A Garden for City Hall

I love the building that is Fresno's City Hall. It makes an architectural statement about grace and beauty. It sweeps like a bird in flight. I was always so proud of living in a city that was willing to put tradition aside to build something so futuristic. And it was particularly meaningful for me as an elected council member to work in City Hall for eight years.

Recently I have been turning over some thoughts in my mind that would add to the uniqueness of City Hall. Admittedly, my thinking is influenced by recent actions of people like Tom Vilsack, the new Secretary of Agriculture, who had the pavement torn up outside departmental offices to create a "people's garden." His announced goal, according to a recent article by Farley M. Peters, is to create community gardens to promote "green" concepts at all USDA facilities worldwide.

And then it was First Lady Michelle Obama, joined by local fifth-graders and White House staff, who recently planted a 1,100-square foot kitchen garden. Ms. Peters writes that, "the garden is to grow no less than 55 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs--lettuces to berries, cilantro and hot peppers. The plot, in clear view to passerbys, is being fertilized with White House compost and Chesapeake Bay crab meat."

Now, you know where I am going: Yes, plant Fresno's "Victory Garden" in one of the two grassy knoll areas in front of City Hall! I would, of course, volunteer Mayor Swearengin, city council members, the city manager, assistant city manager and department heads to join students from nearby Yokomi Elementary School to plant the garden. Weed pulling could be the responsibility of the County Board of Supervisors (Just kidding! Just kidding!).

The second knoll in front of City Hall would be converted to a model landscape of drought-resistant plants appropriate to our semi-arid Valley region.

Selling or donating the fresh produce to appropriate not-for-profits would be a slam-dunk. And, just as Secretary Vilsack and Mrs. Obama have done at the national level, the City of Fresno would be a "garden" role model to our local community. As Ms. Peters astutely observes, "Demand for local produce is on the rise nationwide. And the reasons are so many you can name your own--complaints about taste and nutrition in mass-prepared foods, obesity becoming a national epidemic (especially alarming among youth), climate change suggesting less long-distance food supplies, worry about loss of open farm fields around our cities, and the growing concern about federal subsidies to large commercial farmers."

So, demand our own Victory Garden at the foot of Fresno City Hall steps! Eleanor Roosevelt, starting the very successful nationwide Victory Garden campaign from the White House in 1943, would be very proud of us.

Coming attractions...

1). The need for national standards for public schools
2). End of the Coffee Stops: The Bill McEwen story.

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