WOW - I went to the School Board meeting last night after my Parks and Rec meeting because of the Richmond Street controversy in Columbus. The School Board purchased a house to be used as a transition program for handicapped individuals as they progress into adult life. It's to show real life situations and to help them gain confidence.
Currently the board rents industrial offices and pretends they are apartments. Now the handicapped can be shown gardening, lawn mowing, laundry and other things you and I take for granted. This is a WONDERFUL experience.
But the people on Richmond street are afraid their property values will sink and safety to the other children in the area. They came up with all sorts bogus complaints including the rooms in the house were too small and handicap people are afraid of small rooms and there are stairs and the laundry is downstairs and yada yada yada. We don't want those people next to US!
Ignorance.
So there was a public forum where they expressed their "opinions" on how renting an office building not near THEM is better the a house NEAR them.
Jenny was one of the people that defended the board and I am so freaking proud of her! She said it like it was, and whether she knows it or not when she confronted the ignorant and said what everybody wanted to say and the ignorant were all muttering loudly NO NO THAT'S NOT IT (when it really is) Jenny, bless her heart, spoke louder with a more demanding voice, she hardened! MAN it was great. So so proud.
They voted to buy the house. Personally I would LOVE to have that house next to my house!!
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This weekend we were baby sitting Caydance and Sydney and out of the blue Sydney says "It's singing time". and as she is singing and walking around she see's my tripod.
"MiRoFone" she says and carry's the MiRoFone to the living room and starts singing to it. I see this and say wait, I adjust the height (she was leaning over) and straight the handle nad she says "thank you" and starts to sing.
WHAT???? Where did she learn this?? No one knows. But DJ grabs her iPhone and records.
Here is Sydney with the help of Caydance performing a classic fusion "Jingle Bells Wheels on the Bus".
http://youtu.be/adpBXYIa3dU
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WOW - is Coach Ryan having a stroke? His latest news conference was so weird it was creepy. So many people are hoping they lose sooner or later. Ranked #3 in the Country is taking its toll on the coach.
I think the problem is that the Badgers are not winning because of a huge Center or a Guard that scores 30 points a game. It's been a team effort and they have been dominating.
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Went to see "Saving Mr. Banks" last weekend. GREAT GREAT movie about how Walt Disney spent 20 years trying to get rights to Mary Poppins for the movie but the writer P. L. Travers resisted.
Lost of things to talk about after the movie. Why no pears, why the hatred of the color red and so forth. All are clues in the movie. Bravo to "Saving Mr. Banks". Oh yea - and WHO is Mr. Banks.
Better go to the movie! IS there any movie Tom Hanks is i that is not great?
Thank you Rod, although I wouldn't exactly refer to them as handicapped individuals, but students with special needs age 18 to 21. I really don't think the neighbors have any idea whatsoever as to how they are coming off... Saying such things as "how would you feel if this was next to you?"... "Why would you put them in a house near the elementary school? Shouldn't they be around people their own age? Aren't you afraid of regression?" ... "The laundry is in the basement, aren't you afraid of them navigating the stairs"...
ReplyDeleteObviously you don't know the students because 95% of them have no physical abilities and of course accommodations would be made in the event a student with physical limitations came along. Do they really think the district and teachers would put a student in harms way? The real nail in the coffin for me was when they said the house wasn't big enough and that some "individuals with special needs can become agitated in small spaces" and basically labeling them a threat to the public / nearby school children. Really did you just say that??? Really???? These students aren't animals! Let's say in the event, there was a student who didn't feel comfortable in the house for some reason, do you really think the teachers would keep the student there to the point they got to upset they would be a threat to others? Have you no faith in our special education system? The way they acted was as if a convicted sex offender was moving next door. And why weren't they notified, blah blah blah... Obviously the school district did not understand the level of ignorance that the neighbors had. Thank you for your support and the support of the others who have told me that I said what everyone else was thinking, I was just only one brave enough to say it out loud.
I do genuinely feel bad for the neighbors... Even the one who yelled at me after the meeting. They are ignorant, they don't know any better.
I am not sure how these issues and votes take place without the general population of Columbus knowing. Are we to seek out council and school board meetings to find out what is happening? Or is this why we elect representatives to represent us? I have now lived here for 13 years and am very ignorant about the city or the issues within, but things like this meeting and finding out the district bought the 2 houses in between the schools on Dickason... I wouldn't be able to sell my house for what they paid for those houses and they tore them down! Anyhoo, thank you for this blog, I need to follow more closely and props to Jenny for standing up for what she believes in..wish I would have known about it and tried to be there...
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