WE'RE NOT DONE

As many of you may already know last night we won a stay of execution but not a full pardon. At the start of council meeting the Mayor read a statement announcing that the the three lots for sale at the corner of 252nd and 84th ,otherwise known as Mclellan Park or Area 47, were being taken off the market and that the five lots behind Gray Pit were still for sale but that the bids for them had been rejected
 I would like join others in thanking the Mayor and Council for this decision. I am sure that they have not had an easy time in the  last two weeks. Public office can be a difficult job and this story is proof of that. Council has made a good decision here and that deserves recognition. The difficult  job that elected officials have also deserves recognition. I am sure that many others join me in saying Thank you.
Those who helped bring us to this moment also deserve many thanks. Whether you  signed the petition, helped collect signatures, gave advise, did research, made speeches ,gave interviews ,assumed a leadership role or merely helped to spread the word each of you played a part.As someone who has been involved in my own small way in this fight I know I know only a fraction of those who contributed and only a fraction of what each did. Our group,our "organiztion " has had  too many parts and  too many demands in too short a time for anyone to really know the countless people who have helped us get to this point. Thank you to one and all from one of your companions in arms.
But now is not the time for laying down. We cannot stop until we have secured official park status for not only Mclellan Park but for the Gray Pit properties. The few short weeks this has been going on has shown the ecological importance of both places. Time will doubtless reveal more. But we know enough to say that for a host of reason these places should be conserved for future generation. Park or nature preserve status would do that and prevent this issue from needlessly being revisited in a few years time. In the case of Gray Pit this is the 2nd time that people have fought to preserve it in thirteen years. We need to achieve certainty.
We can do that.The last few weeks have shown what citizens can do in a democracy. Those who fought the logging of Gray Pit. at the start of the century also showed that it possible  contrary to the saying "to fight City Hall" What was was once regarded as a sure thing is now stillborn. If this sale is revived it will be in large part because those who fought it in the first place walked away from the fight.
We need to regard the fact that we are the main thing that will make this happen not as a scary thing but as a source of strength.We need to finish not just what we have started but what was started when people rallied to save Gray Pit  over ten years ago.Let's do it again only better.In the words of Stuart Bucholtz "Don't assume someone else will do it"
Blogging will resume sometime in the afternoon.