[Imc] Bookmobile issue

Tue Jul 16 16:56:56 UTC 2002

Do not post this to the website.  It is for this listerv only.  Below is a
conversation between me and the Chief of Police about the Bookmobile
incident.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 11:55:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: Danielle Chynoweth <chyn at che.onthejob.net>
To: "Adair, Eddie" <adaireb at city.urbana.il.us>
Subject: RE: I fear we are killing our downtown

> Danielle we got a complaint call on the bookmobile from the office.
> That is the only reason that we were there. We advised the people to
> move on they didn't and we ticketed them. That is how we handle these
> kind of situations. We don't get a complaint we don't show up.

Dear Chief,

Your response implies that the complaintant was right and that the best
way to deal with a complaint is to ask the "offender" to move on.  I
disagree with both of these implications.  The fact of the matter is that
the Bookmobile art exhibit had a permit to use those parking spaces, paid
for by the IMC.  The bookmobile knew this and this is why they did not
move on" as requested. The spaces belong to the city, not the business
owner, and the city has a right to allow special uses of its right of way,
which it did.  In this case, the officers should have been upholding the
*city's decision* to lease that space rather than siding with the business
owner.

The officer on duty at the time, in my opinion, should not have dealt with
the conflict between the Office and the Bookmobile art exhibit by telling
this exhibit - which has a national reputation and was drawing hundrerds
of people from all over the region - "move on."  That attitude is exactly
the problem.  We in Urbana, I fear, would rather have a completely
lifeless downtown than have conflict.  We in Urbana, I fear, see a crowd
on the street and want to dispurse it rather than realizing that a crowd
in downtown is the best thing that could happen to this city.

As a councilmember dedicated to restoring the life of the downtown, I urge
the police department to approach conflicts over space usage, crowds,
freedom of speech, people "hanging out" in downtown with a desire to
achieve mutually beneficial outcomes rather than ticketing one party so as
to quickly end conflict.  What does this look like?  Well, the sargeant
who originally responded to the call should have taken a representative
from Bookmobile, asked them to come talk to the Office staff who made the
complaint, and something could have been worked out in less time with less
stress to all and a better outcome for Urbana and the downtown.  I know
this is asking more of your staff.  It is easier to ticket than get
involved.  But I have seen our officers do a great job of mediating a
conflict before and I know they can do it in the future.

Thank you for your response and for your time in reading this message.  I
would be happy to talk to your futher about this if you would like.

repectfully,

Danielle

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Danielle Chynoweth [mailto:chyn at ojctech.com]
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 10:11 PM
> To: motto at pdnt.net; ! Whelan, Joseph; ! Hayes, Jim; patt esther b;
> ISEN/Laura Huth; ! Wyman, Ruth; Satterthwaite, Tod; Waaler, Jack; Tyler,
> Elizabeth; Walden, Bruce; Adair, Eddie
> Subject: I fear we are killing our downtown
>
>
> This weekend, the Independent Media Center, of which I am a member, held a
> regional conference on independent publishing.  They hosted an arts group
> "Bookmobile" from Montreal which parked an airstream in front of the IMC
> and gave tours all day Friday and Saturday of hundreds of books by
> independent publishers from around the world.  This was their art
> installation which was featured in CU City View.
>
> 300 people, some from as far as Madison, Chicago, and Springfield, came
> for this event.  Friday night was more activity than downtown Urbana has
> seen in months.  It is the epitome of what every block in downtown Urbana
> should look like in the evening.
>
> The manager of the Office agreed that he was benefiting from the
> pedestrian traffic and "had no problem with the Bookmobile" being outside
> his doors.  Indeed the Office has indicated that they have seen increased
> revenue since the IMC, which now hosts events nearly every night of the
> week, opened up in downtown.
>
> The IMC had approached the city and meters had been bagged for three
> spaces for the bookmobile.  At the height of the evening, there were
> dozens of people talking on the sidewalk.  The police came and ordered the
> installation to pack up and leave.  She said she received a complaint.
> Eventually the owner of the bookmobile - an out of town guest, in the
> middle of the art event, in front of dozens of visitors to the bookmobile,
> was ticketed for "obstruction of traffic."  I was embarrassed for the City
> if Urbana.
>
> You will say - "they just didn't have the right permit" - and maybe you
> are right, I will investigate that. But this is part of a larger trend.
>
> Is this what a healthy downtown is - an "obstruction of traffic?!"  I am
> incensed that we would treat an art event in the downtown this way.  I am
> incensed that we make it so difficult for the downtown to thrive by
> overlegislating and overreacting, nit-picking, or blaming business owners
> for not having every piece of paperwork in order.
>
> I am writing this to city staff because I want to give a clear
> illustration of how and by what means the downtown is dying.  This is one
> of many stories I could tell.  I am writing this because I refuse to give
> the News Gazette another reason to dump on Urbana for being
> "anti-business."  And I am writing this because I plan on doing what I can
> to pull the downtown up by its bootstraps.
>
> We now have the ability to hang signs over our businesses to announce our
> existence to pedestrians.  I want to see an incentive package for small
> business that is at least as attractive as Champaign.  First floor spaces
> in downtown should be zoned for retail only - not office, whicle
> grandfathering in the current offices on the first floor.  There should be
> service guarantees for people opening businesses in downtown, just like
> Build Urbana.  You should be able to get an inspection pronto.  Priority
> should be given to inspections in TIF 1 and 2 areas.  Certain empty retail
> spaces should be "pre-inspected" for certain kinds of business -
> restaurants for example - so that they can be marketing as an "easy
> move-in."  If we want more warm bodies on the street - more life - we
> should allow sidewalk dining for free and make the permit easy to get.
> Street vendors should be encouraged.  Theater and art should not be
> enforced out of existence. The police should play the role of mediators
> rather than merely ticketers where public safety is not in emminent
> danger.
>
> I am proposing that we treat the downtown as a "special place" so that
> activity is, at best, stimulated, and at least not hampered.  So far we
> have done so with streetscape and cheap parking, but boy do we have a long
> way to go.
>
> I welcome response and collaboration.
>
> With the best intentions,
>
> Danielle
>
>  --
> | Danielle Chynoweth
> |
> | Graphic Design Director * OJC Technologies * www.ojctech.com
> | Alderperson, Ward 4 * Urbana City Council * www.city.urbana.il.us
>
>

-- 
| Danielle Chynoweth
|
| Graphic Design Director * OJC Technologies * www.ojctech.com
| Alderperson, Ward 4 * Urbana City Council * www.city.urbana.il.us