Community Meetings, Volume5 number 3, April 2003 The Ester Community Association's Spring Meeting At the top of the meeting agenda read the first item of business: the vice-dictator’s report. Jeff Rogers and Mindy Gallagher, officers in attendance, explained that this was due to the fact that the ECA forgot to hold elections at the fall 2002 meeting, and so technically none of the officers were actually holding their positions by the consent of the membership. Hence the change in titles. Belated elections were held and miscellaneous dictators were transformed into elected representatives once again, along with a few others who weren’t quick enough on the draw to decline their nominations. Thus, the ECA board now consists of Don Cameron, Alice Stickney, Geoff Orth, Mark Simpson, Frank Therrell, with Deirdre Helfferich and Tom Richardson as alternates. Mike Musick was elected as Speaker of the House (Temporary Mayor while Sergeant Mayor Dave Hyland is out of town). Mindy Gallagher read the minutes and received applause and a commendation from the membership for her excellently phrased and detailed writeup of the previous meeting. Events discussed included Easter (April 20), Clean-Up Day (May 17), the spring park work party (May 17), the fire department recycle sale (probably the end of May) the big park work party (June 7th or 14th, stay tuned for actual date), the Fourth of July planning meeting (June 13th at the park after 6 p.m.), and the 4th of July picnic. The reports were as follows: Nothing is happening on the cemetery, but all’s fine with the well (after some repairs were made). Craig was unable to stay to make his report in person, so attendees were not told that all was well with the well, as usual. However, per Craig’s request, Jeff did solicit fundraising ideas for the well fund. Craig had suggested a carwash, but this naturally gave rise to the suspicion that it was Craig’s cars that would be washed. Frank suggested water balloon fights. Other suggestions are welcome. Mike Musick gave the trails and Parks Highway reports: A meeting of the borough trails commission will be held Tuesday, May 13th at 6 p.m. at Hartung Hall; all interested in local trails use should show up and be heard. The Parks Highway thirty-year plan of the Department of Transportation is available from Mike Musick and is also down at the Ester Post Office; if local residents wish to avoid the North Pole model of traffic control (frontage roads and fencing along the main highway), then it is important to look these over and send comments in to the DOT. Ray Hadley has not yet billed the ECA for the new fireman sign, as construction season has not quite yet arrived. There is nothing yet on the ongoing Ridley property purchase attempt. The official rink report from Frank Therrell (stand-in Rink Czar for the now-expatriate czar, Dave Fleutsch, who has moved Outside): "The rink is toast." The rink received more use this year than ever before, and some kind but anonymous person donated a good ice scraper, which, with two like scrapers, made it easy to keep the ice in good shape. However, the rink itself needs resurfacing and perhaps sealing with a white or reflective surface to help keep the ice from being warmed from below, as has happened this spring. The outhouse report also came from Frank. Everything seems to be fine, although there was one somewhat messy accident that required notable cleanup. Frank didn’t elaborate broadly, but it sounded unpleasant. No report was forthcoming on the ECA logo branding on mugs, steins, bumper stickers, etc. We’ll have to wait on these items. Parker Gallagher gave the Hall Oil Usage/Dipping report: about 100 gallons used so far since the last refill in September. The park report included certain changes of terminology in the grant reporting, tidy pie charts showing fund allocations, an almost interminable discussion of how much money should be allocated to the park that came later under old new business, and a delineation of work planned for this year. The spring work party, traditionally an extravaganza, will be a smaller affair this year and will coincide with Clean Up Day, on May 17th. The Bigger, Ambitious Work Party (capital letters courtesy M. Simpson), in the first half of June, will include the following projects: outhouse repair and spin, delineation and landscaping betwixt the playground and parking area, park furniture emplacement, fire ring construction, window and front door installation to the shed, resealing the rink, and bleacher installation. A park committee meeting will be held Thursday, May 1st at 7 p.m. at Hartung Hall for all interested in helping out. A big item of contention came later in the meeting, under new business: Mike Musick, Hans Mölders, and Deirdre Helfferich brought three declarations, on nuclear weapons, fast food joints, and the USA PATRIOT Act, for consideration to the community association. It was decided that, given the short notice, that they should be publicized (see text, below) and if necessary, a special meeting be called to vote on them. Mark Simpson questioned whether political issues should be the purview of the ECA; Mike Musick read the preamble/purpose statement of the ECA’s incorporation papers, which does make provision for political statements or action. Still, the question of whether it should be brought up was unresolved. The potential ECA web page is still pending. Mark Simpson requested that story boards or some such illustrative presentation be brought to the next meeting, but pointed out that a web page was unanimously voted down in 1995 as smacking too much of progress. A mockup website will be created and printouts of the pages made to show the membership at the next meeting for discussion. That’s about all that this reporter remembers from the meeting. Proposals: 1. That Ester be nuclear-free zone. No nuclear weapons or power plants may be established or exploded in the Ester region. Such an action would be considered a hostile act. Justification: Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction, and therefore unhealthy and immoral to have around. Nuclear power plants create lethal byproducts that are poisonous for thousands of generations, thereby endangering our children, our children’s children, and so on. It is immoral to leave behind such a legacy to our descendants. Note: this proposal may have already been approved by the ECA in the mid-eighties, but the records from then are sparse. If anyone has any memory of this, or any of the ECA records, please let Mindy know. 2. That Ester be a MacDonald’s-free zone. Justification: Fast food chain restaurants devalue the experience of fine dining, are loud both visually and aurally, spew hot grease into our air, encourage uniformity in communities and thereby decrease local identity and pride, and contribute to the rise in obesity in the American public. There is plenty of room for this kind of business in Fairbanks and North Pole. It need not happen here, too. If we just have to have a Big Mac, we can go to town to get one. 3. That Ester be a USA PATRIOT Act-free zone. Unconstitutional searches, detentions, or seizures will not be tolerated. In this proposal, the Ester Community Association would declare its wholehearted support for the government of the United States of America in its campaign against terrorism, but also declare its stalwart support of the Bill of Rights, and assert that such a campaign must not be waged at the expense of essential civil rights and liberties of the people of this country. Justification: Portions of this act are significantly unconstitutional and dangerously augment the power of the executive branch to the detriment of the judiciary, expanding the executive’s ability to conduct searches and giving law enforcement officials unduly broad access to sensitive medical, mental health, library, business, financial, education, and other records about individuals without first showing probable cause or evidence of a crime, and changing judicial supervision restrictions of telephone, internet surveillance, and other physical searches. This act should be sent back to the Congressional drawing board and re-examined, keeping in mind Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759. Also: "Any infringement of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law, is an abuse of power, a breach of the public trust, and a violation of civil rights."—Johnny Ellis, Alaska Senator, minority leader Note: this proposal was brought up in response to the recent Fairbanks city council and Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly votes on similar resolutions.
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