I was glad McCormick said those words - Ed's struggle may not be forgotten... he was our greatest champion for change.

I wish I knew you were there - I've wanted to get together. Let me know when you have time for coffee or such - norm [at] realneo [dot] us

Disrupt IT

  Guy, you carry the mantle for Ed!  Thank you for this video!  I worked yesterday and could not make the event.  REALNEO is about providing the experience for some of us who can not be everywhere at once.  You really contribute to this site with this video.  I am glad that Tim McCormick was allowed to speak at this event.  He can be a pain in the ass, and I mean that as the highest compliment.  Ed was a pain in the ass.  You can be a pain in the ass, too.  We need folks who speak the truth.  Thank you.

  Or Ed Hauser saying hi?!  I prefer to believe the latter :)

McCormack said it eloquently. Ed insited on speaking truth to power. He persited in asking questions. If Whiskey Island is to remain a green heaven for him, we, too, must persist in speaking truth to power.

Let us not forget to champion his efforts, not only on Whiskey Island, but on the many other issues in which he was involved - ODOT's mishandling of our roadway projects, historic preservation, the resurrection and re-ercetion of the huletts and a comprehensive, open and transparent lakefront development plan as well as all planning of and decision making in our region. May the Hauser Amendment live on. It is interesting that a republican state senator from Cincinatti, Bill Seitz andTim Grendell (of great lakes water compact fame) had to be the sponsors of the Hauser Amendment.

So, OK folks - keep you eyes on that port and all elected officials. What Hagan said again and again to Ed was, "Ed this is a representative democracy". "Well, how do you represnt us Tim, if you don't listen to us?" Ed always wondered. We must continue to speak out and listen carefully.

What an emotional day. Ed's ashes were spread on the island and in the lake and river. Ed is one with Whiskey Island as he has been for years. His remains are flowing in the waters he kyaked in and on, in the soil he walked. Visit Ed anytime at Whiskey Island.

Sorry I missed the actual ceremony.  But I did go to Whiskey Island yesterday, and see Ed's Way - and reflect for a while on the Island, taking in the sun.  Thanks to the video here I can experience what I missed in person.  Great things are developing here in NEO and Cleveland. 

It is only fitting Ed was honored in this manner, and long, long overdue.

I miss you, man.

And we are already up to our necks in cold reality…

The Pessimist - Jeff Buster.   Collaboration is happening on an unprecedented scale.  It's a big system, and it takes time.

Keep up the watchdog activity, Jeff.  We need to continue to enforce accountability, effect transparency, promote constructive collaboration versus destructive competition.  We are doing it, right here on REALNEO, and in our communities.  We are engaging people in meaningful discussions online and in person.  We are all hoping for a better world, better country, better region, better city. 

We are developing a hyperlocal patchwork quilt of gem-like geographies.   We are valuing regional approaches that expand horizons and worldview for those who travel outside the city confines and think even a bit more globally.  We are doing all of this co-creatively, together.

Be sure to come to the AI Global Forum at Weatherhead,  coming in June.   Again, history is made.

Norm, I never said you didn't suggest a good plan.  But we need to be more colloborative as to whom to include and how its done. We need to just start doing the pieces.  We were told the county would not come with that money by Paul Alsenas, remember?   How is that going to magically change now.  Find another way to fund this.

Sudhir,

With all respect, I beg to differ. Jeff Buster is not a pessimist; he is a realist. He sees what you do not wish to know - Cleveland is drowning in a paltry few bad ideas that come to us (are imposed on us - and were' paying for their implementation) from the top down. We have a scarcity of good "big project" ideas and a dearth of good small ideas. Did you hear Brad Masi say "start small" at the permaculture discussion at Great Lakes Brew Pub? How do you propose to get your good ideas funded? Norm offered a good plan. If the county cannot see its efficacy, I am somehow not surprised.

These big idea silver bullet plans are smothering the good silver schrapnel ideas that come from the bottom up. I, too, become discouraged. Hence I got myself to a nunnery (really a farm in a neighboring county), to avoid the stress and continue my education.

I refuse to strap on the blinders and the rose colored glasses. I want to be participating "eyes wide open" as the world plummets from peak oil and I want to be part of the solution. I do what I can do. I know you do, too. But let's be fair. Cleveland with its port move (terrible waste of resources), medmart debacle, stupid enough to let ODOT run roughshod over the city and the entire county's back room dealing will continue to provide us with plans worked out among a few well-heeled wanna bes. They are wanna bes because if they were really powerful, they'd be somewhere else. In Cleveland, they are big fish; in New York, they'd be anchovies or fish emulsion for someone's garden.

We have to keep up the guerilla gardening and the leaf mulching, yes. AND we have to say NO to some really stupid planning and deal making. AND we have to be willing to be ridiculed, denigrated and humiliated on a daily basis. Are you ready for that? Watch Democracy Now and hear the stories of journalists and activists who have been repeatedly arrested for their radical ideas (which often amount to peaceful speaking truth to power or just trying to cover an event). Then ask yourself: Are you ready to follow Ed Hauser Way?

Ed saw the stupidity and the amazing thing was that he was willing to get up every day and reframe and regroup and go back with the sword and the shield. Saving Whiskey Island was his mission, but his vision was much bigger. What Ed saw was democracy in action, and he didn't see it happening in NEO. It was refreshing to hear politicians admit that yesterday. They said "Oh no, Ed Hauser's here", but what they meant was "Oh no, we're gonna have to play by the rules dammit!"

  Register for the Alex Kotlowitz event at CSU. 

We should all be there--regardless--whether we classify ourselves as pessimists or optimists.  I would classify myself as a cynic.  I will let everyone know if my registration is denied.

Building our Future Beyond Foreclosure:

Monday, May 11, 2009
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs Atrium
Cleveland State University
Glickman-Miller Hall
1717 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115

  From Standing up to the Madness : Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times by Amy and David Goodman--the dedication attributed to Mohandas K. Gandhi reads:

 First they ignore you.  Then they laugh at you. Next they fight you.  Then you win.