Letters to the Editor
April 2001

FRUSTRATION WITH CENTRAL NEIGHBIRHOOD IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION (CNIA)

Somebody rolled down the window while we were going 80 miles per hour and the map blew out. And this didn’t happen in May, 2000. It’s been longer than that.
We are no longer a volunteer driven organization; we are staff dependent and program reliant. We are no longer a coordinator of services and a clearinghouse of ideas; we have a messianic complex to solve all the social and economic problems ourselves. We no longer confide, “I don’t have the answer, let’s work together,”; we argue, “My way or the highway.” We no longer utilize existing resources; we work to create additional bureaucracies and organizations that need money. We are no longer inclusive; we have clear factions. We are no longer collegial, debating and respectfully disagreeing; we are adolescents, resorting to name calling and accusations. We are no longer market driven realists responding to residents’ needs; we are power hungry drunks feeding at the public trough. We no longer give our loyalty to family, work and religion which result in a common purpose; we demand loyalty to endless meetings to prevent or push a divisive agenda. We no longer memorialize the passing of our mentors and founders like Sally Borseth and recount their countless selfless acts; we use the senseless death of a youthful peer to further polarize the community and its protectors. We are no longer humble; we are arrogant. We no longer listen to the wisdom of our elders; we worship at the fashion of youth.
Most who read this may be thinking to themselves, This describes the other side.” The wise among us will be thinking about themselves, “This describes myself.”

Dave Jensen