"from the ashes of destruction grow the roses of success..."--Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
OK, so my hopes and dreams for a more walkable, sustainable community here in Albuquerque got smacked down in a big, public, painful way Monday night. It was every Kossak's worst nightmare, a room full of self-satisfied rich Republicans scuttling a program to formalize a city-wide multiple use trail system, using lies, misperceptions, and slander. A body led by corrupt officials siding with the monied interests. A progressive populace too complacent with the status quo to recognize trouble on their doorstep. The "bad guys" winning.
I have waited 24 hours so I could write about it without using profanities every other word and calling for mobs with pitchforks. When my favorite uncle was dying, he tried to share two very difficult teachings, that I am trying to apply here, so that my sorrow and anger can perhaps help other progressives when they go to push through important changes in your own communities. His lessons were these:
- When life throws obstacles in your way, ask yourself, what am I supposed to learn from this?
- it's OK to feel bad (or angry), as long you don't judge that feeling as "bad." Suffering is as normal as joy.
Some context: for hundreds of years, residents along the middle Rio Grande built and maintained a system of acequias, or irrigation canals, that snake through the valley. As Albuquerque grew, these ditches became de facto trails and open space, enjoyed by horse riders, walkers, joggers, dog owners, cyclists, and bird watchers. The only problem? All these people are trespassing. Since the 1930s, the acequias are largely owned and managed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which controls how much water farmers can draw down for irrigation (for those unfamiliar with water rights, people get a certain amount, like 10 acre-feet per year, and it's up to the mayordomo of each acequia or acequia system to monitor use and maintain the water flow). The MRGCD has never sanctioned recreational use of these trails, citing very real liability concerns. Fair enough.
But three years ago, some things changed. My Super Great State Senator, Dede Feldman, pushed through passage of a bill to release the MRGCD from liability due to recreational use, and the MRGCD formed an advisory group, called Ditches With Trails, to see how it would work if the Conservancy District made recreation LEGAL and formalized this trail system. The city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, and the Village of Los Ranchos (a tiny village inside Abq) all enthusiastically signed on to this project. Somewhere between then and Monday night, it all got very ugly, culminating in a public meeting where over 100 supporters and opponents of a recreational plan jammed shoulder to shoulder into a hot board room to witness the Conservancy District scotching the plan, dissolving the DWT advisory group, and making statements like "we consider the ditches to be private property." Ouch! How did this happen?? More importantly, how can we progressives, trying to bring positive change to our communities, learn from this so we don't make the same mistakes?
I joined the Ditches With Trails steering committee after my partner was hit by another parent's truck while walking our kindergartner to school. I decided to be the change I wanted to see in my community, and had heard that DWT had great success in another part of town starting a Safe Routes to School program, and I wanted to do the same in my neighborhood (which has no sidewalks, to "preserve the rural character" of the neighborhood). DWT had huge community support, because everyone who lives around the acequias uses them, and they connect many open space areas, including community farms, a state park, and a large bike trail system. In fact, the acequias are a nexus of a lot of the change we would all like to see on this planet-- they support wildlife and endangered species, traditional native and Spanish lifeways, sustainable transportation, a place for children and their families to engage in safe outdoor recreation and nature study, and for neighbors to meet and greet while walking. They are literally the lifeblood of Albuquerque's organic and local farms.
I know conservative tech workers who use the ditch trails to bike to Intel; pueblo elders who meet with Catholic priests for an annual blessing of the waters with a procession of San Ysidro (patron saint of farmers), a ceremony that dates back to the middle ages; families whose Sunday outing is walking along the acequias to the local coffee house. Personally, I take my girl scout troop out, to learn about area plants and animals, to do service projects (picking up trash, planning holiday events where we line the banks with luminaria), and to learn about community agriculture.
So, two things happened during the three years the study group was in session that pissed some people off. One was that they advised the Water Authority on design considerations for an improvement project, and the Water Authority disregarded the advice and paved the ditch trail (for good reason, but it still pissed people off). The other was that we helped the county replace a substandard bridge (substandard trail structures are a major problem, some crossings are only rotten planks across the water). The old bridge had been the site of a human fatality and a serious horse accident. The new bridge, designed to meet demands from multiple users, was more expensive than expected due to inflation and because the power company took the opportunity to correct problems with non-compliant utility lines. Worst of all, apparently, was that we decided to make the bridge pretty, and the neighbors found the art objectionable.
The people who were objecting all came from a single neighborhood association, made up of the richest people in the hood, who live in posh McMansion subdivisions. I suspect they would like nothing more than to stop the dirty hippies from walking around in their backyards, and would love it if the acequias were closed and the land would revert back to them. Did I mention that that is the alternative? Oh yes, if the Conservancy District maintains that irrigation is its sole purpose, then as these neighborhoods gradually fill in with McMansions instead of farms, the MRGCD will shut down the acequias, and the easements then become part of the adjacent landowners' property, who often then fence off the trail. It's happened already to miles of ditches, and in fact I live on a dead ditch, so I have to detour around my behind neighbor to access our nearest acequia. So there is a powerful incentive for opposition right there.
To make a long story short, these ricos raised a big hue and cry, and called and emailed the board members, and flyered the neighbors, and... got their way. We presented our feasibility report, got viciously attacked for our trouble, and then instead of allowing a public comment period for the report, the MRGCD board rejected our findings and revoked its support for the program.
So, back to my uncle's teachings.
- What is the lesson I have to learn here?
The lessons for me are complicated.
a) Being classy and polite doesn't work in a mudfight. We were requesting that the MRGCD board would allow for a public comment period after the report was released at the board meeting. All the negative comments were from people who had NOT EVEN SEEN the report, but opposed it anyway. Today the now defunct steering committee is talking about having some more meetings to discuss a thoughtful response. To me, it is clear that we should have just emailed all our friends and told them to go ahead and call and email the board members directly. We were trying to be considerate and polite. Dumb idea.
b) Being starry-eyed about some progressive cause being a no-brainer doesn't work when you're working with people who have no brains. They won the day with smears, fear-mongering, ad hominem attacks, and innuendo (sound familiar?). We had facts, reason, and good sense on our side, and got creamed. I am not advocating using those tactics, but strong framing and delivering loud, consistent, and frequent messages to the public is essential.
c) Be clear-eyed about whose interests are at stake. We were being advised on how to handle the board by Conservancy District staff. I think these people are terrific, and genuinely committed to promoting recreation, but they also had their jobs at stake, and I think in hindsight, that we were so cautious because they did not want to get in trouble at work.
d) Be prepared for totally moronic behavior. My big problem as a community advocate is when people say things that are stupid and short-sighted and selfish and contrary to all good sense, my brain gets stunned and my jaw drops open, and I don't even know where to start refuting their gobbeldygook. I actually knew all the talking points they were using, but I didn't think they held water, and I certainly didn't expect that people would stand up and use lies and personal attacks to oppose the project. My public statement to the board was a little wishy-washy and weak, because I was literally trembling from shock, and I terribly regret that now. I wish I had prepared a firm rebuttal to what I knew the counter argument would be.
- Suffering is part of life; it doesn't mean it's "bad".
I put in hundreds of volunteer hours for this cause. We had weekly meetings that lasted several hours, weekend events that often required me to be out in freezing or boiling hot weather from dawn until late at night. I put off paid work to write huge sections of the feasibility report. All for nothing apparently. Is that bad? Actually, it is of no importance at all. My feelings are totally irrelevant to anyone except me. I know from long, bitter years as a progressive activist (and Democratic campaigner) that you don't get to quit because you feel sad or mad or rejected or publicly humiliated. You don't get to quit knocking on your neighbors doors and talking with them about issues that concern you all just because you think they're stupid, shortsighted fuckers. You don't get to quit writing your idiot representative just because you know she'll just drop your letter in the trash. In this case, I am harnessing my fury and sorrow to spend the day writing letters to the paper, to the news outlets, to the MRGCD board, and to my many friends in the progressive community.
I'm sorry for Albuquerque, and I'm sorry I didn't do a better job. Next cause I give my heart to, I'm certainly going to be a little more clear-eyed, realistic, and firm about making a stink about what is right. I hope anyone who reads this can take away some lessons for dealing with your own community issues.