Blog Post No. 2011-5: The Circus Is Back in Town...

...and Government Center finally gets the right kind of measured treatment

The Big Apple Circus folks were back in full force today, setting up and getting ready to put
on the show at City Hall Plaza.

Faithful readers may recall that this humble little weblog posted about City Hall Plaza last year here, pointing how well the Big Apple Circus fit the place and suggesting it might be a good model for rotating temporary uses in lieu of the big splash approach to fixing what ails our own version of Siena's central piazza. So, as the photo suggests, the circus is now back in town, and we have news today of what I view as a solid set of incremental steps and proposals to be rolled out in a manageable succession that, when done, should result in a much better seat for our municipal government. In "After many false starts, a new City Hall Plaza plan," the Boston Globe's Casey Ross lays out the progression of steps that the City has managed to stitch together. Take a look and judge for yourself if the City is on the right track here. For my money, the highlights are smoothing the transition from Cambridge Street to Congress Street, replacing the truly hideous bunker that is the Government Center T station headhouse and thinking intelligently about how to break up the superblock. Whether they stick with all of the tree planting they're showing is anyone's guess, but the slide show is well worth looking at, if only for the incredible range of images and thinking about a single place over the last half century. Fasincating.

Bottom line: I think we can all support the notion that if Kairos Shen does half as well with City Hall Plaza as Janet Marie Smith did with Fenway Park -- that is to, incremental changes year on year that result in a much improved ensemble almost without anyone noticing it -- we'll be truly thankful.

Blog Post No. 2011-4: CNU NEW ENGLAND, INC. NOTICE and AGENDA for 2011 Members Meeting

Notice of Meeting:

2011 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEMBERS OF CNU NEW ENGLAND

Pursuant to Article III, Section 7 of the By-Laws of CNU New England, all Members in good standing of CNU New England are hereby given notice that the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Members of CNU New England shall take place as follows:

DATE: March 17, 2011
TIME: 5:30 pm
LOCATION: Bar, 254 Crown Street, New Haven, CT


Draft Agenda:

Agenda for 2011 Annual Meeting of Members


I. Attendance and Quorum Check
II. Call to Order
III. Presentation of Annual Financial Report
IV. Annual Report for 2010 and Outlook for 2011
V. Election of Directors and Officers

NOTE: The Board of Directors is comprised of twenty-seven (27) individual Members, each serving staggered three (3)-year terms (except for the Student Member, who serves for a one (1)-year term) including those Directors holding the offices of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Clerk as well as twenty-three (23) At-Large Directors, drawn from the membership generally, but including at least one (1) member from each of the region’s states.
The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors nominates the following slate of candidates for the open positions of members of the Board of Directors and Officers of CNU/NE:

Proposed Slate for Open Board PositionsNo./Name/Term Length (expires in)


1 Dean Amadon* 2 years (2013)
2 Robin Bergstrom* 3 years (2014)
3 Rick Chellman* 2 years (2013)
4 Bill Dennis* 3 years (2014)
5 Beth Della Valle* 2 years (2013)
6 David Dixon* 3 years (2014)
7 Jonathan Ford* 2 years (2013)
8 Norman Garrick 3 years (2014)
9 Lucy Gibson* 3 years (2014)
10 Philip Langdon 2 years (2013)
11 Matt Lawlor* 2 years (2013)
12 Ben Morton* 3 years (2014)
13 Patrick Pinnell* 3 years (2014)
14 Donald Powers* 2 years (2013)
15 Marian Pressley* 3 years (2014)
16 Keith Rand 1 year (2012) (Student Director)
17 Kathryn Schulte* 3 years (2014)
18 Stephanie Zurek* 2 years (2013)
* - Continuing member.

Proposed Slate of Officers

Position/Name


President/Russell Preston
Vice President/Stephanie Zurek
Treasurer/Matt Lawlor
Clerk/Robin Bergstrom


Officers hold their positions for one (1) year, until the next Annual Meeting of the Members.

VI. Other Business
VII. Adjournment