[Communications] Native Garden Ordinance

[Sean Ruane]

Hi Lorraine,

I agree. I think the group would be better served by having
representative(s) from CCGA directly involved. I've already reached out to
the organizers about that. I didn't mean to imply that AUA is the sole or
even the best representative for community gardeners. I apologize if that's
how my email came off. I simply just wanted to set up a time to have a
conversation about this issue so I can feel more informed. If I did not
reach out to the right people, that was not intentional. I was just
including folks who I know have been part of the conversation.

Respectfully, I would like to clarify a few things implied in your email:

   - AUA was pulled into this conversation about 2 weeks ago, when I was
   invited to serve as a co-host for a town hall to hear concerns from
   gardeners and farmers. We were invited because Martha Boyd, our former
   board member, was instrumental in leading this work early on. However,
   Martha has not been involved in the work for a while now, and the ordinance
   was introduced in January without AUA knowing about it. We have not once
   said that we support the ordinance, because we don't. We were present as
   co-hosts on Tuesday to listen.


   - I wholeheartedly agree that CCGA more authentically represents
   community gardens. But AUA does not just support/work with urban farms. In
   the last year, we have provided legal, financial, administrative,
   technical, and equipment support to over 60 community gardens in need of
   water access, provided thousands of dollars in grant funds to
   community gardens in the midst of the pandemic, and produced programming
   and resources that are relevant to both urban farms and community gardens.

I think we ("we" meaning the necessary representatives from both
organizations) could significantly benefit from having a conversation about
ways to cultivate a more collaborative, supportive, transparent,
communicative, and accountable relationship. I have suggested this several
times to you and other CCGA members over the course of the last year. I
would like to suggest it again. If that's of interest to you and/or other
CCGA members, we would love to have that conversation sooner rather than
later.

Respectfully,

Sean


On Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 11:42 AM Lorraine Kells <lxkells at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sean,
>
> You sent an email this morning to a small group of CCGA community
> gardeners, omitting quite a few people who were vocal in the chat at the
> Town Hall.  If you truly seek input from CCGA, you might think more
> inclusively of our working groups, especially CCGA Communications.  The
> email for the communications committee is in this email.  No one of us
> works in isolation, and as volunteers, we would appreciate your recognition
> that while we will communicate within and among our working groups, it is
> not the same as your reaching out to begin with, especially as you now say
> AUA's support is in question.
>
> Now that your organization recognizes how truly community gardens are
> impacted, why do you still insist we cannot represent ourselves?.  It would
> be a stronger gesture on your part, showing recognition as well as respect,
> to seek representation for our own spokesperson in the meeting with Alderman
> Hopkin's office and IEC tomorrow afternoon.  We have concrete, positive
> comments to make  and we are up for it.
>
> It must be clear, if CCGA had been drawn into this policy making from the
> start, the proposed ordinance would be stronger and more widely approved.
> So why not start now. You represent urban farms, we represent community
> gardens more authentically and our collaboration can be better with that
> recognition.
>
> Best,
> Lorraine Kells, Co-Chair CCGA Education Committee
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 8:37 AM Sean Ruane <sean at auachicago.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Great to see so many community gardeners at the native ordinance town
>> hall on Tuesday! After that conversation, we followed up with the City
>> yesterday morning and confirmed that community gardens CAN be ticketed
>> through the weed ordinance, which is contrary to what had been previously
>> communicated by the City and Alderman Hopkins Office. Prior to yesterday,
>> AUA had not made a decision about whether or not we supported the
>> ordinance, but given that information, we are not in support.
>>
>> We were invited to a conversation with Alderman Hopkin's office and IEC
>> tomorrow afternoon to provide concrete suggestions for improving the
>> ordinance to ensure that it is equitable and represents the interests of
>> all growers throughout the City, not just owner-occupied lots. If you all
>> have time before 2 pm tomorrow, I'd like to hop on a call to hear more
>> about CCGA's concerns and proposed changes and ultimately ensure that I'm
>> appropriately communicating those proposed changes during the call on
>> Friday.
>>
>> I know that there is another call trying to be scheduled between CCGA,
>> IEC, Openlands, AUA, etc..... but I think it would be helpful to touch base
>> today or tomorrow before the call at 2 pm tomorrow.
>>
>> Let me know what works.
>>
>> All my best,
>>
>> Sean
>>
>> --
>> *Sean Ruane*
>> *Executive Director*
>> *Advocates for Urban Agriculture*
>> *he/him/his*
>> *sean at auachicago.org <sean at auachicago.org>*
>> *815-931-1743*
>> *auachicago.org <http://auachicago.org> *
>>
>> *Interested in providing technical support to Chicago growers? *
>> *Join the AUA Grown in Chicago Council today! *
>> *Applications available until February 28th. *
>>
>> <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfw7SNU1Byk1xb9h7Bki-HSit2h2DGne2ysctt9z6R977xSWg/viewform?mc_cid=928d978d95&mc_eid=%5BUNIQID%5D&gxids=7628>
>>
>>
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