Historical November–December 2015 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
On October 12, Liz Pund resigned her position as executive director of the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council.
She served the Board and neighbors well for 2 years.
As of this writing, a search committee is vetting applications for her replacement.
This provides an opportunity to look at the Council, its structure, its funding, its activities to see whether they are appropriate in a time of declining resources. Our neighborhood now is close to being one quarter Washington University students. That provides a dynamism but also subtracts from the number of families.
We continue to be diverse in terms of race, wealth, and age. Many of our residents (nonstudents) are young with families.
They are not necessarily aware of the Council or of the history of this neighborhood.
The master plan recently adopted by the Council suggests a number of low-cost activities to acclimate new residents.. Despite our successes, we have to remain vigilant because our hard-fought stability is rare in this country. Similarly, neighbors might want to examine the workings of the neighborhood housing corporation.
It has a self-perpetuating board and its activities are not always transparent.
This year the SDCC board authorized the creation of a committee to examine funding for our institutions in the form of a special business district. That district would be funded by a property tax, up to 85 cents per $1000 of assessed valuation. That tax might cost between $150 and $400 per household. Tax exempt institutions would not have to pay.
The committee has not been named as of this writing. Perhaps this is the catalyst we need to examine what we have in light of what we can afford.
After 50 years, modifications to institutional arrangements might be desirable.
We have neighbors who love and are grateful to the Council, but we also have a significant number who are not engaged. Bureaucratic theory tells us that organizations resist change.
They do not willingly evaluate themselves.
If neighbors care about how the institutions function in our interest, this is the perfect time to begin an examination. Let’s understand what we fund and how and why and if there are alternatives that could work better in our behalf.
The hiring of a new director opens up the possibility of seeing which way we are going and if there is a better path.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, November–December 2015.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed 85 cents per 1000 assessed valuation differs earlier 85 cents per 100; preserve source denominator discrepancy, not current tax advice.
Original source: SD_Times2015_11.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
