Transition Asheville Local Economic Action Group (LEAG)
First Meeting - March 4, 2011
The Group had an authentic experience of the vibrant "deep economy" of West Asheville at the funky, noisy Westville Pub. Present: Roger Bass, Art Freeman, Morgan Markowitz, Jonathan Robert, Cathy Scott, David Wheeler: Facilitator
Meeting opened with a long, drawn-out discussion of whether we wished to be known as the LEAG of Extraordinary Activists, Major LEAGers, or the Economic Justice LEAG of America - results were inconclusive.
Welcome and introductions.
David passed out maps of an estimated Asheville Market Area: "Sustainability in Asheville does not stop at the city limits. There is a large area around the city that is economically symbiotic with Asheville. As the local economy develops, this interdependence will become crucial ... Wendell Berry spoke of the natural ecosystem around us as 'The Great Economy,' upon which we depend entirely for life support and the conditions and resources that determine our smaller human economy ... One of the hallmarks of the dominant economy is its short-sightedness. It hardly thinks past the next quarter, much less about the effect of our actions on the seventh generation to come. Just shifting this time frame would bring about dramatic changes in the shape of our economy."
Jonathan: The Seven Pillars of Sustainability: Sustainable Agriculture; Waste Management; Renewable Energy; Green Building; Community Capital; Independent Retailers; and Non-Profit Organizations. "Let's use the tool of the L3C, the low-profit limited liability corporation, which straddles the current 501(c)3 and LLC taxDesignations … A profit-making corporation with a socially responsible mission statement that it must follow. During introductions, it appeared that there was a common interest and concern about a shortage of local investment to finance the transition to a more localized economy. If capital were available, this would be a very good time to start new businesses, as job creation is on everybody's agenda right now."
Art: "A squirrel does not know that there is a recession, because it is living off the local resources. We should be talking about thrival, not just survival."
Morgan has interests and skills to offer ...
Cathy would like to see a socially just economy that providesculturally-appropriate products, and work and business opportunities for minority populations.
ACTION IDEA
Roger: Start a Slow Money-type movement to tie investment to the community and the land.
ACTION IDEA
Jonathan: A Local Economic Summit to bring together all the stakeholders in the local economy to report, cross-fertilize, and learn from each other to coordinate our actions. The group discussed a list of important individuals and organizations in the local economic scene.
ASSIGNMENT: Pick one or more people from the list and interview them about their thoughts and perspectives on the local economy. Explain to them briefly about Transition and its mission, and then LISTEN. Draw them out with questions from the list and improvise more personal, more specific questions on the spot. Goals: introduction to Transition, fact-finding, opening a relationship.
ACTION IDEA
David: MakeItHere.net, a proposed website and game to solicit ideas for import substitutions to build a local economy. "Open-sourcing as an economic development plan." Take around an on-the-wall, paper version of the game to begin the process, build relationships, and also to seek a sponsoring organization to produce the computer version.
A Brief Identification of Transition (THE ELEVATOR SPEECH):
The Transition movement is concerned with the issues driven by peak oil, climate change, and the resulting economic disruptions. The primary strategy to meet these new conditions is economic localization and community-building. We strive for the goals of community resilience and sustainability, so that in these changing times our communities can thrive and not just survive.
MEETING: contact David Wheeler for date, time and location
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