Concentrate - Blog

Post No 1: So, How's The River

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

During the dog days of summer, I get a lot of people asking me if they can swim in the river, eat the fish, or simply the most popular, "So, how�s the river?"

Well, despite some serious challenges, nearly every indicator of the river's health is good�and getting better.

As director of the Huron River Watershed Council, I've spent ten years studying and protecting the Huron. HRWC's research data goes back more than 40 years, making the Huron one of the Midwest's most-studied rivers. We understand the Huron's problems and challenges as well as anyone. We know there's a lot to fix.

The Huron River is cleaner than it's been in decades�it's the cleanest urban river in Michigan. It provides safe drinking water to Ann Arbor and other communities. It is home to thriving populations of fish and wildlife. It bolsters our economy and home values. It's beautiful, and it's safe to enjoy.

But there are challenges��.

Its primary threat is excess phosphorous, the active ingredient in many farm and lawn fertilizers, a result of soil erosion, and a product of sewage. Phosphorous runs off of fields and yards during rain storms, then flows into creeks and the river. There, under the right conditions, it causes rampant plant growth and algae blooms that deplete the water's oxygen, killing the creatures that live there and creating an ugly muck.

The Huron's high number of dams make things worse, slowing the current and letting phosphorus accumulate in weed-ravaged ponds.

But local governments�and you�can help. One easy step is to reduce phosphorous at the source by replacing phosphorous-based fertilizers with other kinds, and support regulations that restrict its use.

Another problem: stuff we eat and drink. The river literally flows through many of us: we drink it from our taps, and as it passes through our bodies, that water soaks up compounds like ibuprofen, caffeine, cholesterol, and birth-control hormones. Then, after we flush, it makes its way to the river. This is troubling, to say the least, but one bit of good news is that the Ann Arbor water treatment plant has only found trace amounts of these chemicals, does a good job of removing these chemicals from our drinking water, and now that we know about it we are able to monitor it.

The next important step is to make sure that our waste-water plants keep these compounds from getting into the river in the first place. You can help by safely and properly disposing of excess prescription drug and over-the-counter personal care products instead of flushing them.

A third problem�E. coli�is the most immediate threat to anyone swimming in the river. No one should drink untreated water from the Huron�or any natural body of water. And there are some smaller streams where E. coli concentrations are dangerous. But the Huron River is certainly safe for contact and for boating.

With common-sense precautions, it's even safe to swim in. Last year, Liz Elling inspired the state by swimming 100 miles down the Huron to raise awareness and funds for clean water. I personally have swum in upstream stretches and lakes of the Huron, and I've waded down many of its tributaries.

If you do plan to swim in the river, or any natural body of water, take some basic precautions.

Don't swim within 48 hours after a rain. Storms wash fecal matter into the water (most of it from wildlife), and you don't want to be swimming among�ahem�fresh deposits. But after a couple days, the river flushes the contaminants away.
Be aware of hazards. Dams can kill you. So can fast-moving currents and rocks, logs, and other objects that are in the water.

The Huron's problems aren't unique. Virtually every body of water in the country faces something similar. The challenges are serious, but they're no cause to fear the water.

Meanwhile, good news abounds.

This summer, Dexter Dam is being removed, freeing Mill Creek. That's a huge boost for water quality, fishing, and ecological diversity, plus it will create new park land near downtown Dexter.

Phosphorous levels in the middle Huron dropped over the past five years, thanks to ambitious, innovative new programs.

In many stretches, critical fish and insect populations are up or holding steady, signaling an improvement in water quality.

An astounding number of people care enough about Huron to make protecting it part of their lives. Just last month, more than 200 volunteers with HRWC's Adopt-a-Stream program came out on a rainy Saturday to get their hands wet collecting data about the river.

The Huron continues to nourish our economy and quality of life. More than 100,000 people will paddle the Huron this year, not to mention the thousands of anglers, walkers, runners, bikers, and birders who come down to the Huron because they know what a treasure it is.

So the answer to those questions about the Huron River is good news. Cleaning up the river doesn't happen quickly or easily, but together, we're doing it. We invite everyone to join us in celebrating the Huron and restoring its natural splendor.

Post No 3: Washtenaw County�s "Deep Green" Talent

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:49:25 GMT

As Recycle Ann Arbor�s Environmental House manager, I provide green building outreach and educational services (primarily funded by Recycle Ann Arbor�s other service programs) to folks in our community. This can vary from a one-on-one consultation with a homeowner or business owner to a tour of the Environmental House for third graders (grade school teachers - I don�t know how you do it). Offering something of value to each of these constituents requires continuous research, organization, and enthusiasm.

It is hard to keep up, but the way I�ve continued to learn and develop a knowledge base to share with others is through the incredible network of professionals, community officials, educators and students that are dedicated to greening this community. It�s truly amazing. They have provided expertise, guidance, direction, and LOTS of assistance.

I�m (thankfully) involved in many projects with our dedicated greenies, but I want to mention three projects that really demonstrate what a unique community this is - and offer opportunities for you to get involved.

THE ANN ARBOR ENERGY COMMISSION

Have you ever flipped through your TV stations and seen some random meeting taking place on Tuesday evenings on CTN? Welcome to the Ann Arbor Energy Commission! Engineers, architects, organizers, educators, utility representatives, consultants, IT gurus and the Mayor are working towards a more secure energy future in Ann Arbor. I know it�s no American Idol, but I think the other commissioners might be interested in voting me off unless I stop writing blogs and start doing my share of the work before meetings.

But I digress�this commission is actually doing some very important work - in particular, developing a comprehensive energy plan for the City - identifying strategies for reducing energy consumption and utilizing renewable energy in the transportation and commercial/residential building sectors. The plan will identify community goals and provide tools and solutions for members in the community.

Did I mention all of these folks are doing this in their spare time for free?

Come down to the meeting at City Hall and share your thoughts in the �public comments� section. If you can�t attend, tune in and visit us next month. Same time, same place! (Still no Simon, Paula or Randy).

REMODEL GREEN 08

What do you get when you combine the mission statements of two area nonprofits and a local trade association? Answer: A two-day green remodeling conference and exhibition on Oct.31 and Nov. 1at Eastern Michigan University�s new student center!

Recycle Ann Arbor, the Clean Energy Coalition, and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) of Southeast Michigan are working together to offer a best practices conference for area remodeling professionals and an exhibition filled with sustainable products and technologies for area residents and community members interested in green.

The organizing committee is filled with architects, builders, remodelers, building performance specialists, and educators. Did I mention all these folks are doing this in their spare time for free?

Register today!

THE URBANWOOD PROJECT

What typically happens to those dead and dying trees that are cut down from backyards, parks, and streets? How about trees removed for easements and development? Most are chipped, used for firewood, or landfilled. Using this "waste" wood as an alternative energy source can be a reasonable way to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuel. But some of these trees are HUGE. And any tree with a trunk or log eight feet long and approximately 18 inches in diameter can be used to create value-added products, reducing our need for trees cut from managed forests. In fact, an entire network of local sawmills now exists that is dedicated to capturing the highest and best use for our neighborhood trees.

This project, now gaining regional and national attention has been made possible through the US Forest Service, the Michigan DNR, and the Southeast Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council.

But it has been the tireless efforts of the folks in this community - local sawyers, natural resource specialists, and ReUse Center managers - that has made this project a reality.

THINK LOCAL FIRST

Washtenaw County boasts one of the only Energy Commissions (or groups of appointed officials dedicated to energy) in the country, the first dedicated green remodeling conference (that I�m aware of), and a network of local entrepreneurs dedicated to producing green building products right in our community - the first of its kind.

If you are considering going green, you don�t have to look very far. Come to an Energy Commission meeting, attend the Remodel Green Conference, or check out the urbanwood in the ReUse Center.

And always think local first.

Post No 2: Very Different Messengers, One Message

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last week while I was dreaming up energy-related blog topics for this post, I received another forward from a friend with excerpts from Lee Iacocca's new book, "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" The first excerpt basically sums up all the rest:

"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course.'"

Go Lee! I am seriously outraged. Are you?

If you are, you should be aware of two other Americans who share your rage: T. Boone Pickens and former Vice President Al Gore. Talk about a unique moment in history. Is this officially the first time that a Texas oilman and a Nobel Peace Prize winner have shared a common viewpoint on our nation's energy situation? I'll take a shot in the dark and say "Yeah." These strange bedfellows agree on one very distinct fact: America is in the midst of an energy crisis never seen before and decisive action is required within the NEXT TEN YEARS.

So much so that they have both recently presented plans for eliminating US dependence on foreign oil in order to protect our long-term security. Both men are sincere and passionate, while advocating a bold plan for our country, and we REALLY need to pay attention to what they are proposing.

The interesting thing to note is the crossover in substance. Pickens' plan is purely an economic initiative and Gore's is a sustainability initiative (economy, ecology, community). While I favor the sustainability initiative, the plans show some considerable overlap, which is REALLY exciting. I mean, James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is backing the Pickens Plan (Inhofe is the wacko who claimed climate change is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people")

THE PICKENS PLAN

"The United States is the Saudi Arabia of Wind Power"

This is directly from the Pickens Plan and a major reason why I am listening to what this man has to say.

In the Plan, he calls for a massive investment in wind power - replacing 20% of our current electrical needs with wind energy in the corridor from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota. This percentage would offset our current natural gas-powered electrical production, freeing up the natural gas to power our transportation needs.

He believes the Plan would require 1 trillion dollars of investment in wind energy, with an additional 200 million or so in added transmission capacity. This is no small amount of money - but if 700 million dollars A YEAR is leaving the country to pay for foreign oil - I think we could make the numbers work (and don't get me started on the cost of this "war").

Using natural gas as a transportation fuel alternative would mean a 25-30% reduction in greenhouse gases, which I personally don't think is enough. But if the Pickens Plan prevents the construction of additional "clean coal" and nuclear power plants, I would have to believe it may be a bridge to a cleaner, sustainable energy future.

GORE'S CHALLENGE

What could have been�?

I'm not sure what a "man crush" is, but I think I have one when it comes to Al Gore. I'm renovating my house (green!) and I'll pop An Inconvenient Truth into the DVD player and crank the volume as I work to just hear his message while I'm working in another room.

Gore's Plan, which was presented in the last week or so, is everything we need. Gore calls for a massive investment in solar, wind, and geothermal energy with an even greater investment in energy efficiency. Within ten years, he believes it is possible to be generating 100% of our electricity with clean, renewable energy.

And I believe this man!

With a clean, electrical infrastructure in place, plug-in hybrids and battery powered electric cars become a transportation solution - free from foreign oil.

Gore consistently references John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon within ten years. I believe the ingenuity and capacity exists in this country to meet this challenge. Furthermore, in a world currently driven by finite fossil-fuel based resources - solar, wind, and other clean technologies are going to be the key to global development. Developing nations will desperately need access to renewable technologies in the coming years. The cost and availability of fossil-fuel based resources will be prohibitive.

Should we let the Germans or Danes corner this global market? (Answer: NO). The only way the United States could ever hope to maintain global relevance (let alone "dominance") would be to adopt a plan like Gore's and leapfrog to the forefront of all these clean technologies. If we let other countries blaze this trail, our economy will continue to suffer and things are going to get pretty bad around here�

DEEP THOUGHTS

T. Boone Pickens's Plan offers a scary projection. With current oil production rates and US oil consumption projections; in the next ten years (if nothing changes) the US will send 10 trillion dollars overseas - which will be "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind."

Gore offers a different (albeit scary) perspective: scientists with access to data from Navy submarines have warned that there is now a 75 percent chance that within five years the entire North polar ice cap will completely disappear during the summer months. This puts pressure on Greenland and the feedback loops exponentially increase.

The message is clear: we need action now. Take action, vote and be heard.

Post No 1: A Municipal Energy Bond for A2?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Tax and Save: A Municipal Energy Bond for A2?

About a year ago, I was helping some Ypsilanti activists on a campaign to "Stop the City Income Tax!" City of Ypsilanti officials, in all of their infinite wisdom, decided that residents needed to shoulder an even larger burden in our small "shrinking city" in order to maintain City services.

I don't need to recount all the details of this poorly conceived "solution." But I wanted to start by making a point: I don't like the idea of increasing taxes on residents in Southeast Michigan to generate revenue for area cities.

That said, I propose a tax on Southeast Michigan residents. And for the sake of this discussion, let's start in Ann Arbor.

GREEN FROM THE GROUND UP

Before I go much further with my fantasy "energy bond," I want to make another point: This community has a track record for exceptional environmental leadership. There are so many exciting green initiatives being driven by grassroots community organizing in Washtenaw County, they're honestly hard to keep track of. From the Ecology Center, protecting our health and advocating for eliminating toxins from our environment, to Recycle Ann Arbor, serving as a regional and national model for private nonprofit recycling and resource conservation organizations, to Growing Hope in Ypsilanti, helping people improve their lives through gardening - we have an amazing group of organizations serving our community.

There are way too many to list, but these organizations are guided by their members and constituents, and funded in large part by those same people. In some ways this is how it has to be. In other parts of the state (let's use the Grand Rapids area), green initiatives have been largely driven by corporate leaders (Steelcase, Herman Miller, etc). Their commitment inspired the political will and corporate competitiveness to push a green agenda.

So how do we really ramp things up, given our grassroots paradigm?

SAVING GREEN BY GOING GREEN

What if we could find a way for each household in the City of Ann Arbor to increase the energy efficiency of their home by just five percent? A typical home in this area, which is most likely inefficient (thanks to a lack of a Michigan Energy Code with any substance), pays, with today's energy prices, just over one dollar per square foot in energy costs. Ann Arbor has approximately 20,000 single-family homes and 47,000 total households.

If each of those homes (with an average of 2,000 sf per home) reduced their energy bills by five percent, we would keep $2,000,000 in the pockets of Ann Arbor homeowners each year.

Now, what if I told you I thought we could realistically reduce energy costs (on average) by 20 percent in every home and household? If we started with the single family homes, we are somewhere near $8-10 million staying in homeowners pockets PER YEAR after energy improvements are made.

Meanwhile, these are based on TODAY�' energy prices. Our household energy costs have more than doubled in the last six years. Do you expect your energy costs to be the same five years from now? And in ten years?

ADDITIONAL "COST" OF ENERGY

A (not so small) note to readers: because Michigan relies almost entirely on fossil fuels for its energy generation - and these fuels almost entirely from places outside of this state, we are exporting nearly $20 billion dollars a year out of the state to pay for our energy needs.

According to testimony from Martin Kushler before the Michigan Public Service Commission in May of last year, our total dollars shipped out of state to pay for energy was closer to $30 billion.

In a state that needs all the money it can get, this HAS to change.

A2 MUNICIPAL ENERGY BOND

So how do we pay for the energy assessments and energy improvements needed to take action? We could consider financing these improvements ourselves. The reality is that raising funds through a bond could save residents and the community money over the short and long term.

If we build an infrastructure for energy improvements with bonded dollars, we will be well positioned to maximize the impact of any additional help from the federal government. (Let�s be honest - no help is coming from the state).

In the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Congress and the President allocated funds for municipalities to develop energy efficiency programs across the country. Not a single dollar of this allocation has been approved or distributed to date.

If we were to take action now, we could expand and qualitatively improve any program that we get started when that money actually comes to town (the "when" is a big "if" - does our federal government really have any more money to spend, anyway?)

THE MILLAGE

I will save all the gory details of my thoughts on how much money we'd need to raise and how it would be distributed for future posts. But I figured I could get the conversation started and get some feedback from the readers before elaborating.

Would you be in favor of a bond that would reduce the energy costs and the related impacts of energy consumption of Ann Arbor households (or wherever you might live?)

I think we should "walk the walk" at the local level. There is no time to wait for the federal and state government to catch up.

Post No 3: Rethinking Customer Services In The Public Or Private Sector

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:16:37 GMT

Is 24-7 a good idea for most businesses? The 21st century and technology is moving toward making us all think that accessing every service 24-7 is more convenient and just tends to makes a lot of sense.

We want everything, and we want it now! And why can�t we have it? And why can�t we have it now? We can access our bank accounts, pay bills, and apply for various licenses. Fire and Police and Hospitals are the longstanding tradition services opened 24-7. When it comes to food, MacDonald�s DRIVE THRUs have been open 24-7 for several years. And whaddyaknow, Diddy just said Burger King will stay open �til midnight nationwide! That�s creeping close to 24-7.

But is 24-7 creeping into other fields, and should it?

Good customer service would say YES. Good services meet customer�s needs and demands. Customer needs exceeded the traditional "9-5" work day years ago. Then we saw office hours change to as early as 8:00 am or 8:30am with extended hours to 6pm.

In my own County Department, ETCS, the County�s Workforce Development and Community Services Agency, we responded to customer demand several years ago with extended hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at our Michigan Works Service Center until 7pm to accommodate those who need to visit us after they got off of work at 5pm.

At a time when most municipalities across the nation are moving to a four (4) day work week, customer demand is moving toward a need for more and greater access- ironic isn�t it. The futurists are telling us that our customers� will need to access our services even more as time goes on, and not necessarily through brick and mortar but through call centers and online access. We have been assured that if we do not make our business services available to our customers, foreign competitors will. Our customers work around the clock. So why shouldn�t we have services around the clock, both public and private.

Hmmmmm��.how do you spell G L O B A L C O M P E T I T I V E N E S S?

Post No 2: Washtenaw County�s Katrina

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Poverty is ugly. It doesn't matter how you describe it. It doesn't matter where you sit to observe it or live in it. Whether it is Jamaica, Belize, Africa, Europe, anytown USA, Detroit, or right here in Washtenaw County.

For the last two days, I've been participating in/chairing meetings as Directors Council President of the Michigan Community Action Agencies Association. We've spent a whole lot of our time trying to get our hands around how we are going to solve the problem of poverty in Michigan. Right now nearly 33% of our State's families and children live in poverty. Is this PURE MICHIGAN? The Governor is planning a huge Voices for Action Poverty Reduction Summit on November 13th at Cobo Hall. I am coordinating the effort with Livingston and Oakland County. (We will have more info on our website soon for you to sign up to go and learn about this crisis in our State.)

In Washtenaw County, almost 12% (~30,000 individuals) of our population live at or below of the poverty level. If we walk through certain neighborhoods in our county we don't see the blight or "slums" that we might see in other areas of the state, but we know that beyond the walls, people are suffering. We know that people are a house note away from foreclosure, a rent payment away from homelessness, a utility payment away from shutoffs. An ill senior citizen is in our county somewhere not knowing how they are going to pay for their next bottle of pills to stay healthy.

Eleanor Josaitis, Co-Founder, Focus-Hope, and a dear colleague of mine, told my group yesterday that she ran into a 4-star general who found out his mother had only popsicles in her refrigerator to eat. And he called her regularly. He had no idea she was hungry. Sometimes, many hide their poverty. They are too proud, and ashamed.

Let me put it another way. My vision of how many people are living in poverty in Washtenaw County, the second most affluent county in Michigan, is this: Think of the Big House. We could fill the Big House from the End Zone to the 33 Yard Zone with those who need assistance from our County's Human Services Departments and community based and faith based organizations.

Imagine that! That's a lot of people. And that is just the children and adults we count and know of.

So where does Katrina fit in on all this? I recently toured the aftermath of Katrina. I saw firsthand the miles and miles of lost New Orleans neighborhoods and too much poverty afforded to one city. It reminded too much of the aftermath of the riots of '67 in Detroit. Neighborhoods that weren't up to speed BEFORE the devastation looked beyond repair afterwards. So, indeed, poverty was accelerated after Katrina hit.

Then I was reminded again that 900 people lost their lives, that 6000 business owners lost their business, and that thousands of people waited out on the I-90 Bridge with one bottled water and 2 sandwiches in 101 degree scorching heat from Tuesday � Friday waiting for RESCUE. And it hurt through my tears.

So, where does Katrina fit in with Washtenaw? As a government worker and humble servant I ask myself where did the government go wrong with Katrina? Why did government go wrong with Katrina? How did government go wrong with Katrina?

As we work together in Washtenaw County every day to serve the most in need we should ask ourselves are we doing things correctly? Are we operating programs in the best interest of those needing services? Are we serving those in need with the utmost dignity and respect? As I walk around viewing our impoverished neighborhoods in Washtenaw County, where children play, I wonder why we cannot redevelop certain housing projects any quicker than a Katrina redevelopment project and move these individuals out of poverty.

I know it's not that easy. We all have a lot of work to do. I am convinced that people are not poor because they want to be.

Tell me what you think?

Post No 1: Access Points

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ACCESS POINTS: the community helping the community

It might be a little secret to some in Washtenaw County, but we�re famous across the country!

I am one of the founding "sisters", (or at this stage of my life, I should say founding "mamas",- it�s been 25 years) of the National Workforce Development Council of the United States Conference of Mayors- the council of professionals who advise the Mayors of this Country on issues impacting job seekers and employers in their communities. At their annual meeting with the Mayors in Miami, not too many days ago, Senator Obama graced us with his presence at a special VIP luncheon. Even though I thought I was VIP enough, the ONLY reason I got in to the luncheon with OBAMA, was because my daughter, Captain Terica Rusher -- 275th Military Police, National Guard Headquarters, Washington DC, who is on leave from a just very recent tour from Iraq, and had flown down to Miami to be with me during these working meetings-- had charmed several mayors with her war stories and gained a luncheon seat. Mom got to tag along�. Ha!� So it worked out for me.

The rest of my colleagues ate in the overflow room.

So, there I was sitting front and center listening to Senator Obama, who could possibly be the next President of our United States of America, and one of the first sentences out of his mouth put all of us in government on notice (and helped me start my intended blog)�. He appeared to look each and every one of us directly in the eye and pointed his hand and said vehemently�"GOVERNMENT must be the SOLUTION to the NEEDS of communities, and NOT THE PROBLEM".

Those words resonated within my head for the rest of our meetings in Miami, and all of the colleagues and elected officials I ran into were into the buzz. We must be the solution.

Well, I am so proud to let our community know, that in a HUGE WAY, Washtenaw County and ETCS has implemented ACCESS POINTS, as a solution; as a way of doing more with less, as a way of letting the community help itself, by reaching out to many who we would never have reached out to in traditional ways, and therefore making a difference in the way government does business.

So what are ACCESS POINTS? They are volunteer sites in the community where Faith-based and community-based organization get trained by ETCS staff.

These sites are extensions of the Michigan Works Services Center and help job seekers access job leads and services that they would ordinarily learn about by physically travelling to our Center (located at Hamilton and Harriet Streets in Ypsilanti).

Now, instead of spending gas to access the service and sit face to face with a real person, they can go to their area church or to a place of worship or community organization in their own neighborhood. And what�s more- Access Points don�t hold traditional 8:30am � 5:00pm office hours. Some are open on Saturdays and Sundays � some as early as 9am and others as late as 8pm.

How about that for access?

The other good news about these Access Points is that there are 29 of them all over the County. (Each of the nation's 629 designated work areas were required to have two (2)... which is why WASHTENAW COUNTY IS FAMOUS!)

Our ACCESS POINTS are at all of our Libraries. The Ypsilanti Public Library leads the pack. USDOL (United States Department Of Labor) came and visited their site and was AWESTRUCK!

You will see the signage throughout the County in Milan, Manchester, Chelsea, Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor. You will see signs at area churches and places of Churches, SOS, Catholic Churches Services, Jewish Family Services, and Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

In addition to job seeker services, there is counseling, self-taught literacy software, job fairs, field trips, career exploration, job development (one site developed 100 jobs from Toyota), outreach and referral, and much more.

And there are other remarkable things about this initiative� I didn�t hire one person to make this happen!

My staff readjusted their workload to make it happen. They are a truly committed team. We didn�t buy one single new computer. Washtenaw County IT department donated computers from their "technology graveyard". We learned to do more with less.

The volunteers are so great at the Access Points we dub them Ambassadors. USDOL came out for a visit, and gave them and the County Commissioners recognitions and awards as well as a small Performance for Excellence Grant as being an outstanding leader in the field.

We are now taking this to the B-side --getting "business" involved and committed. The Ambassadors meet bi-monthly to review and evaluate its goals and get technical assistance from community specialists. Diane Keller, CEO, Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce visited the Ambassadors to talk about business involvement in the community. Jesse Bernstein, CEO from the Ann Arbor Area Chamber is scheduled soon. The Christian Business Coalition will meet with them in September and hopefully will "adopt" the Access Points and provide additional resources to the sites.

My only regret about this is we didn�t discover Access Points years ago. What a way to go!!! I am so grateful and proud of everyone who makes this all works.

Let me know your ideas, what you think, and how we can make things even better.

Post No. 5: 826Michigan The Movie

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:23:26 GMT

Post No 4: The Many Faces Of 826

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:29:24 GMT

Have you ever been to a Pirate Supply Store? The pirate lifestyle requires an array of products: peg legs, glass eyes, spyglasses, eye patches. And in San Francisco, pirates visit 826 Valencia Street. The storefront has messages in bottles, a barrel of lard. But walk behind the skull and crossbones flag and on any given day you'll find a room full of kids writing and learning.

When you visit 826michigan at 115 E. Liberty Street, a red velvet curtain separates the robot supplies from the kids. Enter the front door, and you're in Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair, Southeast Michigan's premiere robot showroom and service center. Offering a full range of products and services, including robot refits, rehauls, reboots, reformats, reprogramming, RAM upgrades, and reading comprehension classes. We're also the exclusive Midwest dealer for Better-Bot Brand Robot Parts. Keep walking and you'll find students at work on homework assignments, their own memoirs, storytelling though comics, or putting together the latest issue of the middle school student-written 826 Gazette.

On May 17, more than 300 people turned out for the Grand Opening demonstrating that even humans like to shop here.

Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair is one of just seven such unique retail stores in the country. Other than San Francisco's pirates and Ann Arbor's robots, 826 writing centers also feature:

826 Seattle: Space Travel!

Greenwood Space Travel Supply

826 NYC: Superheroes!

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.

826 LA: Time Travel!

Echo Park Time Travel Mart

826 CHI: Espionage!

The Boring Store

826 Boston: Cryptozoology!

Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute

All 826 writing centers use their retail storefronts in ways beyond the obvious. Of course, we earn money from product sales. Even though many people questioned our sanity when they considered our plan to open a retail store in this economy, sales are steady. It's an incredible asset as a nonprofit to have a means to earn money to offset contributed funds, and I think it's a good business model for us moving forward. We've also seen a tremendous spike in the public's interest in us�which we know translates into more volunteers and donors. Now that our retail front is established, people frequently pop in to figure out what's in a robot store. It's a great opportunity to tell them what happens "behind the red curtain".

Finally, Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair exists to help 826michigan students in an important way. Many of our students come to our programs specifically because they are not succeeding in school. The classroom experience is challenging or negative for certain students, especially those who feel confused by their assignments. To help them, 826michigan's programs and our physical space are all designed to be fun, engaging and dynamic. Since struggling students might feel reluctant to receive homework help or feel a stigma about going to a tutoring center, we can transcend that entirely. Visiting a robot store on your way to get homework help is pretty fun, and sometimes that little spark is all a student needs to focus.

Post No 3: Tall Tales & True Stories (continued)

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Tall Tale: Rally Ann Sally & McGladdin
By Alex Maranville

There once lived a three-year-old boy who lived in the darkened woods. The boy's name was Rally Ann Sally and he loved heights. There were no skyscrapers in the area though, so Rally Ann Sally climbed trees. His favorite tree was a tree called McGladdin, which was 100,000 feet tall and touched the stars with its branches. Rally Ann Sally climbed McGladdin every day and also stood on the moon on the way up.

He lived in a small cabin with his only friends, Cat the Rat and Rat the Cat. Cat taught Rally Ann Sally to steal food from the bear's den. Rat taught Rally Ann Sally the most important skill of all: to climb trees! They also taught him how to get water by licking in the pond.

One day, Rally Ann Sally headed to the pond and was shocked to see that it looked like lungs in the summer heat. There was not a drop of water in sight. So Rally Ann Sally walked away.

The next day, Rally Ann Sally came with a shovel and dug fifty feet into the pond, but still could find no water. "Curses," yodeled Rally Ann Sally, and he walked away.

The day after that he came with a magnifying glass. He searched left and right for drops of water, but there was none to be found. "Oh, hilly billy!" cried Rally Ann Sally, and he walked away.

The next day, Rally Ann Sally came with his tongue because he had forgotten it at home the last three days. He licked everywhere but could find no moisture, so he walked away.

The whole experience left him speechless, and by the fifth day, Rally Ann Sally was sure this was a drought. Hints of a drought were all around, especially in the dead deer and other animals around. He knew he had to do something.

"Think, think," he said.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw McGladdin stretching high above him. He had an idea. It was probably the boldest idea Rally Ann Sally had ever had.

Rally started climbing McGladdin all the way to the clouds. Then, McGladdin started to shrivel and the gigantic tree started to fall. The huge trunk started to plummet toward the earth. Before Rally Ann Sally had time to think, he grabbed the clouds and climbed them to the top and started shaking them like crazy.

Rain started to fall. There was so much rain that all of the dead animals who had faded away of dehydration came back to life. Even McGladdin came back to life and its trunk towered over the forest again.

In the years since, many stories have been told about Rally Ann Sally and how he saved the forest from drought with the biggest rain shower that ever fell. Many say they've seen him waving from atop the clouds.

True Story: Old Pops
by Jake Langeman

My great grandpa liked peanut butter with apples. He also played tackle football when he was a kid. He loved NFL football. When his wife went into the hospital and he started growing a beard, people say he just got lazy.

He lived with my grandparents for a couple of years. He always called me by a nickname, something like "Captain." We used to call him "Old Pops" because it was shorter.

He used to play with me and my cousins. We would run up to him and yell, "Come and get me!" We'd run back downstairs and he would stand up and say, "I'm gonna get you!" with his arms stretched out to the sides like a big bear.

We lived with my grandparents for a year and during that time, while we lived in the basement, "Old Pops" lived in my grandparents' room, and my grandparents stayed upstairs.

"Old Pops" died in 2004 the day before Halloween. That's why I don't like Halloween. Now when it is my birthday and it rains people say he is crying.

TRUE STORY: The Baseball Game
by Ashley Blackburn

One day I was on my way to Tiger Stadium with my family. They were playing against the Royals. When we got to the stadium we got some drinks and some hot dogs before we got to our seats.

When we got to our seats the game was about to begin. At the third inning, it was half time. We were still sitting in our seats, and I heard a man call: "Peanuts! Get your fresh peanuts here!" As I got to the peanut man, I gave him the money for two peanut bags.

We went back to our seats and I spilled peanuts everywhere. I remember stepping on the peanuts and hearing them crunch, and then I looked down and saw crushed peanuts everywhere. They reminded me of the ocean.

I wanted to keep crushing peanuts, but my dad said, "No." So I started crushing them on my forehead which felt like hail hitting me in the face, but I got used to the feeling and started to like it. Soon my forehead was as red as the devil's face. I stopped and tried to find something else to do.

In the sixth inning, big thunderclouds came and it started to sprinkle. We had to take cover.

By the time we got to the stadium it started raining so hard that it was like hammers hitting the floor. They covered the field with a tarp that looked like the American flag.

My dad bought us all raincoats to keep us dry. My dad had a yellow one, my mom had a black one, and my sister and I had blue ones.

After it stopped storming, the Tigers took the field again and we sat in someone else's seats with our coats on. The final score was Tigers 12, Royals 9. We won! I was so happy and so was my dad. That was the best baseball game I ever went to.

Post No. 2: Tall Tales & True Stories

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The ability to write is invaluable to me. It may be because I love to read, or because I had a great AP English teacher in high school, or because I write a lot of grants and news releases. I think it�s also because, as a professional person, I see the sharp contrast between the opportunities available to adults comfortable and adept at writing and those who are not.

As Bob Guenzel�s blog from a few weeks ago pointed out, Washtenaw County�s illiteracy rate is 12%, which translates to about 27,000 people. In April the New York Times reported that only "about a third of the nation�s eighth-grade students, and roughly a quarter of its high school seniors, are proficient writers." It seems obvious, but to alleviate illiteracy, we must address the issue with young people�to help them improve not only their ability to write, but their attitudes toward writing.

Starting last September, 826michigan staff and volunteers worked together to do exactly that with the students at Childs Elementary School in Ypsilanti. Volunteers made regular visits to the school to lead writing workshops, both afterschool and during class time. First and second grade classrooms traveled to 826michigan�s downtown Ann Arbor site for field trips.

The 826 field trip model has been known to inspire even the most reluctant young writer. Last week, NPR�s All Things Considered profiled the field trips at 826 NYC.

On ten different Friday mornings this year, a school bus full of kids from Childs arrived at the writing lab on Liberty Street, full of questions and hesitation. They were usually pretty quiet and reserved at first. By noon, when the bus returned to pick them up, we needed a whole team of teachers, volunteers and chaperones to keep order because the kids were so excited---about writing.

That�s the exact outcome that we hope to achieve every time we help a student with their writing. Ultimately, we hope that a student�s 826michigan experience helps them express ideas creatively, confidently, effectively and each in his or her own unique voice.

When we see students who begin to define themselves as writers, we know we have succeeded.

826michigan opened in 2005 with the knowledge that our program model had already proven successful. Backed by 826 Valencia�s then three years of program development, implementation and evaluation, we were able to start offering high-quality writing programs for students right away.

Our model is to provide project-based learning opportunities to students so that they engage in the process of creating a tangible product. By doing so, we involve them in real-life problem-solving activities and give students ownership over the learning process. At 826michigan, publishing student work is a priority. Our students learn what the publishing process entails by working closely with their peers and professionals in the field to create a printed product they and others can enjoy for years to come.

Tall Tales & True Stories is just such a project. It includes students� personal narrative writing (true stories) and exaggerated yarns (tall tales), all organized into a professionally designed, illustrated and printed book. It�s not just a tangible and beautiful keepsake. It�s a step toward students feeling a sense that their ideas are valuable and that writing is part of a skill set within their comfort zone. At 826michigan, we believe that the ability to write is essential and invaluable for every young person.

Check out the blog tomorrow for an excerpt from the book, written by students from Childs Elementary.

Post No. 1: It's Really Free?

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of the core values that guides the work of 826michigan is that each and every opportunity we offer students to write, to learn to express themselves comes at absolutely no charge to them.

In this complicated economic time in Michigan, sticking to that promise is not always easy. Parents who can afford to pay for activities for their kids--and do so elsewhere--ask us about this all the time. It�s usually a somewhat incredulous version of "It�s really free?"

And the reaction of the many parents who cannot afford to pay for afterschool tutoring or writing workshops is a pretty similar mixture of surprise and gratitude. The best part is that by keeping everything open to the public, 826michigan is able to unite creative, caring adult volunteers with students from literally all backgrounds to achieve the very important work of learning to write. My favorite thing to see each afternoon is a truly diverse group of students and tutors gathered around one of the donated kitchen tables (usually covered in homework assignments) in our writing lab. Each student has a different reason for sitting at that table, but every one belongs there and no one pays to participate.

But, it�s actually not free.

Last school year, more than 200 adults donated their time to work one-on-one with 826michigan students. And more than 250 people, businesses and foundations contributed funds to 826michigan, in amounts ranging from $5 to $25,000.

826michigan�s small staff coordinates all of these efforts in a way that leverages great ideas, local talent and a small amount of money to serve the immediate needs of area kids.

Nonprofits like 826michigan serve a vital need in Southeast Michigan, and we survive when generous people decide that the work we do is so important, so relevant to our community now and in the future, that they are moved to support it by donating their time or money.

One of the great parts of my job is that I get to meet amazing people (college students, lawyers, teachers, financial planners, parents, scientists, artists, editors, baristas, business owners and others) who spend some of their free time supporting students. I also get to connect with local business people who agree that 826michigan helps make our area a better place to live, to work, to have kids and who contribute to us by way of business sponsorships or gifts.

We�re launching a new project this month that�s aimed at building that community of generous businesses so that they can benefit from our mutual affiliation. Members of our new Write Brain Partnership can show solidarity with 826michigan and our students by displaying a window sticker at their business, a web button on their site, joining our networking parties, displaying their promotional materials at 826michigan and working with me to figure out how we can best work effectively together. Fifth Third Bank, Quack Media and Ghostly International have already joined us in this effort. As more businesses join this summer, I continue to be awed by their generosity, eager to help them meet their own business goals, and so proud to be part of a community like this one.

And, when I think about that question "It�s really free?" I�m ultimately kind of glad it�s not a simple answer.

Post No. 2: Civic Wikis

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:08:21 GMT

Arborwiki is a project now hosted at the Ann Arbor District Library to provide a comprehensive reference for Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Washtenaw County. It does this with wiki software, the same Mediawiki tool that Wikipedia uses, but unlike Wikipedia which expects contributions to be notable in some global galactic sense Arborwiki is content to say that anything local is notable.

The general form of this tool is what you'd call a "civic wiki". There are others like it in the world: Bloomington, Indiana's Bloomingpedia, a wiki for Davis California called DavisWiki both fit the same mold. College towns seem to be a good fit, both for their ability to take on the sometimes tedious process of creating a page for every street, and some for their perpetual need to document themselves anew for each set of new people who come to town.

Arborwiki is perhaps best described in terms of the most popular pages in it, the ones that people find and use over and over again without knowing ahead of time that a wiki was involved. Here the Birthday Deals page is the clear winner. With over 100 edits, this list (which started from a post on Livejournal) has a long and comprehensive description of every restaurant and bar and store in the area who will give you a meal discount, a half dozen bagels, a dessert or free drink on your birthday. No one person could possibly ever keep track of all of this, but the magic of the wiki process is that they don't have to: anyone can edit any page, and all edits are logged so that if someone does something foolish it can be reversed.

The list of businesses on the Birthday Deals page link to pages for each of the restaurants, and each of those are linked to pages for the streets that they are on, and if you link to those you'll get to a street by street map, showing what's next to who and in some cases where long-lost businesses used to be. This last is useful for people who decoding descriptions in the local media that give locations by proximity to where things used to be.

There are projects within Arborwiki to document and connect to the modern day bits of local history, to make connections between the names in the area and the people who had those names, and to assimilate the minutiae of local existence. If nothing else, the local area is good at bringing people to town who stay for five years, accumulate some memories, and then leave, and stitching together the overlapping half-decades of ever shifting architecture and design is interesting in its own right.

Arborwiki is inspired and informed by a number of existing resources. The Ann Arbor District Library has a local geneology and history room with a number of sources for local information, and some parts of that collection including old Polk city directories are in the Google Books collection. The University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library has a huge trove of photographs of the area. Local blogs and bloggers contribute news and reviews of what's going on now, and a disorganized but persistent effort clips bits of development news from the real estate trades.

Wikis are collective endeavors. Arborwiki was started by Matt Hampel, who began it while he was a student at Community High School. Brian Kerr has donework on analytics and infrastructure and provided donut reviews. Richard Murphy folded an Ypsilanti area collection of information into the whole, and has done work in regional industrial history. "Homeless" Dave Askins interview series, Teeter Talk, has collected a number of interviews with local notables that have improved the biographical coverage of Arborwiki. I took on the task of recreating a city streetscape in wiki pages. Most important have been the collection of anonymous contributors who find the list of birthday deals, print it out, enjoy their day, and then come back the next day to update it for the next person or next year.

Post No. 1: Why I Blog

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Almost every day, I write a few words for my main weblog, "Vacuum". It may just be notes about links to a couple of interesting pages I've seen the day before, or it might be a few paragraphs about something that someone asked at lunch, or it might be a notice of an upcoming event which I'd like to let people know about. It's a daily habit, one that by this point doesn't take any extra time in the day beyond what I normally do.

I've been writing for the Internet since 1985, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. The funny thing was that writing was always very difficult for me in college, at least the kind of collegiate writing where you were expected to produce a 20 page paper all neatly threaded together about the details of one assignment. When you're used to the three or four paragraph short essay form, it takes a certain reworking of style to reach any sort of length, and that eluded me for a long time.

My main blog, Vacuum, has been going since 1999. As such it's a record of observations over time that's broader than my own poor memory can recall without assistance, and I use it as such to remember things that I've forgotten and to help put times and dates in context. It's not a politics blog, or a super popular gizmo blog with lots of shiny advertisements, or a center of an international movement. It is, however, regularly and relentlessly a chronicle of observations about Ann Arbor, and as such it helps connect me to the place I live and work.

Ann Arbor has a long history of locally focused online commentary. One of the first online conferencing systems, Bob Parnes CONFER, was running on the University of Michigan mainframe in the 1970s. Its counterpart and close analog Picospan was developed in Ann Arbor and went on to be the tool used for The Well, a much written about virtual community of the 1980s.

Picospan lives in in local systems like Grex, in continuous operation for 20 years. There are people here who have been communicating with their neighbors by typing at them for long enough that it's second nature, and that makes writing a local blog about where to go juneberry picking (in front of the library) sound less like something exotic and more like part of what every functioning town needs.

Blogging is not for everyone. It's time consuming to make sense of some little part of the world every day in a form that you're willing to share with the world, and it's puzzling to figure out of the picture of the cute cat is going to send the wrong message to someone who is viewing your blog to check out your professional biography. Time, lurching forward into the future, has given us social network sites like Facebook and Myspace that aren't blogs and which make me feel old.

My great-great aunt was a gossip columnist for the Belleville, MI newspaper, back in the days when the newspaper would print the comings and goings of people on vacations and other things which seem quaint and old fashioned today. Writing about the small things that happen over a course of a few square miles makes it all that much more tangible, and in the next few days I'll be sharing more about some of the systems that help do that.

Post No. 4: Summer, Finally

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:28:19 GMT

It just seems that this year�s unofficial beginning of summer, the long Memorial Day weekend, came at exactly the right time. The time to take time: reading, sleeping in, laughing with friends, getting the garden back in shape - or beginning the outdoor exercise that helps us get into shape � that extra day can make such a difference.

For me, this is a great time of year that reinforces my booster status for our community. We�ve got the Dexter-Ann Arbor run next weekend; Grillin� one of my favorite fundraisers for Food Gatherers the following weekend; the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and Top of the Park starts after that. And almost every night there�s a great entertainment at The Ark � a non-profit I�ve been affiliated with for more than 25 years.

And there seems to be more going on, locally, in all of our communities as we head into the 13 weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Just more reasons to celebrate our communities, more reasons to care about sustaining this quality of life and care about the future.

Thanks again to Concentrate for this opportunity to be in touch with you all. Conversations are the beginning of everything. It�s been nice to chat.

Bob Guenzel, Administrator
Washtenaw County
guenzelb@ewashtenaw.org

Post No. 3: The Eastern Leaders Group

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:12:55 GMT

One of the themes I've been pushing in these blog entries this week has been collaboration. If you have become, as I have, a frequent visitor to the Concentrate site, you see evidence of new partnerships generating new ideas with every click of the mouse.

The economy today isn't going to let us get far without collaboration. Today I want to speak to the exciting prospects underway in the eastern part of our County through the collaboration of the Eastern Leaders Group (ELG). This group includes Eastern Michigan University and civic leaders in business, education and government who are seizing the opportunities presented in Ypsilanti and the eastern part of the County.

The area is rich with opportunity � and now, with the continuing leadership and community engagement from Eastern Michigan � there is both the will and the way to make things happen.

To borrow a slogan from one of or private sector partners, the eastern County should be the best place to "Live. Work. Shop. Play." Just this week, a high energy meeting on this initiative demonstrated the willingness and ability of local government, including a fiscally revitalized City of Ypsilanti to step into the future.

And real steps forward have begun.

§ Eastern Michigan University is using its considerable influence and resources to develop programs and partnerships to meet the pressing needs in the community. This includes a targeted effort to establish premier schools in the area. In January, EMU and all local school districts signed a partnership agreement for hosting services and improvements initiatives. This includes the development of a centralized website portal, facilitated by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, to share information on current initiatives and successes as well as AP classes, dual enrollments, fine arts programs, and athletic program information.

§ SPARK East is the name of the high-tech business incubator, tentatively set to be housed in the Smith Furniture Building at 15 S. Washington in Ypsilanti. The target date to open the incubator is September 1, 2008. Similar to Ann Arbor SPARK, the incubator will be based on an open concept with cubicles of approximately 300 square feet, conference rooms, administrative offices and possibly two training/classrooms with a capacity of 30 people each.

§ Eastern Gateway Project - The purpose of this part of the Eastern Leaders Group initiative is to develop concepts for land use, property redevelopment and physical design for the "gateway" into the City of Ypsilanti. After all, from our most populous neighbor and destination city, Detroit, Ypsilanti is the "Gateway to Washtenaw County". It is our important connection to future development there, like the Aerotropolis project.

So, you can give me all the details you want about what's not working in Washtenaw County. I think I can beat you hands down with what is! Let me know what you think.

Post No. 2: Literacy in Washtenaw County

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:01:49 GMT

27,000.

27,000 of your neighbors and mine face severe challenges in reading or writing. That translates to a rate of illiteracy above 12% in Washtenaw County.

More than what it says about our community, think for a minute about what it means to those individual people. It's hard to calculate the limiting fear. Each day, unsure of street signs in any neighborhood but their own, people who can't read don't want to venture much beyond their own neighborhood. At home, they find ingenious ways to avoid reading with their children, or helping them with homework that's presented on the written page. At their workplace, they need to hide their illiteracy by staying in a very low-paying job � safe from discovery. Even getting a Driver's License � passing the written test or being able to read certain road signs can prove too much.

The toll illiteracy takes on self-esteem, on families, on sustainable employment � on all of us � can be devastating. It should come as no surprise that illiteracy rates are tied to poverty rates. Seventy percent of adult welfare recipients in the United States function at the lowest level of literacy.

Part of that 27,000 are those older children who managed to get by in school until finally dropping out completely. The dropout rates for local high schools average about 12%, with some districts and individual schools at much higher rates. Add to that the fact that in Washtenaw County, nearly 15% of households do not speak English in the home.

Nationally, adult literacy levels have remained virtually unchanged in the past 10 years. Locally, we have seen no evidence that the cycle of illiteracy has been broken in Washtenaw County. But, locally, we're doing something.

As we have before with issues like homelessness in our County (The Blueprint to End Homelessness); with shoring up the digital divide (Wireless Washtenaw), and with empowering our teenage youth (Washtenaw Area Teens for Tomorrow) I was able to convene an extraordinary group of local leaders who care very much about breaking the cycle of illiteracy in Washtenaw County. The Washtenaw County Literacy Coalition formed almost a year ago, with an approving resolution from the County Board of Commissioners in July of 2007.

This group is comprised of 30 members: 20 representing academia, libraries, business, not-for-profit, and faith-based organizations; 8 representing Washtenaw County Departments, and 2 Washtenaw County Commissioners. (See the list of Coalition members below.)

Let me tell you, this is as very motivated group. You can see it in the work that has already been accomplished within one year. Two capacity building grants are helping to enable the "Blueprint to End Illiteracy" and a follow-up work plan. In this County we are blessed with the presence of a lead agency on this issue � Washtenaw Literacy. For more than 35 years this volunteer-based organization has provided free literacy instruction customized to the needs of adults in our county.

The Coalition is the strongest collaborative effort to address illiteracy ever implemented in Washtenaw County. The Blueprint to End Illiteracy holds great promise for our community in that it: provides early and sustained intervention, incorporates innovative solutions based upon best practices, reduces duplication of services, facilitates collaboration among partner organizations, leverages funding sources, and will achieve clear outcomes. This collaboration has the flexibility of vision and the high-level support necessary to succeed.

The Literacy Coalition

Bill Abernethy / Washtenaw Community College
Anya Abramzon / Jewish Family Services
Cara Belkofer / Reach Out & Read
Jesse Bernstein / Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce
Donna DeButts / Ypsilanti District Library
Pastor Phil / Ferrell Ministerial Alliance
Bob Guenzel / Washtenaw County Administration, Chair
Leah Gunn / Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners
James Hawkins / Ypsilanti Public Schools
Freman Hendrix / Eastern Michigan University
Diane Keller / Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce
Julie McFarland / McNaughton and Gunn
Verna McDaniel / Washtenaw County Administration
Bill Miller / Washtenaw Intermediate School District
Sian Owen-Cruise / Washtenaw Success by Six Initiative
Josie Parker / Ann Arbor District Library
Keith Peters / Washtenaw County Workforce Development Board
Joanne Pierson / University of Michigan
Ronnie Peterson / Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners
Chris Roberts / Washtenaw Literacy
Mike Scholl Community / Collaborative of Washtenaw County
Peg Talburtt / James A. & Faith Knight Foundation
Sandy Williams / Family Learning Institute
To be determined / Washtenaw Association of School Boards
Ellen Clement / Washtenaw County Dept. of Public Health
Patricia Horne / McGee Head Start
Trenda Rusher / Employment Training and Community Services
Kerry Sheldon / Washtenaw County Administration
Mary Udoji / Library Learning Resource Center
Nancy Thelen / MSU Extension

Post. No 1

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The idea of a blog has always held special appeal to me and I thank Concentrate for this opportunity. I think you could say, pretty easily, that one of my core beliefs - one that's been demonstrated over and over again in any public leadership role I've held over the years - is the importance of relationships.

Relationships are about conversations. People learning about people, people taking the time to listen and to understand different positions and different ideas: I've seen them move mountains.

So, this site and these blogs are just higher tech' ways to keep those conversations going � and here in Washtenaw County we have a lot of new, important and compelling conversations to have.

If you think I'm going to spend time with you in this space talking about the downturn in our economy, you might be right. But I'll speak of it only in terms of what opportunities it can bring to this community. Sound backwards? It's not.

We will deal with this downturn. We will find ways to reduce costs with as little pain as possible to the citizens of Washtenaw County. But these economic hard times are also doing something else. In order to find ways to do more with less we are beginning to reach out beyond our own organizations, our own "comfort zones", to collaborate for the future. Villages, townships and cities; private sector businesses and public sector government and educational institutions; entrepreneurs and artists and advocates � all seem to be reaching out to one another as never before. A lot of conversations are beginning to happen.

In the next few days, I will use this opportunity to have a conversation with you about a glass that is definitely more than half full. I don't have to consult anyone or any backgrounder - there's a lot to be hopeful about in Washtenaw County: The Aerotropolis Project; Ann ArborSPARK; the Blueprint to End Homelessness; Washtenaw Area Teens for Tomorrow; WALLY; the Eastern Leaders Group; the Countywide Natural Area Preservation Program and Greenways Initiative; the Literacy Task Force; the 4-County Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeastern Michigan; the ArtsAlliance Community & Culture Plan for Washtenaw County and the regional outreach of the Community Success Process � and that's just off the top of my head.

In fact, this website itself, Concentrate, is more evidence of positive impact through real collaboration � real conversations.

When I read Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" a few years ago, I have to say that his idea of the "Three Ts" for attracting the new Creative Class � Talent, Technology and Tolerance, really resounded with me. I can't speak for other communities, but I think I know this one pretty well and I think we have all three. And we have more. This County has diverse communities having great, forward-looking conversations.

Like this one. I look forward to hearing from you.

Post No. 3

Sun, 18 May 2008 22:57:33 GMT

Stranded

Another installment in my continuing adventures and observations experienced abroad.

* * * *

Yet another cab drives by, filled with passengers. For close to 30 minutes now, my companion and I have tried to hail one of our own. All the taxis in the lower east side seem to be engaged. I wonder where the fares are grabbing these cabs. My companion drops their raised arm, dejected.

My business partner hates cars. When forced to, he drives his dutiful, late model blue Ford Focus. He asserts that [I�m paraphrasing] public transportation � especially light rail � is crucial to any successful, properly functioning society. And the most efficient form of travel. For him it�s rail or nothing.

I ponder that concept as I attempt to hail a cab in the freezing drizzle. From where I stand, any form of transportation would be an improvement over my current situation. Earlier this morning, I was informed that I might experience �an inconvenience� commuting from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Spring repairs on some of the subway lines are taking place this weekend. And by afternoon, I fully absorb the magnitude of the inconvenience. Apparently, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority has closed virtually every accessible train into and out of Manhattan � from almost every outer-lying borough for the entire weekend. This initiates a domino effect including a 45-minute hike across town, only to be greeted by more non-operating service lines. Culminating in my current half-hour, ran-soaked wait for a cab. It�s as if everyone in the world has a ride but us.

As I slowly walk in reverse up the street, eyeing the flow of traffic for a reciprocal acknowledgement from a passing cabbie, I begin to question the veracity of my business partner�s pro-rail assertion. Although cars are experiencing an economically challenged existence due to rising gas prices, it seems they are the ultimate fallback for all developed societies. Properly functioning or not.

While some groups might advocate the automobile going the way of its horse- drawn ancestors, I wonder if championing a complete dismissal is jumping the metaphoric gun. As one man I knew was fond of saying: perhaps it�s an �and� not an �or.� It might make more sense to focus, by region, on how to best utilize available transportation methods.

For example, what if the train systems were shut down, let�s say, for seasonal repair? Walking or biking from your home in Ypsilanti to your job in Ann Arbor in the dead of winter may not be an option. I guess you�d go to your garage and dust off your dutiful automobile, grumbling all the way to your destination � completely oblivious to the irony.

As I think about it, it�s not necessarily the method of transport, but rather the nature of it. Safe, efficient, cost-effective travel is the life-blood of any successful society. But there�s more at stake than simply providing environmentally friendly transportation. To be truly effective, it must allow people to move unencumbered between economic centers as they go about their daily lives.

Thoughts turn to reality as a cab pulls to a stop 10 feet away. My companion and I high-step the puddles using our best Olympic form, but are beaten by a group of middle-aged women who dive in, unaware that anyone else is competing for the ride. The gentleman in me decides not to challenge the photo-finish results.

It�s far colder than I expected and I have not dressed warmly enough for this trip. As I continue to wait, I pull my jacket collar up tightly around my neck and imagine the ideal Southeastern Michigan commuting system:

First, air travel: tear down the Smith and Berry terminals, and put up something on par with Heathrow�s Terminal 5 -- customer-focused, efficient and serene -- that adjoins McNamara . Stop penalizing the smaller airline fliers with a substandard experience.

Next, a high-speed rail system: link the Detroit Metro Airport to key professional, entertainment, residential and retail locations in destinations like downtown Detroit, Royal Oak, Ann Arbor and Birmingham. Tie in outer lying areas over time.
Then, localized transportation system: within outlying urban areas where underground or elevated trains are not practical, provide alternate fuel and electric charter vehicle alternatives. Reduce the number of privately owned vehicles within the city limits.

I smirk as I consider the magnitude of such an execution. A development and synchronization this complex would seem unlikely in a state that is now gasping for air. I can�t imagine these are high on the list of priorities for the current powers that be. Though such topics should be. Even in partial execution, such a change would benefit the prevailing, disparaged economic landscape.

Another cab stops in front of us. People are climbing out. Perhaps this is the ride. As I climb in, the driver tells me he�s just ending his shift and returning to the garage. I climb back out to continue the hunt.

My companion swears in frustration as the umpteenth cab drives by, numbers dark, back seat filled with fares. A queue is forming on the curb beside us. We�re not the only ones trapped in Manhattan tonight.

Post No. 2

Fri, 16 May 2008 08:50:47 GMT

Comparatives And Superlatives

Day two in New York City

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I�m sitting in a coffee shop in New York listening to Frank Omura on my iPod. Just beyond the infectious 4/4 rhythms of kicks and snares, I overhear fragments of a nearby conversation. A couple sitting in front of me are discussing visual narrative styles and creative influences. It occurs to me that such a conversation � complete with coffee shop and matching soundtrack -- could just as well be happening in Ann Arbor right now. The contextual differences are slight. Once you strip away the square mileage of Manhattan, add a couple dozen parks and reduce the population by a few million, you end up with a town not unlike Ann Arbor in attitude and influence.

Someone recently told me that the University of Michigan logo, the block M, is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Apparently, holding its own amidst giants like Apple and Microsoft, and beating out the likes of such consumer juggernauts as Nike. Hard to believe. Such high recognition creates momentum that�s measured geographically. Google cited the gravitational pull of U of M among the reasons for establishing a base of operations within Ann Arbor�s boundaries. Imagine if the University of Michigan had remained in Detroit.

My cell phone vibrates, interrupts that thought and alerts me to an incoming text message. It�s my business partner asking me to research a new investment opportunity. My goal was to purchase a wireless card for my laptop, return directly to Brooklyn, and work from my room. En route, I was swept up by the midday energy of Broadway, and instead opted to find a coffee shop where I can work and people watch. As I sit here, I recall a personal dream turned reality when I finally freed myself of traditional office trappings. And I suddenly miss the option of working in the Arb, which I often do back home. This urban oasis nurtures my best productivity among its broad valleys and secluded nooks. By comparison, Central Park has nothing on the Arb. It�s comparatively flat, less �natural,� and its surrounding skyline does not allow you to completely escape.

Track three dives in with an energetic swell of synth and bass. My head nods a little. A lady standing at the counter notices my patterned movements. I look up, realizing how I must appear. She looks away casually, avoiding accidental eye contact. New Yorkers have a way of watching you without being seen watching you. This is very different from the more affable Midwest sensibility. I guess living amidst so many people � you seek privacy where you can get it. Perhaps it�s why two-thirds of my neighbors are transplants from New York City. One of them -- the patriarch of a nuclear family from midtown Manhattan -- said Michigan is the perfect place to raise children. They are moving to Muskegon this summer.

Track five comes in hard and fast with it�s irresistible popping synth line. I just received an advanced demo of Omura�s unnamed tracks a short while ago and they are easily my favorite this year. Frank Omura is a resident of Ann Arbor. He is part of a large and ever-expanding group of musical artists with international potential who have settled in Ann Arbor for a variety of reasons. Also noteworthy are the many talented artists who claim association with its territory -- even though they may not be native or currently call it their home. For example, Ghostly International�s Tadd Mullinix (who originally hails from Florida) and Matthew Dear (a transplant from Texas who currently resides in New York). These two have achieved near cult-status in the independent electronic music scene, successfully staging crossovers into the mainstream realm right from Ann Arbor�s cozy confines.

Like New York, many of Ann Arbor�s residents are from all over the world. Unlike New York, the broad and varied blend of diverse backgrounds and cultures tastes a bit smoother to the communal palette. It�s as if Ann Arbor�s sense of community is developed without regard to such differences -- rather than because of them. I can personally think of numerous of artists, creatives and intellectuals, from places as disparate as Arizona and Poland, who call Ann Arbor home for just such reasons.

I suppose one could argue that these similarities exist in most places featuring either a thriving economic center or an active university base. And, true, all towns and cities are basically the sum of their residents. That being the case, places like Ann Arbor become much more than the sum of their parts, because the people who choose to reside there are drawn to its core. They come seeking an enriching lifestyle and often find it. And then an even trade takes place, as Ann Arbor�s community is enriched in exchange. That includes people like me. And I take my piece of Ann Arbor everywhere I roam.

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Oh, and by the way, Frank Omura is coming out later this year on Moodgadget, a record label founded in Ann Arbor.