
Actually, I used to have to hold my breath to go in there because of all of
the smokers right by the door. I stopped going to that Walgreens a few
years back because they wouldn't do anything about people, including
employed and managers, smoking right outside the door in violation of
health codes. Complaints to the health department about violations of the
15 foot rule may have eventually helped. I did go in there once more
recently. One of the BOGO purchases didnโt ring up correctly- as in no
discount. The manager didn't know and wouldn't comply with AG regs
regarding scanning errors.
As usual, complaining on this forum may be fun, although way less so
without Walter. But if you want to get something done, contact city hall.
I would say call the mayor's office, but that seems to bring folks out of
the woodwork to explain why this is not her problem. Seems to me part of
why we voted for a city was to get one stop shopping. If it isnโt in
something her office handles, they should be able to direct you to the
right people.
S. Craighead
PS Posts here are not public notice