As ever, I move between worlds, attempting to both integrate the awfulness and and focus my own personal energy where it needs to go.
Interesting. I walked into the conference room with new housemate (and about to be IU grad student) Emerson, and Elisha (who will officially purchase the third house in this little Green Acres Permaculture Village tomorrow!) twenty minutes early, figuring that the room would be crowded, so wanted to get seats.
I was right. By 5 PM the room was crowded, with several rows of chairs brought in to accommodate the approximately 30 people, each harboring a very specific, and usually, deeply held, point of view on whether or not Green Acres Neighborhood should move forward on its application to become a Conservation District. This application, with supporting docs, three public meetings, and petitions was hastily put together by four women so that we could have this HPC decision prior to demolishing five houses on August 14 . . .
Facts: Green Acres, on 120 acres, has 446 homes, most of them built post-world war II to accommodate newly arriving GIs and their wives, situated on the eastern border of Indiana University. In 2024, more than 80% of these homes are now (mostly) student rentals. Only around 75 homes are still owner-occupied.
We all expected contention, and of course there was some. For me, it was obvious who was who, just by body language, before we began. E.g., I noticed a few look with distain in my direction. For me, however, however this experience, though intense, was easy, fun. I had a real smile for one and all, as did Lois, our leader, who sat at the table with the commissioners.
Two current value systems were pitted against each other, head to head. Both strongly held. The usual “market value” of money put into properties, which are then rented out for profit, and the value of neighborliness — including with student renters, who love living here — which still infuses the fabric of our quiet, tree-shaded, sanctuary neighborhood, nearly 80 years after the end of the Great War when all was right with the world and the future seemed full of promise.
What struck me, once the meeting got going, after a warning by the HPC attorney to remain civil with one another, no matter what — was how contentious yes, it was, and yet how sincerely and authentically everyone spoke (and that was most people in the room, one by one, each given three minutes —ending with 4 or 5 zoom speakers), each voicing his or her deeply held perspective on whether or not Green Acres should apply for a Conservation District, and why or why not. Lots of interesting observations that I can learn from. Probably about ten people from the neighborhood itself (I only recognized two or three), plus people from other neighborhoods who either wanted to help us or who warned us not to go through with the application, plus people who have lived in B’town all their lives and had a very specific way of looking at this particular neighborhood, on and on.
The most interesting and profound reflection, to me, came by zoom from Lucy, who grew up in Green Acres, and whose father Bill, was physically present. She pointed to the fact that the top six owners are corporations who own, I think she said, 70 properties, and that they are “playing monopoly” with Green Acres.
Beginning at 5 PM, it was still going strong at 7:45 PM, when I decided I’d better get home, since my new pup has never been left for so long alone. Margaret, one of our original four-member group who got this effort going, and had to leave the meeting after 45 minutes to pick up her son and fix him dinner, just happened to be able to return, so we switched places for the final half hour, and I, with my cohorts, returned home.
It looked to the three of us, as we drove home, that we would probably “win,” despite some huge objectors, who, BTW, always remained civil with each other, except for one irascible older man whom I had asked to sign the petition a few weeks ago, and who had said to me that he never signs anything that makes for more regulations (an opinion I can appreciate); he had to be stopped a few times, but finally quieted down.
Overall, I appreciated so much the strong frequency within which we were all immersed, holding not just many authentic and very singular points of view, but equally, strong, continuous listening. We were truly there together, re-learning, once again, how to cooperate in a suddenly arising situation that has us all on edge, for one reason or another.
I didn’t get to witness the final half hour, at the end of which the votes were cast:
The HPC voted, 6 to 1 to send our Application to the City Council. YES!
The HPC voted, 6 to 0, to put an interim stay on the demolition of those five houses, scheduled for tomorrow, August 14, until after the City Council decides. When will that be? We hope not until next year, since the Council is deep into other matters at this point.
We are going to team up with one or two of the owners who do not live in their rental houses, so that we can build a cooperative group, melding the two value systems, as we move forward, before the application goes before the Council.
I think of the contrast between what we are doing here, and what the Israeli state is inflicting on Palestine. A total horror show that I could not help but listen to in the middle of last night. Unusually clear, and offered a perspective I had not really grasped until now.
So: little sleep, but a great local “victory.”
Author Daniel Kovalik interviewed by Mike Adams on what’s really happening in the Mideast.
The Case for Palestine
