Greetings friend.
A bear trap is under foot, and there’s no way out but to step on it and feel the bone crunch. That’s the worst of it. Now there is nothing left to fear. Now, all that is required is clear thinking: How do I get my leg out of this trap, and where exactly is that bear?
Our town is being sold out from under us at a price few can afford. There are those who claim to represent us, claim to guard our best interests, but in the end, who is it that approves the permits, amends the zoning, and most importantly, passes out the variances?
The ill effects of a land market gone out of control are immeasurable. The first casualty is small business; the second will be public works -- meaning no more elected accountability for formally public affairs, like paid parking for example. Who really gets the money from this endeavor, the City of Oxford, a corporate management firm, or both? The meter maids won’t be cops anymore, not even rent-a-cops – they’ll be long-termed financed, corporate cops. To whom will we take our grievances? Think about it…
What does it matter if a corporate developer pays thrice value for a lot near the business district? To a family-run, small business owner who rents, it matters plenty. When property values soar unchecked, landowners are tempted to sell. When property values blow up, temptation usually wins. The small business owner is now in a bind: either he purchases the property where his business resides (at a price so inflated, he can neither insure it for full value, nor find a bank to finance it), or he packs and drags his heart’s work to another, less valued location. For most long-standing, market driven small businesses, a move like this means certain extinction.
It is crucial that we as citizens believe our leaders are sincere in their management practices, sincere when they claim to support local business over the corporate monolith. Yet every move our Board makes sacrifices another piece of our fair town to the false corporate god. It’s hard to have faith in a Board that bullies a local candy store for having shutters shaped like ice-cream cones, but hardly bats an eye dealing out variances to every out-of-state developer willing to redefine property values. -Ice cream must be a tough business.
This is a call to local small business owners… Do you remember when (exactly) we lost our say in Oxford’s evolution? Do you remember when town meetings were an event for discussion and planning rather than a perfunctive setting for pre-approved ordinances and concrete agendas that tie our hands and test our job security?
When your leg is in the trap, the bear should be your greatest concern. Some of our leaders have forgotten for whom they serve, and more importantly, the greater mission of their service: to protect the quality of life in Oxford, to protect the spiritual and economic investment of those whose roots are planted here- no matter if the roots go shallow or deep.
If it is not sincerity that is lacking, then it is competence - our leaders’ inability to address market inflation invites well-funded vultures. How do we free ourselves from ineptitude? We elect leaders who go the extra mile for local businesses, who possess the ability to foresee a problem down the road- rather than five years too late- and do not fear holding a permit to keep markets in check. We beg our landlords to invest in community rather than cashing in on the quick fix. We lend support to those who believe that Oxford is a special place and cannot be sold at any price. But most importantly, we remember why the vultures are circling in the first place: a bigger animal is killing and feeding.
When small business owners cannot afford to invest in their own communities due to ill-managed markets, are unable to own job security because of blind-eyed profiteering at the top levels, then the backs and legs of our once-strong community are broken.
We are stuck in a bear trap and the birds are circling. Do not fear the trap, fear the bear.
Thanks for reading.
Please check out the petition at Holli’s Sweet Tooth. Thank you for supporting local business.
