We have all experienced the rush of new development in Englewood.  According to the latest Suburbanite, we are in for some more. But once burned, twice shy.  This time, I hope that a more skeptical citizenry will be examining the motives and operations of those political and corporate interests who oversell the cost/benefit ratio of their pet projects.  

But what principles might guide development that supports the health and happiness of our citizens?

A Conference on Urban Planning

I was privileged to attend and present at an international symposium on “Urban Governance and Public Health” hosted by Michel Cantal-Dupart, Professor of Urban Architecture at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Trades in Paris. Readers may remember Professor Cantal from our short video of his tour through Englewood. Englewood residents and leading American public health experts, Drs. Mindy and Robert Fullilove of Columbia University, co-chaired the meeting.

I had the opportunity to conduct a short interview with Robert Fullilove and get his take on the purpose of the conference:

Principles of Urban Planning

During the conference, I learned about Professor Cantal's central principles of urban design, which are well demonstrated in the beautiful and functional capital city, Paris.  Englewood would do well to consider them.  Dr. Mindy Fullilove was kind enough to explain these principles in the following interview:



So how can these principles be applied to Englewood? Here are some examples:

Principle #1. "Open The Perspective"

In other words, extend sight lines and create a sense of spaciousness in the urban environment.

For instance, widening the sidewalks on Dean Street and providing a sense of spaciousness would encourage people to use Englewood as a destination, not just another North/South car route.  Let 9W,  Washington Ave and the Palisade Parkway fill that job. 

Principle #2. "Make Connections"
Simply put, we should create pathways that invite visits to our parks, shops and neighborhoods.

For instance, the alleyways on Dean Street are now dead zones.  They could be made more inviting, encourages people to explore the area of City Hall and bergenPAC.


Principle #3. "Make Investments"
The healthy development of an urban environment calls for cost-effective investment in our parks, public spaces and interconnections. 

For instance, if we are to encourage people to visit bergenPAC and the area around City Hall, it must be an inviting place to be.  Currently, it is simply an ugly, sad parking lot facing the back end of Dean Street buildings.  This is hardly the view City Hall and bergenPAC should be providing.

Likewise, our city should provide maps and graphics that reveal the connections to the great attractions of our city. Such mapping and signage would also help create zones of attraction, such as our restaurant, shopping and theatre districts.

Successful Planning in Other Cities

Cities like Pittsburgh, Pa. are using these principles to change their way of development. For instance, the city's NHL Hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, is working with people in the immediate neighborhood to design, provide and fund development that both remediates past damage and provides benefit to the people who live in the area. One presenter at the conference, Denys Candy, is a organizational community development consultant in Pittsburgh. He discusses this new kind of development in the following interview:

Conclusion

I urge our city's leaders to avail themselves of the connections Englewood now has with local and international expertise.  We needn't reinvent the wheel.  And we needn't leave the future of our city to the economic ambitions of developers and their cozy political advocates.

Suzanne Platoff, a long-time Englewood activist, died on July 27 at the age of 82. In 1994, she challenged then incumbent Mayor Donald Aronson in the Democratic Primary and failed to unseat him by a small margin. Some of her supporters in that campaign later started The Englewood Report (ancestor of this newsletter) and she served on its editorial board during its four-year existence, 1995-1998.

Suzanne’s activism in Englewood dates back to her participation in the school integration fight in 1963. At various times a member of the League of Women Voters and of the Democratic Municipal Committee, and Board President of the Englewood Library, she remained actively involved in this community throughout her life here. Her husband, Judge Robert Platoff, died in 1980.

The Record's obituary can be read here.

One of Englewood’s icons, Eleanor Harvey, died on July 22 at the age of 97. Eleanor was a founder of the Englewood Historical Society in 1976 and its President from that date until last year. She was forever reminding us of the importance of understanding and preserving our "heritage." Englewood is indeed the most historic community in Bergen County, with the possible exception of Hackensack. It has more officially designated historic houses, including some 200 years old. Once known as the "bedroom of Wall Street," the number of prominent persons who have lived in Englewood is lengthy. As Eleanor never tired of pointing out, the area which is now Englewood even played a role in the American Revolution.

Eleanor was a woman with great determination. She is largely responsible, among other accomplishments, for the Liberty Square memorial at the Monument, for the freestanding clock in front of City Hall, for the funding and distribution of historical publications about Englewood, and for the continued vitality of the Englewood Historical Society, now more than thirty years old. A teacher in Englewood for many years, she devoted her retirement to teaching us all about our past.

Last week, a gunman shot 5 people at Ashanti, a neighborhood restaurant in Englewood. As usual, Mayor Wildes' immediate reaction was to play politics with this tragedy. This time, Wildes blames the shooting on an absence of basketball courts in the 4th Ward. Here is Bob's response, as printed in yesterday's Bergen Record:

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes is shameless.

In response to the recent shooting in Englewood, he asks: "How can we build million-dollar projects and not have a basketball court and an arts studio for children in the 4th Ward?"

Good question – to ask of himself. After all, he has had more than eight years as a councilman and mayor to answer it.

Wildes' Planning Board has provided millions of dollars in tax breaks to the developers of these "million-dollar projects." And unlike representatives in neighboring towns, Wildes has never gotten these developers to build more facilities for our youth. Meanwhile, he doesn't seem to be complaining about the tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he gets from developers.

Most embarrassingly, Wildes ought to know that the 4th Ward's McKay Park has seven lit basketball and tennis courts, along with playing fields, a public swimming pool and an indoor skating rink. If Wildes wants to fight crime and help our city's youth, he should learn what facilities Englewood already has, stop sucking up to developers and start getting developer-funded facilities.

Robert Stern
Englewood, July 11

You can find additional letters on the shooting at the Bergen Record's website. For further information of this tragedy, read this article.

As part of the public school construction bond referendum approved by the voters in 2004, the City of Englewood agreed to purchase two of our older school buildings from the Board of Education: Lincoln School and Russell C. Major Liberty School. Both of these buildings were built in the first decade of the 20th century and have become both obsolete by modern standards and expensive to maintain or renovate. The properties are located in Englewood’s central business district. It was believed at the time of the referendum that the City would recoup its expenditures by selling one or both of these properties to private investors. In addition, any such sale would place non-taxed property back on the tax roll.

From the point of view of the school system, the Lincoln School will no longer be needed once construction is completed on the new John Grieco School. This could be as soon as September 2008. Relocating the school central offices and Alternative School now housed in the Liberty School will be more difficult and no plan has yet been finalized.

From the point of view of the City, we are glad that the Council has finally started a process that will include the public's input on what the fate of these properties will be. Unlike the case with most private development, the City is in a position to exercise control over the density, architectural character and purposes of these sites. Positive efforts to attract desired types of investment can be made. However, long-term objectives should outweigh short-term market factors.

There has been a great deal of public discussion on the establishment of a community center in Lincoln School, such as exists in some neighboring communities with recreation facilities and meeting rooms. In fact, the Council passed a $3,000,000 bond issue (now revoked) for this purpose. Much of the pressure for a community center stems from a perceived shortage of extracurricular facilities for our young people. While providing such facilities is a laudable goal, it seems likely that there are more practical and economical ways to do so. An assessment of existing programs and facilities, in order to focus on specific unmet needs and minimize additional costs, is a crucial first step.

Another consideration is the architectural distinction of the Liberty School. The former Roosevelt School on Broad Avenue, now residential condominiums, and the former Engle Street School, now the Renaissance office center, are examples of our ability to adaptive and reuse our outdated school buildings while preserving their distinctive architecture.

The fate of the two school properties may be the most important development decision that remains to be made by our municipal leadership in this decade. We urge that final decisions are only made after the public has had a full opportunity to give its input and a thorough investigation of reasonable alternatives has been completed. The discussion should start now.

It appears that Councilman Jack Drakeford has some competition for the 4th Ward Council seat this November.

Democrat Dierdre Glenn Paul, a Montclair State University Professor and 14-year resident of Englewood, has successfully filed petitions to run as an Independent. Dr. Paul is an acknowledged authority in the field of education, schooling, and literacy. Her latest book is entitled Talkin' Back: Raising and Educating Resilient Black Girls.

Dr. Paul is not new to handling conflict, bureaucracy or management, having administrative and leadership experience as a union leader, department chairperson, keynote speaker and academic presenter. She has won elections before, having served as Grievance Chairperson, Acting President and currently, President of the Montclair State University Federation of Teachers. Dierdre was recently elected to a second term as the Executive Vice President of the Councilof New Jersey State College Locals.

Recently, we had a chance to ask Dr. Paul about her decision to run for city council. Here is our exchange:

The Englewood Report: Dr. Paul, thank you for joining us. Could you tell us about yourself and what prompted you to run for the 4th Ward Council position?

Dierdre Glenn Paul: There was no particular occurrence that prompted me to run. Instead, it would more appropriately be described as a culmination of events. For the past five years, I have been actively engaged in raising my two young children as a divorced, single parent, teaching my classes, and serving as a MSUFT Local 1904 union officer representing more than 750 faculty, professional staff, and librarians.

At the same time, I listened to Ward 4 residents who felt that their needs were not being addressed and I read stories in the newspapers about increasing gang violence and the jeopardy in which our young people find themselves throughout the City. I closely monitored the construction of Towne Centre and the debacle of the illegal 5th Floor in the "Suburbanite" and talked to local women who were impacted by the development. One was given $5,000 and a time frame to vacate. The other worried about the anticipated arrival of the time when she would be asked to abandon her business on Humphrey Street. I was particularly struck by those women because they felt they had no recourse and they certainly did not see local government as a possible source of assistance and/or protection.

I have now reached a point at which I've come to realize that it is up to me to shape the type of community in which I want to raise my children. The same skills that I developed and effectively used as a Union leader can also be used to improve the quality of life in the
community I love, the community in which my children have lived all of their lives.

The Englewood Report: Having witnessed the nastiness of the last few Englewood campaigns, are you prepared for the onslaught of personal attacks that could come your way?

Dierdre Glenn Paul: Yes, I am aware of the smear campaigns of the recent past and I have even experienced some as I successfully ran for office within the Union structure several times thus far. Yet, I am a 42-year-old, divorced, single parent who also happens to be a Black woman. There have been a number of challenges that life has thrown my way, but strong faith and a belief in God have consistently seen me through, as will be the case in this instance, as well.

My focus is on providing the Fourth Ward with the strong and effective advocacy it needs, as well as representing all of the Ward's citizens. I want the opportunity to restore pride and respect to the Fourth Ward. Ward Four needs a hands-on representative who will actively assist all residents in accomplishing their goals and improving the quality of their everyday lives. The people of Ward Four need to see their representative and be able to easily contact her whenever they need her.