Good people can disagree, and that’s what’s happening in Hastings. But it’s not a real disagreement, because Geo-Turf has not been straight with us. A lot of information we would need in order to make an informed decision has been skewed, misrepresented, and/or withheld. If the information had been presented fully and accurately by the company I don’t think we’d be having any disagreement at all. I really don’t.
There’s a way forward for all of us. The vote needn’t split us in two. But I do believe that we have to begin by acknowledging that the issue of Reynolds Field is not just a “team” issue, or a “school” issue, or even a “village” issue. What's playing out is here locally is a global issue, and the stakes could not be higher.
“We can either make the solution to the climate crisis the central organizing principle of global civilization or the hostile conditions we are creating will destroy us.” - Al Gore
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“There is a strong community sentiment and political will in Hastings to be more sustainable and to reduce the Village's carbon footprint. A major publicly announced goal of Board of Trustees for 2009-2010 is to be a model sustainable community… The village government, as the representative of the entire community, has a responsibility to fulfill the goals of sustainability, not only for ourselves, but also for those elsewhere whose well-being our practices affect, and for our children and those who will reside in this place after us…” - Hastings-on-Hudson Sustainability Action Plan
ISSUE NUMBER SEVEN: BROADER ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
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No matter what you’ve read which may seem – given a cursory reading – to suggest otherwise, the district did not go through a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQRA) study. On an FAQ which appears on the school district’s website the word "yes" appears in answer to the question "Has the District Engaged in the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQRA) Process?” But read on. What they mean is that they went through a process to decide that they would not go through the process of a SEQRA. Even though the Board claims to be “well aware that there are environmental and aesthetic impacts of the proposed changes that are ‘significant’” no Environmental Impact Statement has been, or will be issued relative to this project.
Why not? What are they afraid we’d learn? (See my other posts.)
Don't agree with me on climate change (though I suspect you do)? There are still plenty of other reasons to oppose Geo-Turf. For instance, pictured above is an artificial turf field in Pennsylvania wrecked by two inches of rainfall. As someone over in Nyack recently wrote “When all is said and done, a grass field wouldn’t be harmed by rains, even torrential rains. And, there is not an artificial turf warranty out there that covers ‘acts of God.’” (See “An Inconvenient Turf” )
According to the New York Times voter sentiment is turning away from artificial turf. Irvington voted against it. How will they write the story of Hastings?
VOTE NO on October 22, and then let’s all regroup as quickly as possible after that to plan a rehabilitated Reynolds Field that works for all of us, a field in line with the values articulated in our Sustainability Action Plan, and of which we can all be proud.
Please use the link on this page to e-mail this to your friends and neighbors. The views expressed are mine alone. But for more information I encourage you to go to SaveReynoldsField.org to learn more.
