[CPRB] press conference

Tue Jul 24 12:57:58 CDT 2007

Maybe a press conference wouldn't be best, I don't
know.  I appreciate your thoughts on it, Esther.  We
ought to think about what we want to achieve by it, or
by some other means.

One thing is actually that the occasion is an
opportunity to start informing people of their new
rights.  That's a considerable value.

Another is that the cprb was originally a citizen
initiative and citizens should take credit for it as
an example of what people can do when they get
together.  That's a valuable lesson, and this is an
opportunity to  illustrate the point.

If someone really thinks this is an IMC thing - I
wouldn't personally have a problem with that, if it
were true - then one value of a press conference is an
opportunity to list the member organizations involved,
and perhaps one line (literally) about how it got
started.  Justa thought.

I think we should appreciate the Mayor's work and
leadership on this, and that of council members - and
we should say so in any press conference.  I think the
openness of (most) of this process has been very
gratifying: the frank discussions, the task force -
including the composition of it, on which the Mayor
was willing to take our input - right down to the
latest revisions, which are substantially what we
asked for.

All that is an incredible example of how government
ought to operate, something we rarely see these days,
and I've never been more pleased with any group of
elected officials, or any mayor specifically.  And I
actually think that the biggest credit to them, and to
her, is this willingness to listen and work together -
much moreso than if it had been one person's
individual project.

The mayor was of course involved from the start,
before I was, but long before she was mayor.  But also
meaning to offend no one, it was members of the
Coalition who circulated petitions, spoke to the
previous mayor and council about this, sent out
candidate questionnaires and held a public forum
during the elections, then met with the new mayor and
council members about how to do this.

Again, the Mayor has made all the difference and has
made this possible.  We should ay so.  But we do a
great disservice to her and to the public if we let
this moment pass with the impression that all you have
to do is go out and vote for the right candidate with
the right ideas and don't acknowledge, as I said, what
people can do if they get together, and what a
difference it makes to have elected officials who
listen.

I don't know if a press conference is the best way to
achieve this.  But if we have it, I think we ought to
have representatives from some of the Coalition member
organizations speaking - Urban Leage, NAACP, ACLU -
and we could invite the Mayor and, I'd say, Danielle,
to speak.  I'm willing to call around to see if that's
possible.  It may not be.

I also happen to think there might be value in
reminding people that this board will not fix
everything that's wrong with police-community
relations, but that it is an incredible change.  It's
people taking charge of their government, a little at
a time, and taking a measure of responsibility, rather
than just complaining.

No?

Ricky

--- Esther Patt <epatt at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> The review board was an initiative of the mayor's
> that the council put on its list of council goals 2
> years ago. The mayor and council should be the focus
> of press attention on this issue, not us. 
> 
> Also, meaning to offend no one, I'd also like to
> point out that people who try to portray everything
> they don't like as left-wing radicalism are trying
> to portray the review board as a creation of the
> lefties at the IMC who have pressured the council to
> do their bidding. Hence, we would not be helping our
> supporters on the council by holding a press
> conference taking the attention away from them, nor
> would we be helping our supporters on the council by
> holding a press conference to point out the
> shortcomings of the ordinance.  So, while I'm not
> opposed to a press conference, I don't see it as a
> valuable strategy.  Our energies would be better
> spent, once the Ordinance is passed, getting the
> word out to the community about people's new rights
> regarding complaints about the police.
> Esther Patt
> 
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:54:34 -0700 (PDT)
> >From: Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>  
> >Subject: Re: [CPRB] press conference  
> >To: Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com>,
> coalition policereview <cprb at lists.chambana.net>
> >
> >Porque no?
> >
> >
> >--- Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Any interest in doing a press conference on
> August
> >> 6, just before the city
> >> council mtg?
> >> 
> >> BD
> >> -- 
> >> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
> >> 303 W. Locust St.
> >> Urbana, IL 61801
> >> briandolinar at gmail.com
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> CPRB mailing list
> >> CPRB at lists.chambana.net
> >> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/cprb
> >> 
> >
> >
> >
> >       
>
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