Response to Anonymous Comments on Forest Theater Master Plans Posts

ABSTRACT: Two recent Anonymous Comments are reproduced; a comment on the post Forest Theater Foundation Consultant’s Master Plan for the Forest Theatre (Monday, October 22, 2007) and another comment on the post FOREST THEATER FACILITY MASTER PLAN: A Study of Patron, User Group & Neighborhood Impact “Interrelationships” (Sunday, October 21, 2007). RESPONSE TO COMMENTS is presented with respect to the comments expressed in these two Anonymous Comments.

Anonymous said...
I'm not sure what the point of the "correction and clarification" of my earlier posting was. As the long posting shows, what I said was correct - the Congleton plan was only received and never actually accepted by council or discussed by the public at large. Posting excerpts from CRA newsletters is kind of silly - after all, the CRA, being the equivalent of a political action committee, has been known to , how shall I put it, stretch the truth, when it suits their purpose, just as much as the politicians do! In point of fact, I am not aware that the CRA ever actually commented on the Congleton plan itself, or even sent a representative to the Commission meetings where the plan was developed. Caring citizens such as Skip Lloyd (see his own comment - "As you know, there was a Master Plan done for the Forest Theater back in 2001, and I wasn’t aware much of that,") admit to knowing very little about the Congleton plan, and certainly never discussed it in a public forum. Having attended the neighborhood meeting, it was clear that the plan being discussed was merely a draft subject to hearing neighbor's comments and that the Foundation has since incorporated much of those comments into the next draft. It was also clear that there was no major "removal of trees" was being contemplated along Mountain View, so why this blog says that there was is very odd. I also understand that the Foundation has said on numerous occasions that the "New Meadow Development" was simply an option to be explored and if the neighbors prefer parking both inside and outside the park, then they would accept that as well. Ditto with the "wall" around the property - it was explained that the "wall" example was merely an option to control sound, not a final recommendation. Having heard from the neighbors, it was apparent to those of us in attendance that a "fence" was preferred. It was also clear that McCann cares deeply about the property and the community and it is sad that these pages refer to him as an "outsider" or "Los Angeles" consultant. He is obviously an expert in theatre, which Congleton, for all his best intentions, is not. Congleton paved the way for the McCann plan and I think we should thank them both and treat them both with respect.

Anonymous said...
I can help you out, I think. The Congleton plan was not "finalized" as you put it. It was only received by the council and never discussed by the community at large. It was discussed at some poorly attended cultural commission meetings, but as far as a real "community" airing, it never happened. By the by, must we refer to people as "out of towners"?? Mr. McCann is a theatre expert, where Congleton is not. I, for one, am glad we have had input from both of them!

RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:
• Comments about the Community and Cultural Commission, the Carmel Residents Association (CRA) and Skip Lloyd are ancillary compared to the main issue vis-à-vis the Forest Theatre; and that is, the lack of leadership by the current mayor and city councils from 2001 to the present in not acting upon, budgeting for and implementing a Master Plan for the Forest Theatre. This individual and collective lack of leadership is part of a pattern of generalized lack of leadership towards the City’s (the public’s) cultural, historical and environmental assets, including the Scout House, Flanders Mansion, Lester Rowntree Arboretum, Mission Trail Nature Preserve, et cetera. Furthermore, the City’s disproportionate financial resources directed at the Sunset Center, namely Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. (SCC), have resulted in the mayor and city council neglecting other cultural, historical and environmental public assets.

• A lesson of the Forest Theater Facilities Master Plan (2001) experience is that a mayor and city council should never again be allowed to fail to expeditiously act upon, budget for and implement the recommendations of a Master Plan. Sadly, the failure to realize the Master Plan (2001) is also part of a pattern of failing to implement numerous aspects of the Local Coastal Program for the short-term and long-term benefit of Carmelites and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

• To ensure the failures of the past are not repeated in the present and future, the mayor and city council would be wise to place, as soon as possible, the “next draft” of the Forest Theater Foundation Master Plan on an agenda for the purposes of informing the public and soliciting input from the public.

• As stewards of the Forest Theatre property for the public and as a good faith effort, the City should initiate a matching program for the purpose of implementing the recommendations of the Master Plan i.e., for every private dollar raised by the Forest Theater Foundation, the City would pledge a dollar towards completion of the Master Plan.

• If, by definition, the lack of “a real ‘community airing” means Carmelites were unaware of the Forest Theater Facilities Master Plan in 2001, then the reason for that was the failure of Mayor Sue McCloud to follow through and hold subsequent public hearings on the Forest Theater Facility Master Plan. This fact prompts the question: If Sue McCloud and the City Council of 2001 failed to have “a real ‘community’ airing” on the Forest Theater Facility Master Plan in 2001, what does that say about the probability of success of any future Forest Theater Master Plan?

NOTE: The Carmel-by-the-Sea WATCHDOG! encourages substantive comments which contribute information and insights into issues facing the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea; The Carmel-by-the-Sea WATCHDOG! discourages petty, small-minded, minutia-oriented comments as illustrated by a recent letter to the editor in The Monterey County Herald by a certain Monterey Peninsula mayor.