"History in the Making"

Today I was once more a participant in another meeting which seARTS participated in. Unlike last weeks meeting, however, this one involved members of the federal government, making it much more significant. This meeting was a part of a three day economic assessment made by the US Department of of Commerce and hosted by the city government. The fourth meeting of day, according to the official schedule, it was held at at the Cape Ann Museum, located on 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester, making it an appropriate location for the economic issues that would be discussed there. Other groups and nonprofits, besides seARTS, were the Tourism e-Board, City of Gloucester Committee for the Arts, seARTS, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, and the Mass Cultural Council. The meeting was open to the public.

Originally, the meeting was set up to have the thirteen-member panel sit in a semi-circle facing a row of seats. However, there were not enough people there to fill all the seats so it became more convient to have the nonprofit and group representatives just move their own chairs to make it an open circle discussion. The meeting was opened by Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who gave a brief summary of why the meeting was taking place. Next, the federal board panel introduced themselves and the positions that they held in the federal government. All of them worked in bureaucratic agencies and, as established later, all but four had been to Gloucester before. After that, introductions were made all around and then the meeting commenced.

I won't go into great detail aobut what went on during the two hour meeting. Perhaps tomorrow's blog. What was discussed was, in short, the need for aid to Gloucester by the federal government. After the meeting, I discussed this with my dad, who said that this was history in the making for Gloucester. Gloucester had always historically been very self-sufficient, due to a booming fishing industry and the prescence of other business' in the city. But no one will deny that for the past few decades, Gloucester has been on a steady economic decline. Corporations and business' have left, fishing has suffered tremendously for a variety of factors, all of which caused a decline in the population, and a very non-flattering reputation. That Gloucester needs federal money to be able to bring back prosperity is a sure sign of the desperate state that the city is currently in.