People Power Works!
Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
Our little neighborhood in Far North Dallas Texas has spoken!! We have spoken through the use of “People Power”. Far North Dallas is divided into many neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has a Neighborhood Association. All the members in my neighborhood are connected via e-mail. The definition of community in America is being changed by the internet. We are informed about vandalism, robberies, gathering, elected official meetings as well as births and deaths by our neighborhood association’s V.P. of Communications.
Our neighborhood Communictions V.P. is doing a terrific job. She informs and educates us. A few weeks ago the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority had a public meeting. Dallas has struggled to have an effective Rapid Transit System. DART has been minimally to moderately effective.
Recently, the DART staff made a decision to build a ground level line using diesel trains on the defunct Cotton Belt tracks. The decision was opposed by neighborhood representatives and the Dallas City Counsel. The Dallas City Council proposed an alternate plan. The plan was a less disruptive below surface electric train line. The Dallas City Council decision is the first unanimous decision I can recall in the 38 years we have lived in the city. The long unused Cotton Belt line touches the back yards of some of the houses in the Far North Dallas area. Over 1000 people from the North Dallas neighborhoods came to a Town Meeting to protest the DART staff’s unilateral decision. The DART staff was overwhelmed by the turn out and our protest.
Below is the e-mail we received today. Cecelia and I have rescheduled our return to Dallas to attend the meeting. We want to be heard. I have a feeling the DART board of trustees will change their plan for the train line. We support a below ground level electric car rail system proposed by the Dallas City Council.
Our local virtual community is a perfect example of “People Power”. Politicians are supposed represent our wishes. They will represent our wished if we know what we want and demand our wishes be expressed. This process requires awareness on the part of the neighbors and education on the part of the leaders. Multiple North Dallas neighborhoods connected by the internet allowed our community to understand the issue, and demand that our interest be represented.
The mobilization of common goals is the future of freedom in America. Networked communities will supersede hierarchical bureaucracy as the representative form of policy making in the future. We are expressing this desire for freedom and choice in our neighborhood.
The healthcare system can be fixed by this type of virtual community. A networked community armed with a logical plan to meet the needs of the people is needed to repair the broken healthcare system.
Effective uncontaminated Medical Savings Accounts is a system that is logical and promotes freedom to manage our own money and permits choice. Once communities of people understand the Medical savings Account system “People Power” by the uses of RSS, and email can demand and affect repair of the healthcare system rapidly.
I believe it is as simple as the methodology of change expressed by our virtual community leader below. We the people have to chance the healthcare system with “People Power”. We can not leave it to the politicians or the next guy any more. Enough is enough!
Below is the recent email to all members of our Virtual North Dallas Community
Thank You! …
To everyone who attended the September 25th public meeting in Addison to protest DART’s plan for diesel trains on the Cotton Belt. Approximately 900-1200 of us burst the seams of Addison Center.
There’s nothing new about citizens protesting changes to their neighborhoods, but the protest we staged in Addison last month has created quite a stir! The feedback we’re getting is that DART and the cities involved have never seen anything like our demonstration of opposition to the DART plan. Our collective efforts are having a positive effect, but OUR WORK IS NOT YET DONE – We cannot claim victory until DART votes to abandon its plan for diesel trains on the Cotton Belt and adopt the Natinsky plan for more sensible light rail instead. THE VOTE TAKES PLACE OCTOBER 24TH.
Ron Natinsky, District 12 Councilman, and Linda Koop, District 11 Council-woman, have the unanimous support of the Dallas City Council and are working hard in our favor. As citizens, we must support their official efforts by attending the DART Board meeting on October 24th, when the Dart Board votes for the “2030 Plan”. We must fill up the entire meeting room and confront each and every DART Board member, face-to-face, as they cast their votes.
There will be an opportunity for citizens to speak directly to the DART Board members. You may make the same eloquent remarks as you did on September 25. Although your previous speeches are on the public record, they may not have been heard in their entirety by every DART Board member.
October 24 will be an incredible evening, an experience in local democracy that you will not want to miss. It will not be as lengthy as the Addison meeting. Please inform all your concerned neighbors and arrange carpools to drive downtown in groups. Anyone who needs a ride should use the contact info below and we will help you coordinate carpools.
PLEASE MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND THIS CRITICAL MEETING!