graham garvin - The Spectrum Magazine - Redwood City's Monthly ...

As I Was Saying… (continued from page 6)
Having stated that, I have no problem with
residents stepping up and wanting change. As
long as it benefits our community, I commend
them! But that is not what is happening in this
situation. With the exception of the handful of
members of the Friends of Redwood City group,
the other organizations are people who are
from outside our community — carpetbaggers.
The corrupt activities of some made the term
carpetbagger synonymous with any outsider who
meddles in an area’s political affairs for his own
benefit, if you will.
The Friends group sponsored a “call to action”
meeting recently at the Unitarian Fellowship
facility on Brewster Avenue. The meeting was
held to give supporters the opportunity to learn
more about the “open space” initiative, as well as
“protecting our parks from overcrowding.” They
are ready to go and should not be underestimated.
Remember Measure Q?
The talk of the initiative comes just as the city
begins a 20-month review on the $1.6 million
overhaul of its general plan and after Lewis
and members of his group met separately with
selected City Council members — hence the
feelings of betrayal and bewilderment. From the
action that was taken, I would imagine that he
did not like what he was hearing from them and
chose to buck the system and adapt a get-whatwe-want-at-any-cost
concept. Why not wait out
the rezoning process for that area?
Now I guess it is up to our community to figure
out if the initiative deserves our support. Now
more than ever we must all gather the information
needed before signing or not signing the petition,
thus accepting or rejecting the arguments. The
Friends of Redwood City can be contacted at
650-369-7268 or through their Web site at www.
forwc.org. If you wish to gather information
on the proposed development on the Cargill
Salt property, you can contact Redwood City
Saltworks at 650-366-0500 or visit their Web site
at www.RCSaltworks.com.
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www.SpectrumMagazine.net
I recently had the extreme pleasure
of being asked to speak in front of the senior
community at the Veterans Memorial Senior
Center. It is not unusual for me to speak in front
of clubs such as the Rotary or Optimists, etc., and
when I was asked — a full two months in advance
— I accepted with enthusiasm. I have always
enjoyed attending activities at the center and try
to interact with seniors as much as possible. I was
taught at a very young age that the knowledge
they possess is invaluable and I try to tap into that
as much as possible. I mean, who else can tell me
about life’s experiences except someone who has
been there, done that?
As it got closer to my speaking day, just like
clockwork the anticipation set in and I got nervous
and started to stress out. On most occasions like
this, I start to bombard my mind with questions
like, What if no one shows up? What if I can’t fit
into my suit and don’t look good? What if I sweat
and I concentrate on that instead of what I want
to project? What if I get “writer’s” or “speaker’s”
block and sound like a complete idiot? The
negative thoughts go on and on.
Well, on the day of the event I showed up a
good 15 minutes early and there were 55 seniors
(and a few friends I had asked to attend) waiting,
my suit fit perfectly, I had on a good deodorant
and not a drop of sweat appeared on my forehead
and I was in a very chatty mood, so I was fine and
ready to go. When I speak, I almost never plan what I
am going to say. I just have an idea of what I want
to say and never write it down; I wing it. That
may not work for most, but it does for me. I know
The Spectrum story, I know my story and I know
what topics I want to discuss. So I just let it flow.
I was introduced to the audience by George
Habit, who is on the Senior Board and someone
I have admired for years. He worked at the
Independent Newspaper Group/Examiner when
I did (remember “Going Out With the Habits”?),
so I feel comfortable around him. He is a fantastic
person and to be introduced by him is an honor to
say the least. I spoke for about ten minutes, and
then they had a question-and-answer period. As
usual, seniors are very direct in their concerns
and opinions. I would say about 90 percent of the
comments were about the new downtown parking
meters. They don’t like them, they don’t want them
and they are not going downtown because of them.
I get it — I wonder if the City Council does?
After about 30 minutes, I was finished. As I
sat down to eat lunch with the group (the facility
is open to the public for lunch each day during
the week and you get quite a good meal for only
$4.95), I asked myself why I had been nervous in
the first place. I have heard that other speakers use
different methods to overcome their nerves. Some
look into the audience and picture them naked —
I was not going to go there with this group — and
others prepare so much that they are not candid in
their speeches, and that is kind of boring. What I
have decided to do, and did, is to look at those I
am talking to as “lights” or “friends” instead of
possible intimidators. We all have roles to play
in life, and I have taken steps to secure mine.
One of those is to provoke conversation in our
community, and how can I do that if I don’t speak
in front of groups from time to time? After all, it
is something I enjoy extremely!
I want to end this month with a little good
news. From what I am hearing, and it has not been
confirmed yet, in about two weeks we should all
be hearing that parking times in the downtown
area will be pulled back to 6 p.m. That means we
will not have to pay after that time in any area.
That will be welcome news to my seniors and a
few youngsters in our community.
Remember to still press #2!
As I was saying…
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