Taking hold
of our own destiny means addressing
community concerns about education failures and
alarming crime rates, neither of which is unique to
Rockford, but both of which tell tragic stories of
unrealized human potential.
For 19 years I have been on a global
odyssey focused on helping children and adults
develop communication skills essential for realizing
their full potential. In my work with more than
half-a-million teachers, parents, and children, I
have encountered countless dedicated but frustrated
teachers and supportive but anxious parents striving
to overcome negative cultural influences our children
are exposed to virtually every day: violence in
entertainment media; celebrity hedonism and
immorality; unsportsmanlike athletes; obscene
advertising; ubiquitous rudeness — all
contributing to those education failures and alarming
crime rates.
My Human Development Proposal is for
a homegrown enterprise that will help teachers and
parents overcome those negative influences and will
help children realize their full potential.
Just south of our publishing office
on North Main Street is Rockford’s world-class
Discovery Center and the vacant Armory building next
door. For years I have wanted to lease or buy the
Armory and establish there what could be called the
Self-Discovery Center™ or Human Development
Discovery Center™, a hands-on learning center
that teaches civility, cooperation, and respect for
self and others in the same way the Discovery Center
teaches science.
I envision staffing the Center with
retired local teachers whose love for children and
teaching empowers them to bring out the best in
themselves and others. Walls and room dividers are
decorated by local artists with murals and
electronically displayed visual images depicting
inspirational men, women, and children from history
— George Washington Carver, Albert Einstein,
Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Frederick
Douglass, Helen Keller, Anne Frank, Illinois’
own Abraham Lincoln and Carl Sandburg, and our own
Rockford educated Jane Addams, among many others
— with quotes from their writings and speeches
exhorting each visitor to discover and develop his or
her own genius.
Hands-on activities at the Center
help children experience the joy and see the wisdom
of cooperating with others; help children recognize
and realize their potential for transcending
self-imposed limitations; help children take
responsibility for their own lives; and help children
recognize their power to improve the quality of life
in their community.
Exhibits and activities at the
Center help teachers flesh out classroom concepts,
accelerate learning with tools and techniques not
available to every school, and motivate students to
develop reading, writing, listening, thinking, and
speaking skills which are so vital for personal
growth and for careers in the information age
workplace.
Visitors to the Center have access
to interactive video stations where students see
instructional and inspirational vignettes; access to
dining areas where teachers and aides help children
understand the importance of good nutrition and learn
table manners, including the rationale for and
benefits of exercising common courtesy; access to
multimedia classrooms and auditoriums where student
programs can take place and where personal and
professional development programs and leadership
training institutes can be presented for teachers,
parents, and the staffs of area businesses and
community organizations.
Perhaps the strongest feature of the
Center is that it provides children and adult
visitors with a first hand experience and indelible
impression of a paradox taught by the lives of so
many men and women whose lives have so deeply
enriched the lives of their own and subsequent
generations: the greatest joys and most enduring
successes are found not in focusing on self and
asking, “What can I get?” but in focusing
on others and asking, “What can I give?”
and “How can I help?”
Because the Center taps into an area
of vital interest for parents and teachers, because
it is accessible in a drive of two hours or less for
a population base of more than 13 million, because it
addresses a significant curriculum enrichment need of
schools throughout that region and beyond, because it
is on the same Riverfront Museum Park campus as the
renowned Discovery Center and Burpee Museum, and
because it is conducive to constantly updated
activities and exhibits, I believe the Center
has the potential to attract several
thousand visitors per week, including busloads of
children from schools in northern Illinois, southern
Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, and western Indiana on
weekdays and families from those areas and beyond on
holidays and weekends.
For all those reasons, I believe the
Self-Discovery Center™ or
Human Development Discovery Center™ is an
investment in human development that will pay
economic and social dividends today and for
generations to come. When we make life better for
children, we make life better for everyone. When we
make the future brighter for children, we make the
future brighter for everyone.
2.
A Community Development Proposal
Rockford’s
history is the story of people truly taking
hold of their own destiny. It is the story of a
community founded and enriched by creative thinkers
and entrepreneurs who put down roots in Rockford and
made lifelong commitments to our community while
establishing enterprises to fill human needs here and
abroad.
What we see too often now are
corporate interests pitting city against city in
bidding wars for what often proves to be a transient
corporate presence in whichever cities have the most
profligate politicians and the least citizen control
of public funds. Finding taxpayers in control of the
public pocketbook always makes site selectors and
their corporate clients howl.
Using public funds to attract transient
corporations that stay till they are bought
out by another corporation, transfer operations
overseas, or move operations to more susceptible
cities hardly constitutes taking hold of our own
destiny.
On the contrary, taking hold of our
own destiny compels us to reject superficial schemes
and foster development of homegrown enterprises
focused on the challenge to meet basic human needs
necessary for survival in the 21st century.
Among this century’s most obvious and
pressing needs are finding new ways to
produce and distribute food to a world population
projected to grow from six billion today to nine
billion by 2050 — while simultaneously finding
ways to reverse global warming. Rockford can take
charge of its own destiny and reap economic benefits
for decades to come by helping humanity meet those
urgent and fundamental needs.
Already those needs have engendered
a quietly revolutionary development — skyscraper
farming. Technology is evolving today for building in
urban settings multistory farms capable of providing
food and drinking water far in excess of conventional
production methods and without polluting byproducts.
Early planning has begun for a 30
story skyscraper farm in Manhattan and a 58 story
skyscraper farm in Toronto. In Holland, the
Agriculture minister is backing skyscraper farms for
that country, and the basic principles of skyscraper
farming already are being applied there. In Florida,
a multistory farm sitting on one acre of land
produces strawberry yields equivalent to what 30
acres yielded with conventional methods.
Rockford’s vast reservoir of engineering
talent, technical know-how, and construction
expertise makes our city a natural laboratory for
skyscraper farm research and development, and beckons
for formation of a homegrown enterprise to capitalize
on this opportunity. University of Illinois
leadership in agricultural education and research
enhances our city’s suitability for leadership
in skyscraper farm technology and development.
Elements for creating skyscraper farms
taking up a city block and capable of feeding and
providing water for at least 50,000 people already
exist. Greenhouses are not new. Hydroponic farming is
not new. Irrigation systems are not new. Solar energy
is not new. Controlled lighting, temperature, and
humidity are not new. Recycling and purifying water
are not new. Indoor planting beds and fields are not
new. Multistory buildings are not new. What is new is
simply the combination of those elements in urban
settings — where 80 percent of the world’s
population is projected to live by 2050.
Skyscraper farms end pesticide and other
chemical pollution problems because the
controlled environment eliminates parasite and insect
infestations. Skyscraper farms end harmful
agricultural runoff which pollutes our fields and
streams. Also, because the farms are indoors,
skyscraper farms end crop failure from drought and
other weather problems. In skyscraper farms, crops
can be grown year round, providing several yields
instead of just one.
Other advantages include elimination
of strenuous labor and the burning of fossil fuels in
farm equipment and in trucks. Because 40 percent of
global warming is attributed to growing and
distributing food, skyscraper farms also
significantly reduce global warming. At the same
time, engineering, construction, maintenance, and
staffing of the farms create jobs and foster urban
renewal.
Cost estimates for construction of a
skyscraper farm range from $85 million to $200
million, depending on size and scope. Beyond that,
billions of dollars, private and public, are
projected to be invested in skyscraper farm
technology and development as the need intensifies.
Investment interest in skyscraper farm
technology and development is driven by studies
showing that the world’s population growth
during the next four decades will require almost 60
percent more food production, yet 80 percent of the
world’s tillable land already is being farmed.
Even today human development studies report 43,000
people die of hunger and its consequences every day
in all parts of the world — the equivalent of
witnessing the agony and death of an overflow,
standing room only crowd at Wrigley Field every day.
Current expenditures in other areas
suggest skyscraper farms are as economically viable
as they are desirable. Even at the $200 million
figure, the cost of a skyscraper farm is less than we
spend on the Iraq war every week. Expenditures for
the war, for foreign oil, and for global
entertainment and media over five years would build
enough skyscraper farms to feed more than half the
population of the entire world.
Another practical application of
skyscraper farm technology is the efficient and
pollution free production of renewable alternative
energy resources to replace fossil fuels.
Taking hold of our own destiny means building
on Rockford’s perennial strengths: location,
available water, energy, transportation, skilled
workers, opportunities for continuing education, and
resourcefulness directed toward worthy endeavors that
feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the
homeless, and educate every man, woman, and child to
live healthier, happier, and more fully human lives
— which is the essence of community development
that endures.
3.
A Home Rule Proposal
Editors at
Rockford’s daily newspaper recently
called for still another home rule campaign here. My
Home Rule Proposal is for a new approach, a new
vision that will benefit all citizens of Illinois.
The single greatest stumbling block
for any home rule campaign anywhere in our state is the 1970 Illinois
Constitution’s home rule provision itself. In Illinois, so-called home
rule denies citizens the right to control home rule
government with a city charter or local constitution.
Other states allow or even mandate
that citizens establish a charter or constitution to
control local government before home rule powers are
granted. The National League of Cities cites a local
charter or constitution as “the most important
single legal document of any city,” comparable
to citizen controls of government contained in state
constitutions and in the Constitution of the United
States. Still, Illinois citizens are denied that
basic right.
Illinois-style home rule limits citizens'
voice in government and even takes away
citizens' right to vote on vital city issues. That is
why students of government and political science have
described the Illinois version of home rule as the
most uncontrolled form of government anywhere in the
United States of America.
That also accounts for the stormy history
of Illinois-style home rule and explains why so many
citizens reject it:
—Eighty-three cities have rejected home rule
when they had a chance to do so.
—Eleven counties have rejected it.
—Repeal movements have sprung up in 32 cities
where home rule was imposed without the consent or
approval of the citizens when the city population
exceeded 25,000.
—Only 12 percent of Illinois municipalities live
under home rule, mostly Chicago collar county cities.
Most recently four communities in
our region voted overwhelmingly to reject it:
—Rockton voters rejected it by a margin of 89%
to 11%.
—Broadview voters rejected it by a margin of 77%
to 23%.
—Lakeview voters rejected it by a margin of 77%
to 23%.
—Harvard voters rejected it by a margin of 73%
to 27%.
Perhaps citizen rejection of
Illinois-style home rule would not be so common if it
were not so seriously flawed. Today we have a unique
opportunity to embark together on a new approach to
home rule and to focus on fixing its flaws.
Heretofore, home rule campaigns have been
restricted to either/or contests that pit
good citizen against good citizen. Both want what is
best for Rockford, yet both are forced to choose
between either accepting the bad or losing the good.
The good news is that we can begin to resolve
that dilemma at the November, 2008, general
election. Included on the November ballot is a
referendum for a Constitutional Convention, an
opportunity to fix the state’s flawed home rule
provision and other defects in the 1970 Illinois
Constitution that diminish citizen control of
government and contribute to abuses of power.
My proposal is that we campaign for voters to
pass the referendum — www.illinoisconcon.com — and work to give
citizens of Illinois the same rights as citizens of
other states. Adopting this new approach to home rule
is urgent because the opportunity we have in 2008
will not come around again until November, 2028. Can
we afford 20 more years of divisive wrangling and
politics as usual?
I invite anyone interested in helping with one or
more of these proposals to contact me at
815.968.6601.
John Gile
Author (The First Forest, Keeping First Things First,
others)
JGC/United Publishing • Project Literacy
& Lifelong Learning
1710 N. Main St., Rockford, IL 61103 •
815.968.6601
4. Rockford City
Council Public Participation Presentation -- January
14, 2008
(Three-Minute
summary of original proposal document)
Thank you
for this opportunity to share with you and
all citizens of Rockford three community development
proposals, none of which seeks any city funding and
all of which encourage a new vision and a new
approach.
One is a proposal for a privately funded human
development center with a potential for drawing
thousands of visitors to Rockford each week,
including busloads of children from schools in
Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana on weekdays,
and families from those areas and beyond on holidays
and weekends. I term it the Self-Discovery
Center™, a hands-on learning center that
strengthens reading, writing, listening, thinking,
and speaking skills as it teaches respect for self
and others in the same way our renowned Discovery
Center teaches science. It is a proposed investment
in human development, possibly located in the old
armory, that can pay economic and social dividends
today and for generations to come.
The second proposal advocates
community development efforts looking beyond bidding
wars that pit city against city for what often proves
to be a transient corporate presence -- until the
corporation is bought out by another corporation or
transfers operations to other cities or countries. It
advocates fostering homegrown enterprises that meet
human needs necessary for survival in the 21st
century.
Among this century’s most obvious needs
is finding new ways to produce and distribute food to
a world population projected to grow from six billion
today to nine billion by 2050. Already technology is
evolving for building in urban settings multistory
farms capable of providing food far in excess of
conventional production methods and without polluting
byproducts.
Rockford’s vast reservoir of engineering
talent, technical know-how, and construction
expertise makes our city a natural laboratory for
skyscraper farm research and development. University
of Illinois leadership in agricultural education and
research enhances our city’s suitability for
leadership in this new area.
The third proposal addresses home rule.
The greatest stumbling block for any home rule
campaign is the 1970 Illinois
Constitution’s home rule provision itself. Illinois-style home rule
denies citizens the right to control home rule
government with a city charter or local constitution.
Other states allow or even mandate that citizens
establish a charter or local constitution before home
rule powers are granted.
That stumbling block accounts for
the stormy history of Illinois-style home rule:
—Eighty-three cities and 11 counties have
rejected home rule.
—Repeal movements have sprung up in 32 cities
where home rule was imposed without voter consent
when the city population exceeded 25,000.
—Only 12 percent of Illinois municipalities live
under home rule, mostly Chicago collar county cities.
—Most recently four communities in our region
voted overwhelmingly to reject home rule by margins
averaging 79% to 21%.
The November ballot
includes a referendum for a
Constitutional Convention, an opportunity to fix the
state’s flawed home rule provision and other
defects in the 1970 Illinois Constitution. I ask that
you endorse passage of the referendum and work to
give citizens of Illinois the same rights as citizens
of other states. The opportunity we have in 2008 will
not come around again until November, 2028.
Rockford’s history is the story of
people working together to take hold of
their own destiny. It is the story of a community
founded and enriched by creative thinkers and
entrepreneurs who put down roots in Rockford and made
lifelong commitments to our community while
establishing enterprises to fill human needs here and
abroad. We have done it before and we can do it
again.
John Gile
815.968.6601
