Outside the fence at Takena School week ago, on Sunday, Feb. 13.
More often than I’d like, stories on this website start with a photo of my bike leaning against a fence or a locked gate. Here’s one more.
The picture is of the fence around Albany’s Takena Elementary School. When I used to ride past here, I would often see kids playing on the grounds or using the equipment after school or on weekends.
Not lately, though. The gates on the fence around the school yard have been locked, as they were when the photo was taken on Feb. 13. A sign said they keep the gates locked during school hours. But in fact the gates are chained and locked all the time, even on Sundays.
The sign about keeping pets on leashes implies that dog walkers are allowed. Why else urge them to keep their pets leashed and clean up after them? But actually, just like neighborhood kids, dog walkers can’t get in.
Wondering about the divergence between signs and reality, I asked the school district about it.
The answer came from Michelle Steinhebel, the former Lebanon newspaper editor who, since about the first of the year, serves as the communications director and public information officer of Greater Albany Public Schools.
“I checked with the district team,” she told me via email, “and the school was having some issues with vandalism which impacted the grounds and the exterior of the building. Apparently there were also some ‘unfortunate bathroom decisions’ (for lack of a better phrase here) as well on the grounds. To keep the school safe, the school made the decision to keep the gates locked for now.”
So, in short, damaging and fouling public facilities and spaces — the story of our times. And because our public institutions don’t have the time or resources to keep making repairs and cleaning up again and again, they close the place to public use.
You can’t blame public agencies for being practical, but it’s the public that pays the price in loss of access and use. (hh)
Blame the vandals? The “story of our times? Spoken like a true conservative.
What if property destruction is more than the act of a few people?
What if it is a reasonable and articulable expression of frustration?
Vandalism is a small reaction by those victimized by structural economic and racial injustice.
It is an understandable reply to a political economy organized around repression, exploitation, and disenfranchisement. It is an exercise of power by the powerless.
Our first reaction should be to understand the act, not denounce it.
Story of our times–vandals are the perps; public is the victim. Mr. Key distorts reality by excusing destruction by a few and sadly even frequently rioting mobs. The woke mindset is a distortion. The broken window policies should be implemented and vandals found and punished. Just to “lock the gate” ignores the problem which makes non-vandals victims. Perhaps GAPS should hire (they are rolling in money) the Albany Merchant Police to protect our property.
Did you need someone to help you understand the act of ‘unfortunate bathroom decisions’? What about the elementary school kids, playing on the grounds on a school day? Would you say they would need to understand the act, after stepping in it?
As I read the original comment, the Looney Tunes theme was playing in my head.
Tell that to the parents of these common criminals. Tell that to the Red Hat-types who demonstrate very publicly their disdain for common decency and public order – screaming at School Board officials, threatening Election officials and volunteer Election workers.
These vandals see their parents acting like fools and that becomes the role model.
Too many parents fail to teach their spawn about respect for public property, respect for the rule of law and simple humanity. If you won’t teach your children a few common precepts about behavior, then all of Hering’s hand wringing won’t amount to a Tinker’s damn.
You must be a blind to put the blame on parents going to school boards displaying their displeasure with the way the schools are run. Why don’t you take a look at the recent video from Virginia of a school board chairman going berserk, because a parent was tired of her kids having to wear masks when all scientific data shows that kids do not die from Covid, and she produced photos off of Facebook showing the chairman without her mask at numerous gatherings. She then tried to get the police to remove the lady who was not confrontational at all and then another board member spoke up in the parent’s favor and the chairman walked out. What cities have the most crime and the answer is liberal cities.
An array of local socioeconomic and cultural factors play a role in which areas yield concentrated crime. It is a lot more than politics. Many American cities are the product of a long, long historical reality of white supremacy and racial violence. Is there a chance that you are glossing over the array of intensely local factors that influence crime with your belief that “liberal cities” have “the most crime”. Violent crime in particular stems from a limited group of people in a limited area, so assuming that segment has a particular political bent based on the city at large — and that their violence stems from those politics — is a stretch at best.
Ethics and Morals – as a society in general we have lost these two principles, thus the proliferation of illegal acts of all kinds.
Wrong is wrong. There is no excuse
Yes indeed. Learned that long ago. Part of my bones.
Thinking that virus isolation, inflammatory “news”, and transactional ethics of 45 created a perfect storm that prompted some folks to jump the rails.
Hey folks, the concept of protected speech doesn’t allow one to say anything at any time. The concept came about because of George III’s proclivity for punishing folks who disagreed.
This isn’t a new phenomenon and the unreasonable partisan blaming is the only true sign of our stupid times! They fenced my grade school in Corvallis sometime around 1982 for the exact same reason, too much spraypaint and broken windows. There have always been and will always be those who for a variety of reasons take pleasure in vandalism, it’s a sociological or psychological discussion, not a political one. Sheesh!
Thank you Mr. Breen – it seems that civility has also been lost!