Ed Morrison · Update on GLUE’s Progress

May 28th, 2008

Here’s an update on what’s been happening with the Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE).

Hi All – Abby and I are back from a week on the road, during which we got to see many of your smiling faces. Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cleveland – all continue to be, unsurprisingly, amazing.

A few notes of interest:

1. PRESS – We had the privilege of meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel while we were in town, and they wrote something nice about us! Check it here.

2. About that urban agenda… we’ve been saying to anyone who’ll listen, in our most nascent form of advocacy: “None of the candidates for president has an urban agenda, and we need one!” WELL, Barack Obama (perhaps a future Great Lakes president?) apparently has been listening. I guess we can pack it up. Anyway, your reflections on his extremely thorough urban policy platform would be welcome on GLUEspace: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/urbanpolicy/

3. GLUE LAUNCHES in BUFFALO! The date has been set: Saturday, June 21, at 7 pm, on the steps of the Museum of Science. Food, idea-swapping, the new site, potentially local celebs/officials, and an IRON POUR that will result in SIDEWALK SQUARES WITH THE GLUE LOGO – combined with a GLUE reunion of sorts is going to make this an incredibly exciting event. We hope to see many of you there.

ACTION ITEM #1: MARK YOUR CALENDARS for June 21 in Buffalo! If you are planning to attend from another city, please let your nearest GLUE neighbors know, for potential car-pooling or coordinated mass-transit riding.

4. Congrats, Seth, on pulling off an amazing conference. From Rust Belt to Artist Belt was a resounding success, and truly epitomized the strength of ideas that can arise by cross-pollinating: arts with community development, for instance. We heard a ton of good ideas (and I actually talked about the conference and some of those ideas in a presentation on Thursday!). Cleveland really is becoming a “thought leader” in this work, and the word is spreading. It’s exciting to watch.

5. Local meetings. You all saw the video Antonio put together for our last local meetings (thank you Antonio!), which was a great way to give people a real take-away – some good ideas, a bit of expertise. I think we are getting a little closer to what these meetings should be as we move forward, but your continued input is encouraged. More on the next meeting next week, and some new strategies for improvement, but for now:

ACTION ITEM #2: Please email Sarah/Abby with the date/location of your next GLUE local meeting, and whether you will be facilitating or have found a new member to the facilitation team.

6. In Wisconsin and Michigan we’ve just announced passage of the Great Lakes Compact – but the story is more complex than that. Some of the compromises built into the legislation so far threaten to do lasting damage to the ability of the Compact to actually manage our water. We’d love to become a go-to news source on this issue, and hope you will help. Could anyone sum up the situation in their state? Can everyone please keep your eyes peeled for stories? Who can help us break down the complexities in a way that makes it easy to understand?

This is an issue where we will actually have to care about what’s happening in other states – the rest of us are going to have to put pressure on WI, for instance, to change some of their amendments before this goes to Congress. Help us think of ways to keep pressing for positive action on the passage of the Compact in its 8-state region.

7. ACTION ITEM #3: Have you talked to your issue committee yet? Have you decided who’s going to write the first piece, and when?

I think that about wraps it up – hope you are all doing well and hope to see many of you in Buffalo, where this, in some ways, all began, in about a month. Thanks for your continued support and willingness to be involved in this very big work, even in its very small daily ways.

from the Detroit HQ,
yours in GLUE,
Sarah & Abby

–
Sarah L. Szurpicki
Co-Founder, Great Lakes Urban Exchange
Project Manager, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
www.gluespace.org

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