Des Moines Register
07-19-07
Burlap rubs me the wrong way
BY TERESA KAY ALBERTSON
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I ran into Tootsie Burlap last week. You know Tootsie. Or at least you've met her.
She has three children who are always with her, the youngest in a natural-fiber
sling over her shoulder. Her dark, nearly black hair is pulled back with a strap of
cloth. Tootsie and her husband, Clark, raise vegetables on a small organic farm.
Most of their land falls outside the city but their home is within the Ames city
boundaries. Tootsie is an Ames native. Clark is from Vermont.
Tootsie was born Linda Stone Monroe in 1965 at Mary Greeley Hospital. But in
1993, in her solidarity for the slaughtered tribal Tutsi in Rwanda, she changed
her name. It was an unfortunate oversight that she misspelled her new name and
now, at least in print, her name reminds one of a 1982 movie featuring Dustin
Hoffman in drag.
Tootsie and I were sitting next to each other while our children splashed through
swimming lessons at Carr Pool.
Tootsie, leaning over to speak with a conspiratorial tone: So, what do you think of
the new water park vote?
Me: You mean the July 24 vote to build a new outdoor Ames swimming pool? I
can't wait to get in there and vote for it. My children handmade signs and hung
them on light poles in my neighborhood. One says, "peple of amerka: plees vote
yes for the new water park. Pleese!!!" Then there is a picture of a smiling child
under the sign. It is pretty cute and not bad for their first foray into civic issues.
Tootsie: I don't see why my property taxes have to go up just because someone
thinks we have to be keeping up with the Joneses. (Shaking her head and
pinching closed her lips.) In fact, the majority of the land in our community is
owned by Iowa State University. And that property doesn't provide any taxes,
right? So my taxes have to provide for their needs?
Me: No, actually, ISU is the income generator in our community. Although ISU
land does not pay property tax, the university does generate the bulk of business
revenue in the county. In fact, aren't most of your organic produce buyers ISU
faculty and staff?
Tootsie: Well, I've never been one to keep up with the Joneses. I don't like to live
like that.
Me: Funny, but I met an Ames native last Saturday at one of Nancy Carroll's
public sessions about the pool proposal. This lady, Meren Smith, lives in
Thailand right now, but when in the states she lives in California. She is Virginia
and Bob Stafford's daughter. You know them, right? She said something pretty
interesting. She asked why people in Ames couldn't have what every other
community in the entire country has, a fun community pool. When she comes to
visit her parents, she says they have a hard time trying to find something to do.
Tootsie: I bet her parents won't vote for the thing. They're not going to use it.
Me: Wrong. Virginia told me she takes water aerobics. And she's dying for a new
pool for her grandkid, and great grandkids.
Tootsie: Yeah, but they want to build it right on the 13th Street flood plain. That's
a terrible idea.
Me: No, the project would be on the flood plain fringe. Federal guidelines require
the construction to be one foot above a 100-year flood event. Ames zoning
requires it to be three feet above a 100-year flood event. So actually, the Ames
ordinance is even more restrictive, and safer than the federal law. And, the
project calls for this really big riparian buffer to be built all along the river bank
which would prevent erosion. And the ponds just uphill would filter all of the water
running off the Ames High athletic fields. Right now that water runs, unfiltered,
straight into the river.
Tootsie: So you are saying the pool will be sitting up high, like on a pedestal?
Me: Not at all. The design plans clearly show the gentle slope of the parking lots
and pool. Along with the bike path that would swing by the pool, the elevation
won't be noticeable.
Tootsie: Yeah, well, I have a friend who lives on Summit Avenue and she is
furious about the whole idea. They don't want all of the screaming.
Me: Yes, I heard the same thing. But that just doesn't make sense. The people
who live next to Carr Pool (I gesture to the homes surrounding us) love the
laughter from the pool and don't want to lose it. And your parents live right next to
Meeker School. I know I've heard them talk about how much they love the
sounds of children's voices during recess. And that's all school year long. Not just
a few months in the summer.
Tootsie: But the people along Summit see foxes and deer all the time. They'll
never see them if a pool it put in there.
Me: With the riparian buffer, the wildlife habitant will be far superior to what it is
now. And Pine Woods will still remain.
Finally, I lean back, pull off my sunglasses and give Tootsie a long, quiet stare.
Then I just can't help but ask - have you even read any articles about this?
Tootsie: We don't get the newspaper. (She crosses her arms over her chest.)
Me: Well, Nancy Carroll, you know her, the city parks and recreation director.
She grew up here, too. Anyway, she's been down there on the 13th Street site for
the past three Saturdays in a row to meet with citizens who have questions or
concerns. Have you stopped by there?
Tootsie: My life is too busy to be hanging around a big empty field just because
Nancy Carroll has nothing better to do.
Me: Oh believe me, Nancy Carroll has plenty to do. But she told me this is a
chance of a lifetime and she's willing to put in the extra hard work. Look, Tootsie,
I took my kids down there. They climbed a couple of haystacks and ran up the hill
to enjoy the view. Nancy will be down there again this Saturday from 10 to 11
a.m. Go talk to her. Go argue with her. But please don't vote 'no' on this thing
cause you aren't willing to find out the facts.
Tootsie: Oh, I wasn't going to vote no. I just wasn't going to vote at all.
Me: Apathy. The worst sin of all.