From Amy 7/30/2007: What is the purpose of the panel discussion being held 8/2/2007 at the Solarium Community Center?
From Anonymous 7/30/2007: The real question is why the nominating committee for the historic district REFUSE to participate. What do they want to hide?
The two questions posed here are interrelated. We have received this question from several other residents and therefore decided to answer the questions in a new post.
First, the panel discussion being held 8/2/2007 is sponsored by One Oakhurst. As stated in the July 2007 Oakhurst Leaflet this group opposes the proposed local historic district. The article also stated that this group will be compiling the questions for the first half of the meeting.
Similarly, in an e-mail from a representative of One Oakhurst regarding our participation in the panel we received the following response; “this panel is the culmination of efforts by Oakhurst:One Community. We have specific ideas and goals for this panel and have worked very hard to this point. We do not intend to have those efforts undermined or hijacked.” We will be happy to provide anyone interested with the full e-mail regarding the invitation so they will understand the context of this quote.
There is nothing wrong with an opposing group sponsoring a panel discussion, but it was obvious in our discussions with the One Oakhurst that the panel discussion would be directed toward one view. Additionally, the structure of the panel discussion, including who would sit on the panel and how the discussion and questions would be conducted, was very fluid even a week before the event. With consideration to all of these factors we decided it was best for us not to participate.
We have been invited to provide some literature at the meeting and will be in the audience to answer any questions that may arise concerning the application. We encourage residents to attend and hear One Oakhurst’s questions answered by the panel they selected. There will be valuable information presented. However, as always we encourage you to listen critically and do your own research. This is the same advice we have given at other community meetings and on this blog. We will be happy to discuss any question you may have regarding the information presented at the panel discussion.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Answer to comments from 7/30/2007
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4 comments:
I can understand why you would not participate. It would be as if the Republicans invited the Democrats to a debate where the Republicans decided the questions, the moderator, the participants, the format and the venue. This would give them a great advantage since they would be able to structure the questions as they wished, and prepare for the reponses. No one would put themselves in this position. If One Oakhurst wanted a balanced panel discussion they would have invited the nominating committee to help select panelist, the format, the moderator and the questions.
Your response is great. But it doesn’t answer Amy’s question. A good response might be that “we don’t know the purpose of the panel discussion; it’s not stated in their literature what the purpose is, and when we asked their representative directly we did not get a response. You will need to ask One Oakhurst directly in order to get their answer to this important question.
The July Oakhurst Leaflet has an article written by Linda Dunlavy that describes the purpose of the panel discussion as a "discussion among panelists regarding their opinions and experiences with historic districts,followed by a Question and Answer session for the community.....It is important that comprehensive information regarding the pros and cons of the
potential historic district be discussed openly. It is the goal of the panel discussion to provide for this opportunity."
Anonymous has a point, but the way I view the panel's discussion of pros and cons is the same way I view a horse salesman's discussion of the pros and cons of buying a horse. There is a defined outcome of this panel discussion to try and convience the community to not only not support the lhd, but to stop the process.
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