Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association

Tonight there will be a meeting of 23 North Shore members. These folks have been gathered together at my request to discuss the recent events which have transpired in North Shore over the last 90 days or so. This is the first such meeting or action by this group, not its last. This is the start of our effort to restore the leadership, respect and due process to North Shore.

I asked 23 people to attend and 23 people said yes. Such participation is not only inspiring it is most gratifying to me.

The meeting tonight is being held to discuss the issues at hand and to determine what sort of measured respsonse should be effected against the perpetrators of all the discord and intrigue that has settled among us.

This group of 23 is a broad cross section NSNA members who live in all parts of North Shore and who have varying degrees of involvement in the day to day workings of the NSNA. It was my intent to get diversity in this group in order to get as broad a perspective as possible.

My idea of the process to be undertaken by this group of 23 is that we will meet, dicsuss, determine a course of action, give assignments, go out into the neighborhood to effect the assignments, set a Special General Memebership meeting date in the next 60 days or so and bring as many North Shore members to this meeting to vote on determined motions.

With a little luck and some work we will succeed.

The primary issues at hand, are:

The de facto board issue by Jim O'Donnell, Greg Burton, Arlene Bartley, Will Geotz, Carl Luvgren

The disproportionate representation of board members on the board as to where they live in North Shore.

The recent method and manner of board member replacement.

The issue of sending people to City Hall to spy and check up on other North Shore neighbors.

The treatment of a standing President of North Shore, Joyce Frey, which resulted in her resignation.

The treatment of the newsletter editor, John Mitrovka, which resulted in his resignation.

The production of a booklet, represented as an indepth North Shore work product, that was ridiculed by the chairwoman of city council as a book of total mistruths.

The zealous behavior and outright attempt by the Stop CVS group to prevent a legal business from attempting to enter North Shore and the humilating defeats before the Planning Commission (6-1) and City Council (5-0) which embarrassed all of North Shore citywide.

The web site situation.

The newsletter situation and the fact that in the last two newsletters not a word of news has been printed by the current board of directors about the true goings on over the last 90 days.

The bank account situation over the last 90 days or so.

And last, but not least, is the issue about people in a neighborhood association that would remove a standing association president, or ANY member of North Shore ''without cause''. (based on a state statue intended for corporations. North Shore is a non-profit corporation.) This then means we have lowered ourselves here in North Shore to being capable of removing other members for ''no reason''. This is incredulous and I for one will work on this issue forever if I have to, because after all, what is a neighborhood association all about? Neighobrs removing other neighbors for no reason. I for one do not think so.

In closing this posting, I want to add this. Most of what has transpired in North Shore over the last 90 days or so has occurred by secrecy, through intrigue, through sneaky behavior, by deception and so forth. My actions, and those of the group meeting tonight, will be posted before they happen, on the web site for all to read. We are going to tell you what we are going to do before we do it and then invite all of North Shore to join us. A novel and refreshing approach as well as a return to the historical behavior North Shore has promoted for over 26 years.

By Steven D. Lange

Post 23 Meeting Report

23 were invited. 26 showed up. Thank you North Shore for showing your concern.

As promised, I promised a report on our efforts at the meeting last night. And, here it is.

We met, we discussed the last 90 days of North Shore history and we concluded several motions. These motions will be further refined, distributed to the twenty six participants for review and comment and collected again for final editing and complilation. The final draft will then be given back to the 26 for final acceptance and approval.

The next step will be canvas the neighborhood to get signatures and spread the word of our efforts and the conditions which led to our actions to begin with. This canvasing of the neighborhod is necessary since the current Stop CVS controlled board refuses to print any news of what has transpired in our last two newsletters. (Read them and you will see what I mean.)

That's all for now. Will post more when there is something more to write.

By Steven D. Lange

NSN Community Organization and..

Activism At Its Best.
A large group of Northshore Neighborhood residents and Association Members participated in a very constructive process that resulted in a revised CVS proposal, which will now be submitted to the Economic Development Council. This group of residents attended the series of NSNA Neighborhood Design Review meetings and asked questions and voiced valid concerns. Northshore residents filled the Sunshine Center auditorium and voted overwhelmingly not to support the CVS original proposal based on their concerns, some of which were related to the proposal not meeting our Neighborhood Plan recommendations.

These members of our community put in many hours of research on the potential impact of the CVS development on our neighborhood and on potential alternatives. They wrote letters to the City Council and some attended the Council meeting. This was a constructive process. The City Council approved the proposal to the 150 foot setback recommended in our Neighborhood Plan, denied the CVS request for rezoning that would have allowed encroachment into the neighborhood to 250 feet, told CVS to seek variances, and directed CVS to work with our neighborhood to negotiate an agreement.

As a result of this process, an NDR Select Committe was formed,including an independent architect recommended by the National Historic Trust paid for by a grant from that trust, and a revised CVS proposal was developed. On Aug. 16, a Special Meeting of the NSNA membership reviewed the revision and voted overwhelmingly to support the proposal.

This process is a great example of community organization and activism in a democracy at its best. The negative characterizations of your neighbors, who disagreed with Mr. Lange's support of the original proposal, are unwarranted.

NSNA Treasury

Northshore Neighborhood Association Members should be aware that at each Board Meeting, held on the second Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m., the Treasurer presents a report that reflects income and expenditures. Expenditures occur with Board approval. At the most recent Board meeting, a written report was provided. NSNA members can attend Board meetings, can call Board members and officers, and can request reports from the Treasurer if members have any concerns. Vague allegations that promote mistrust can easily be addressed by any concerned Association member by gathering realistic information that will be readily provided by the Board.