Using humor to keep us positive
This blog runs on community generosity
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Twitter Fun
The elves who usually write for me are having a difficult time finding time this week. Although, they seem to have taken over my Twitter account. Which, by the way, hasn’t broken too far away from the topic of street food vending.
Luckily, a meme started yesterday morning by a TC Twitter-head has produced some entertaining book title twists. Check those out at #TCStreetFoodBookTitles. If you like those, you might also like #TCFoodTruckMovieTitles or #TCStreetFoodLyrics.
Some examples:
Bury My Burrito at Wounded Knee
#TCStreetFoodBookTitles—
MyWHaT/G. Howe (@glhjr) February 13, 2013
No Chutney For Old Men
#TCStreetFoodBookTitles—
MyWHaT/G. Howe (@glhjr) February 13, 2013
But, this might be the best:
One Hundred Years Without Food Trucks #TCStreetFoodBookTitles #TCStreetFood—
James Bruckbauer (@jimbruckb) February 13, 2013
Back to work…if I can stay off of Twitter.
And, stop drooling over this Wikipedia list of global street-food!
Still not too late to sign the TC Street Food petition
Currently at 608 647 679 signatures!!!
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Personally, I’d rather eat a brown bag lunch at my desk surfing MyWhat than go to a food truck. That said, I see the value. A couple points that shed light on why this has been so hard to get approved, which may have some general lessons too.
1. As a downtown commercial property owner, I got a letter from the DDA soliciting my opinion about this. This polling of the property owners outside of the general public input process is common at the DDA. While residents and petition signers think may we live under one person-one vote, there are some who think not all those votes have equal weight.
2. The two staunchest food truck critics on the DDA – Rick Korndorfer and Bill Golden – own commercial property in the district, and the public statements I’ve seen suggest that concerns about their own property values and those of their neighbors are guiding their vote. Mr. Golden doesn’t even live in the city. From two years serving on the DDA, I don’t think their view on downtown issues is shared by the majority of the members, but it raises a question about who should be on that board – those who believe the DDA’s purpose is to benefit city residents, or those who believe its purpose is to benefit downtown property owners. The latter category tend to be the ones who also who resist using DDA funds for the waterfront and park projects, and anything that limits parking.
I believe the chairman of the DDA is taking a balanced and thoughtful approach to the whole issue, plus there are several bright and principled advocates on the DDA who want to see this solved, and I remain hopeful that it can all be worked out. However, this process does raise questions about the larger issue of who does and does not have a say about the future of our downtown.
i appreciate the comment and the context.
For a sense of the wider support amongst city residents, as well as visitors, I recommend scrolling through the hundreds of excellent, well articulated comments on the TC Street Food petition. I trust someone is delivering them in entirety to the DDA board and the City Commission.
https://www.change.org/petitions/traverse-city-downtown-development-authority-adopt-the-mobile-food-regulations-proposed-by-the-tc-street-food-group?utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition