I have chosen to stay and fight

Patrick Farrow was the second person I ever interviewed, and I can't say I've had more fun on an interview than I did the afternoon I spent at his gallery in 1998. I didn't know him well enough to call him a friend, but we got on well in the ensuing years and I respected him a great deal.

As a result, my reaction to the vandalism of his statue in Depot Park is perhaps a little more personal than that of many others.

I have a love-hate relationship with Rutland -- I will talk a lot of trash about our inadequacies, but I'm also quick to defend us when others do the same. It is that much harder to defend Rutland when somebody here decides to deface one of the coolest features of our city. Prominent vandalism takes place in better communities than this, but at least they have the virtue of being better communities.

I was sinking into a morass of negativity last night when I came across a quote from Farrow in a 1984 story on the creation of the sculpture. I didn't catch the full context at first -- it was specifically about the attitude toward the arts in the area -- but it resonated more broadly for me:

A lot of people have sort of a defeatest attitude toward Rutland. You know, 'Oh, nothing ever happens in Rutland.' I've heard it so many times, and I don't really feel that way. I feel it's fairly fertile ground. It's fairly undeveloped -- underdeveloped, whatever -- culturally. That's good, that's not bad, as far as I'm concerned.

Pat Farrow saw something here to believe in, and so can I. The title of this blog post, as a quote, has an unfortunate origin, but it sums up my attitude. This is my home, my community, and I'm not throwing up my hands and writing it off. I'm staying here, and I'll fight to make it better.

Two messages

First, to certain people who, though they ought to know better, apparently don't: Clean up after your freaking dogs!

Second, to everybody else: Watch your step on Merchants Row today.

I have a bunch more stuff I want to talk about today, so check back later.

No Police Commission Meeting Tonight

So, I erronneously reported in my column today that the Police Commission was scheduled to meet tonight. I did this because the City Hall calendar had -- and, as of this moment, still has -- a meeting listed tonight.

Larry Jensen, however, just emailed saying there was no such meeting, and since he's the chairman I figure he ought to know.

So, no police commission meeting tonight. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up.

Thought for today

Paraphrased from a quip I heard at The Coffee Exchange Clem's:

Yesterday, we gave thanks for everything we have.

Today, we are out trying to buy more as evidently what we have isn't enough.

Well, you people are, anyway. I'm at work. Even if I had the day off, I wouldn't be shopping because I don't believe in Black Friday. I do my Christmas shopping the way God intended: the day before Christmas.

(Seriously, it's right there in the Bible between the description of Santa Claus and the recipe for eggnog.)

In any case, Lucia Suarez will adorn tomorrow's Herald with Black Friday coverage and I'm working on other stuff. What stuff, you ask? I'm not telling. You'll just have to read and find out, so there.

Gobble-gobble, y'all

Tomorrow's Herald will include an update on the downtown parking proposal. A story on the first budget meeting of this cycle is waiting in the wings and should see publication in the next couple days.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Drive safe and see you on Friday.

Overheard at the loading dock of the new reserve center

"Is that an adjustable-height ramp? That's awesome!"

-A genuinely enthusiastic lieutenant who went on to explain to a congressional staffer that military trailers tend to be nine inches higher than civilian ones, making unloading onto a standard-height dock that much more of a hassle.

The week in preview

I was at the ribbon cutting today for the new reserve center in Rutland Town, and the full story on that will be in tomorrow's Herald.

(Please note that I said it was in Rutland Town, because I know certain people in the town get insecure about being lumped in with the city and we do not want to offend their delicate sensibilities. Political Correctness is a core value here at Writing on the Hall.)

Tonight it's the Aldermen, and I have a feeling it is going to be a late one. We'll get anything earth-shattering up on the web, otherwise look for a number of stories through the week, starting Wednesday.

A late delivery

When I wrote last week about former city employee Debi Bearss losing the appeal of her dismissed federal lawsuit, I missed linking up with her attorneys.

I filed the story on a Tuesday and was off Wednesday, when they called me back, so there was nothing from them in the story that ran that Thursday. They also faxed me a statement, which languished in some other part of the building before arriving on my desk this week.

The statement, penned by attorney Christopher Sullivan, reads in part:

This matter is far from over. Now the substance of the case can be addressed, which is the abusive treatment that Debi Bearss endured at the hands of Wendy Wilton that resulted in Debi's inability to continue work.

The federal decision did not preclude a lawsuit at the state level, and Sullivan wrote that Bearss will file a complaint in Rutland Superior Court.

Chiefly qualities

Chris Poirier, an old friend and former Rutland resident, writes with his own list of what the city should be looking for in a police chief:

Candidates should be a chief level officer in a city of similar and/or larger size

Candidates should hold minimum educational, training and certification requirements. (CALEA certified police force, A.S./B.S. in criminal justice and/or police studies, etc.)

Candidates should have experience with community oriented policing models.

Candidates should have history of crime reduction and increased enforcement.

Candidates should be creative in applying minimal resources to difficult problems. (..duh.)

Candidates should understand public relations, public media and citizenship engagement.

Last I knew, he was working for the Department of Homeland Security -- albeit in a fire safety capacity -- so I figure he has half a clue what he's on about. More than me, anyway, and I already shot my mouth off on the subject.

He goes on to say most cities convene search committees of five to six people and suggests Rutland will get better results from the International Association of Chiefs of Police if we have a clear picture of what we're looking for when we approach them.

update: Chris writes to say he's been out of fire safety for a while and that his job at DHS is most simply described as "information sharing and collaboration."

Parking break

The third and supposedly final Community and Economic Development Committee meeting on downtown parking is tonight, and Downtown Rutland Partnership executive director Michael Coppinger said his board reviewed the mayor's proposal -- parking getting scarcer more expensive on the street but cheaper and easier in the deck -- yesterday.

"We agree with, I'd say, 99 percent of it," he said. "We're going to ask the board and the mayor for a few tweaks."

Coppinger would not go into what those tweaks were because he wants to present them to the committee before airing them out in the media, so you folks will just have to pick up tomorrow's Herald, won't you?

Coppinger said the DRP board also talked about Alderman Ed Larson's alternate proposals -- subsidizing free parking in the deck and allowing two-hour free parking downtown -- and concluded they would be worth testing out once the Mayor's plan (or the tweaked version thereof) is in place.