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| The Rochester Children's Zone: Queen Mother to the Rescue |
By: Aaron E. Wicks
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Posted: Sunday, July 6, 2008 8:21 pm
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Rochester, NY (July 6, 2008) -- It seems Rochesterians have no shortage of megaprojects that hang about the community's neck like civic albatrosses. Some, like the Fast Ferry and Renaissance Square, are ill-conceived and justly fall under the weight of their inherent design flaws. Others, like the Rochester Children's Zone, are good ideas that deserve to succeed but struggle against Smugtown's incestuous elite relationships. The future of this latter project currently hangs in the balance. Will two years of work and millions of dollars evaporate into the ether because Rochester's elites mismanaged it -- or is it possible that a large community-wide project can actually move forward under grassroots grit and determination?
To its foes, the Rochester Children's Zone (RCZ) is a big idea that was destined to fail. Modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone of educator Geoffrey Canada, the RCZ was conceived to show that children in Rochester's poorest neighborhoods (in northeast Rochester) could succeed with a focused community effort in the areas of public safety, parent support and community-building. Making neighborhoods and homes conducive to education would then permit the schools to do their job: educating students.
But right from the start, the RCZ had its critics. Many of these critics stayed on the sidelines throughout -- casting stones at every turn and swearing that each development was either too little, too late or just too futile. A fair number of these critics were self-appointed community leaders who felt their valuable leadership was ignored. They resented the idea that residents themselves would plan and implement the zone. And while the zone is far from active in its implementation, there is nevertheless quite an impressive story to be told about the past two years.
In the spring of 2006, hundreds of residents and community members gathered to participate in a "visioning" exercise to determine the community's priorities for the zone. The result was a vague, but optimistic, picture of a flourishing community of intimate, strong neighborhoods with safe streets, healthy families and children who have the luxury to be children. This initial community meeting was designed to generate excitement among the Zone's residents, however a conservative reckoning of attendance at that kick-off event would put representatives of community-based organizations and other elites in the majority.
Interestingly, participation from Zone residents steadily increased during the planning process. As planning teams met to brainstorm ideas and decide on priorities, there was a constant emphasis on resident participation: residents of the Zone were a majority of the Zone's central planning committee and were also a majority of the membership of each of the smaller planning teams.
One such resident is Tyrone Wilmer. Wilmer, an imposing figure with an easy smile and a natural passion for fatherhood, represents the success of the Children's Zone planning process. As a resident of the zone and a parent of children attending school there, Wilmer has actively participated in all aspects of the planning process. James Slater, another resident of the zone (and who was senselessly murdered last October) played a similar part in developing the Zone. Slater not only participated on several planning teams, he also served on the Zone's Board of Directors, holding a seat reserved for residents. Together, Wilmer and Slater represent the strength of the RCZ -- its substantial fostering of resident leadership and the beginning of a sense of true ownership by the residents who liv within its boundaries.
If such participation has been a strength of the Zone, its main weakness has been the snail-like pace of the planning process. Two years of planning have yielded logos and planning documents, but no actual, tangible results. No child can be said to be on a better path as a direct result of the Children's Zone. On the other hand, it might be asking too much to demand results from a process that is designed to transformative, not simply a quick-fix to fulfill a masters thesis project.
Yet it has been dissatisfaction with the lack of results that has prompted some community leaders to question the project. Former Rochester Mayor William Johnson has publicly described his frustration with the project, arguing that it has been far too ambitious, focusing on too large an area. Wade Norwood, former Mayoral candidate and protege of Assemblyman David Gantt, has advised the RCZ to focus on making a pubic splash as soon as possible, lest public support continue to erode.
One response to these public pressures from the Rochester intelligentsia has been the RCZ Board's decision to hire a full-time Executive Director to oversee the management of the project, including the sustenance of public support as well as the fundraising that will be necessary to keep it in operation. On June 27 the RCZ did just this, appointing Iris Banister to the post.
While most of the Smugtown booboisie was told that Banister's appointment was just short of brilliant, it should raise serious questions about the viability of the Zone. Banister will take command of the RCZ effort with a healthy $125,000 annual salary. One anxiously holds one's breath waiting to see how she will justify such a princely sum. Actually, the sum might be more queenly than princely, as Ms. Banister has been named "Queen Mother" by a village in Ghana. She certainly would not be called Queen Mother by the residents of Northeast Rochester, since she and her husband have ditched their city digs in favor of a $250,000 townhouse in Henrietta, just a stone's throw from Locust Hill Country Club. If the rigors of planning the Children's Zone become too intense, rest assured Banister will have ample resources to relax and escape to the suburbs.
Banister comes to the post highly-recommended by Smugtown elites. She is celebrated as an educator and authoress. Yet her experience as an educational leader includes a stint as principal of a failed charter school. Her career as a writer is equally sketchy, with three publications to her credit: one published by a small local outlet and the two others impervious to an internet search. It should be a source of some concern when elites advance one of their own and make arguments that clearly have a weak foundation. Had the Smugtown elites said "This Iris Banister -- she's one of us, so you should support her," one could at least appreciate the sincerity of the claim. But Banister's resume simply lacks the substance her advocates tout.
So the question for residents of the Children's Zone is this: will the RCZ continue to look like Tyrone Wilmer or Iris Banister? Will it be of the residents, by the residents, for the residents or will it be another line in a resume, another cause for the local Rotary to celebrate? The children of the Children's Zone are certainly in for an interesting education: over the next several months they are going to learn if the adults in their community truly want to make our schools and neighborhoods work or if they care more about titles, salaries and traveling in the types of social circles that cause one to abandon the city for the manicured lawns of the suburbs.
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