Focus on Heart and Soul of Local Community

Dear Editor,
    I would like to thank the Chronicle for the continuing stories that you do on the heart and soul of our local community. I remain convinced that Austin has a special place in our coming future, a positive future which has yet to be discovered through the present chaos. An example of the current chaos is Katherine Gregor’s stories on what passes for planning in Austin [“Best-Laid Plans,” “Sustainable Planning,” “Plans in Play,” News, July 16], i.e., that we have too many chiefs and not enough people. Compare this to Gregor’s stories from work I did a few years ago [“Developing Stories: Neighbor Power,” News, May 18, 2007]. The fact of the matter is that of the eight governmental agencies that are referenced in Ms. Gregor’s stories in the July 16 issue, Austin Community College is the only planning effort that is grounded in the community with it’s Campus Advisory Committees (see www.austincc.edu/cac). This present effort at ACC’s Facilities Master Plan should come in on time and under budget. This master plan, the first in ACC’s history that is regional in its scope, is scheduled to come to the Austin Community College board of trustees at the end of this year. I believe and hope that it will provide ACC with multiple layers of opportunities for the community college to be just that, a community resource for all of us to utilize in the coming economic challenges. I believe that ACC will be in the forefront of developing our new and better local economy. Won’t that be interesting to see?