Who is NSCAN and why do they (if it is a they) get more sway than the wishes of residents?

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The Markey Park situation gets more bizarre each time I hear that another organization is involved. 

Apparently it takes attending BNA meetings in person and then reading the minutes of previous minutes in order to figure out who is actually responsible for asking to not allow dogs in Markey Park.  

The Bywater Neighborhood Association Parks Committee convened on March 14, 2013 at Holy Angels Convent. Save Markey Park, a group of community advocates petitioning to include an off-leash dog area in Markey Park respectfully urged the BNA Parks Committee to revisit its decision to not allow dogs in Markey Park. Over 400 community members have signed a petition  in favor of including an off-leash dog area.

The petition is a response to the announcement that NORD was going to close down Markey Park on Monday, February 25, (The Bywater Neighborhood Association has since announced that the park will be closed soon, but a specific date has not been given). Preceding this, there were a series of lively, well-attended meetings about how to redevelop the park with a grant from the Trust for Public Land. Overwhelmingly the neighborhood wants part of the park to remain an off-leash dog park. The design firm came up with three plans, all of which divided the space into a playground, a dog park, and a free space. The meetings were a testament to civic involvement, cooperation and democracy. Then, NORD, surreptitiously commissioned its own plan, without an area for dogs, and rammed it through, not allowing any input from the community.

A trend I've noticed at the BNA and NORDC meetings I've attended is that nobody will actually admit to being responsible for the decision to not include dogs in the park. 

On March 14, Mary Ann Hammett, who is both a BNA Board Member and a member of the BNA Parks Committee, explained the events that led up to John Guarnieri's November 2011 surreptitious "anti-dog" letter. 

These events include an October 26th meeting of the BNA Parks Committee, for which minutes are not published on the BNA website.

I transcribed this the recording of March 14 meeting: "In the 2 weeks after that meeting Larry [Schmidt of the Trust for Public Land] got angry emails and phone calls saying “we don’t want your money.” When she realized what was happening, she emailed the board. “This isn’t good. I was afraid Larry would get the impression that we did not want the park and would withdraw [TPL’s] offer. At that point, I offered some language. First we needed to tell Larry that yes, we want the park. Second we needed to tell Larry that we understood that NORD would be making the decision that there would be dog runs in NORD facilities,  and we wanted Larry to have a design that did not have a dog run in it. Since we did not know the result of what was going to happen with CATF. We also reiterated our position first espoused in June of 2011 at our board meeting on the 28th, we were approached NSCNA on the agenda for - support their position that we only have 2 NORD C facilities and that Stallings would be a space for programmed activities and children could not use Markey Park. BNA voted to support position of New Saint Claude Neighborhood Association."

After the "rowdy" October 26, 2011 meeting, the letter was written by John Guarnieri (it reflects the views of the board and should not be attributed to Guarnieri alone). It appears that a BNA Board Member announced the minutes would be posted on the BNA Facebook Page, but the minutes do not appear there. 

While looking for the October 26 minutes on the BNA website, I discovered rather interesting information in the February 2012 BNA Newsletter. 

The Citizens Advisory Task Force appointed to study dogs actually recommended that NORDC permit dogs in Markey Park, which is contrary to what I initially thought.

The newsletter notes an incident involving Mandy Pumilia, current president of the BNA (who tried to adjourn the March 12th BNA Meeting before the community could speak) that occurred at Markey Park. 

This "incident" is described for a full paragraph and spills over into a second paragraph that shifts to a discussion of the TPL, the CTA's unofficial recommendation that dogs be permitted in Markey Park, and the BNA being on public record as supporting NSCAN.

It's getting rather difficult to view the BNA as anything except a special interest group that doesn't respect the interests of the neighborhood. 

From pages 14-15 (MP stands for Mandy Pulmia):

Markey Park incident: MP. MP recently visited Markey Park with her daughter. While she was there, approximately eight children came into the children's area; several were over twelve years old. At one point they entered the dog park and played a bit with some of the dogs, throwing sticks and interacting with the dog owners. Once they were back in the children's area and had begun playing soccer, a dog in the park on the other side of the fence became agitated watching the ball game and MP commented to its owner that the dog was getting worked up. Soon after, a police officer came to the park and stated she had been called to report “unsupervised children” in the park. MP told the officer that was ridiculous and the officer agreed. The officer apologized for having to answer the call, left and then returned with freeze pops for the children. After the officer had again left, the children resumed their game and, again, the dog became agitated, running up and down along the fence. A second dog joined in, and that dog attempted to jump the fence (and was nearly successful). MP told the dog's owner it was time for the dog to go home, but the woman stated the dog did not belong to her, and dragged the first dog away by the collar (no leash). The second dog went unsupervised by anyone in the dog area. Eventually the children left the park.

MP called LJ to inform him of the situation with the dog and the officer showing up at the park. LJ had also received a call from a friend involved with the Human Relations Commission, soliciting LJ's opinion on dogs in the park. LJ plans to meet with his friend tomorrow and will give his opinion, as a private citizen. He will also be speaking to people on the north side of St. Claude Avenue who want a park for children in the neighborhood. The board is in agreement that it is totally inappropriate for police to be called to report children in a park. LB stresses that the situation at Markey Park is a complicated one, with many competing interests. She states the members of the Parks and Recreation committee are angered that the board decision to make a Bywater Neighborhood Association NEWSLETTER statement on the park and its use was not sent to that committee for study, discussion and recommendation. LB would also like the board to think about the entire neighborhood–to not lose sight of that, even though Markey Park is the focus right now. EA feels it may be unwise to take an official position on such a polarizing issue, but MW does not feel the controversial nature of the issue should cause the board or the BNA to back away from it. He recognizes the responsibility of the board to speak for the majority, and to consider all options. LB states that the Trust for Public Land (TPL) has held two meetings, both of which were widely advertised and well-attended. The TPL has a legal agreement with the city to perform renovations to the park using $400,000 in funds. NORDC appointed a Citizens Advisory Task Force to study dogs in parks. This task force made a recommendation to the NORDC subcommittee that dogs be permitted in Markey Park. The subcommittee has not made their official recommendation to NORDC. The BNA is on public record as supporting New St. Claude Association of Neighbors' position that the park is needed for children and recently sent a letter stating that the BNA's position is that Markey Park is for people. The discussion continues and there is no consensus. VJ moves that the board take LB's recommendation to table this issue. LJ seconds. In favor: VJ, LB, TA, CL, JS, LJ. Opposed: BH, MP, MAH, IC, EA. Abstain: BD, MW, HS. The motion passes. (LB tells the board that the riverfront park is 50 percent complete and is slated to be finished by the end of this calendar year. The park includes an area for dogs. The city has not found an entity to manage the park; LB believes the BNA should put pressure on the city to work out this vital aspect of the park.)

This is the same issue of the newsletter that announces that "The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC) meeting on February 7 will include a possible adoption of a stance on dog parks" (p. 14) and that Lisanne Brown "states the members of the Parks and Recreation committee are angered that the board decision to make a Bywater Neighborhood Association NEWSLETTER statement on the park and its use was not sent to that committee for study, discussion and recommendation."

Apparently, NORDC was angry at the BNA, possibly for failing to acknowledge the CTA's recommendation. 
 

The August 2011 BNA Newsletter explains that the New Saint Claude Association of Neighbors held its first public meeting on August 4, 2011, but the June 28 BNA meeting minutes (p. 20) include the fact that BNA Board member John Messinger informed the BNA that "NSCAN has no problem bringing up the issue of Markey Park, and will ask that the park be returned to full, dedicated use for children."

It appears that NSCAN made a recommendation to the BNA before holding its first public meeting.

Even stranger is the fact that long-time Marigny/Bywater residents have never heard of NSCAN (the broken link above is not an accident; there is no official website).

 

Sources have confirmed that former BNA President John Messinger, a retired banker  resigned from presidency and BNA shortly before starting NSCAN. A Bywater resident, Messinger may have started NSCAN with the goal of getting dogs out of Markey Park.

On March 14, the BNA Parks Committee was not receptive to the respectful request that the BNA rescind its stance on dogs. After a discussion about whether the allocated dog-area included in the original plans would be big enough to allow large dogs adequate exercise, a motion to hold a separate meeting only about Markey Park and dogs was tabled. 

As I was leaving, I passed John Guarnieri at the door and asked him why he'd photographed me on March 14. He explained that he took my picture with the intention of making me uncomfortable after reading a "please don't tag me in pictures" request I posted in the Save Markey Park Facebook Event.

Apparently the next step should be to attend the NSCAN meeting. I can't help but wonder if I'll be introduced to another committee while there.