Published in slightly edited form July 9, 2014 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette.
Sorry
to have missed you last week, but I was busy with Independence Day
preparations: gathering signatures to protect the diagonal parking on Gale Hill
Avenue against the machinations of the Lindsay Bicycle Plan.
As I worked, I kept hearing the last
lines of the Star-Spangled Banner, a popular tune this time of year. “In the land of the free” is the next-to-last
phrase, escalating to the highest note in the song, often held out with a
fermata and given a dramatic break before the final line. The high note singing “free” sets our hearts
on fire; fireworks explode behind our eyes, in our imaginations. Then we drop back down to the solemn,
peaceful thought: “and the home of the
brave.” Home. Always good to be home. And brave.
The importance of being brave when
it comes to home - that’s what we
suddenly recognized two weeks ago when the city’s plan to install bike lanes
and parallel parking on the four block stretch of Gale Hill between Hermosa and
Apia to Mirage became evident. For two
years, since these blocks were repaved, the possibility has existed that this
plan would be implemented, but few knew of it.
When I’d mention it to people who would be impacted, they’d look
askance, as if I were just trying to stir up trouble. But on Tuesday, June 17th, when the markings
for the bike lanes were painted in preparation for the striping, people could
see with their own eyes what we were about to lose.
The first to respond was Pastor Rosa
Medina of Iglesia Del Nazareno Roca de Salvacion, who went immediately to city
hall to ask for an explanation. They
told her they’d have someone call. She
was still waiting for that call Wednesday when I called to ask if her church
would like to sign a letter requesting they restore the diagonal spaces.
The second to respond was
Councilwoman Kimball, who was unaware that plans had changed. Like me, she’d seen the markings for diagonal
spaces marked in on Monday, June 16th.
When she heard those markings had been blacked out and the bike lane
markings painted over them, she called down to city hall and got the striping
stopped. After pestering Mike Camarena’s
office all morning on Thursday June 17, I received an afternoon call from Rich
Wilkinson saying the issue would be on the June 24 Council agenda for a
decision.
The possibility of influencing the
Council’s decision kicked us into action.
All three churches - Methodist, Iglesia Del Nazareno and Iglesia de
Cristo Mahanaim - asked their congregations to sign the letter, and to attend
the meeting on the 24th. Since most
Spanish-speaking people are still getting off work at 6 pm, those who came were
mostly from the Methodist Church and the Cultural Arts Council. For lack of a quorum of Council members, the
meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for Monday, June 30.
At that meeting, most of those who
came also spoke during the three-minute public comment period, overcoming their
timidity in defense of home. And though
I’m sure the votes had been gathered beforehand to re-instate diagonal parking,
our presence there was an additional victory:
we came, we saw how things are run, and we let them know what we thought
about it.
For years people on staff and the
Council have portrayed Lindsay’s residents as uncaring, apathetic. For years I have been countering that the way
they operate discourages participation.
Monday night we saw that Lindsay is the home of the brave: when push comes to shove, we have what it takes to stand up and defend Home. That's also what
it takes to make it the land of the free.
May we continue to demonstrate our courage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy
Wischemann is a music major who writes.
You can send her your brave comments c/o P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247
or leave a comment below.
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