No one wants to speak out against building the school because they’ll immediately be vilified as a white supremacist, opportunity-hoarding racist, both on social media and probably right there in the meeting. It’s very effective because how do you refute that you’re not racist? Discourse in Evanston is almost impossible. Even Tom, who is…
No one wants to speak out against building the school because they’ll immediately be vilified as a white supremacist, opportunity-hoarding racist, both on social media and probably right there in the meeting. It’s very effective because how do you refute that you’re not racist? Discourse in Evanston is almost impossible. Even Tom, who is evidence/data driven and clearly very progressive, is (unfairly) called names.
To be fair I think only like 2 people have called me names. They are still welcome to email me (tom@foiagras.com) and I will give them space to publish on this blog their anti-Tom arguments. I have nothing against them or anyone in Evanston (besides the lady that yelled at me at Out of Space), even if they disagree. We agree on far more than we disagree.
I am such a fan of Tom!! And grateful for your information gathering and analysis.
That said, behind your back.... the same thirty people and their disciples say that your blog, the Round Table, & Evanston Now are all racist. The only local publication that they endorse is the Daily Northwestern, because, you know, college students are the masters of the truth. Nah, its that they require less Koolaid to get their job done. Ouch.
I think there's a difference between simply saying "I'm against building the school" vs. "if we're making decisions through purely a cost lens, here are areas where we can possibly cut in order to close the deficit and balance the budget. If the school is one of those areas, then a comprehensive analysis of how much pausing for 1 year, 2 years, or entirely canceling the project until a time (3-5 years from now?) where we can actually map out its affordability."
The board is allowed to evaluate non-financial factors within the "menu of options", so if the juice isn't worth the squeeze on stopping the construction (compared to other proposed savings measures) so be it. But time isn't really our friend if expensive work will continue to go on while we work to define the rest of the deficit reduction options.
No one wants to speak out against building the school because they’ll immediately be vilified as a white supremacist, opportunity-hoarding racist, both on social media and probably right there in the meeting. It’s very effective because how do you refute that you’re not racist? Discourse in Evanston is almost impossible. Even Tom, who is evidence/data driven and clearly very progressive, is (unfairly) called names.
To be fair I think only like 2 people have called me names. They are still welcome to email me (tom@foiagras.com) and I will give them space to publish on this blog their anti-Tom arguments. I have nothing against them or anyone in Evanston (besides the lady that yelled at me at Out of Space), even if they disagree. We agree on far more than we disagree.
I am such a fan of Tom!! And grateful for your information gathering and analysis.
That said, behind your back.... the same thirty people and their disciples say that your blog, the Round Table, & Evanston Now are all racist. The only local publication that they endorse is the Daily Northwestern, because, you know, college students are the masters of the truth. Nah, its that they require less Koolaid to get their job done. Ouch.
Thats fine, I cant win em all
I think there's a difference between simply saying "I'm against building the school" vs. "if we're making decisions through purely a cost lens, here are areas where we can possibly cut in order to close the deficit and balance the budget. If the school is one of those areas, then a comprehensive analysis of how much pausing for 1 year, 2 years, or entirely canceling the project until a time (3-5 years from now?) where we can actually map out its affordability."
The board is allowed to evaluate non-financial factors within the "menu of options", so if the juice isn't worth the squeeze on stopping the construction (compared to other proposed savings measures) so be it. But time isn't really our friend if expensive work will continue to go on while we work to define the rest of the deficit reduction options.