Column, “Tables for Two”, by Andrea Thompson

“Hecho en Dumbo

354 Bowery (212937-4245) – if this restaurant’s name is no longer quite accurate (it means “made in Dumbo”, a playful adaptation of “Hecho en Mexico”), it offers up both a sense of authenticity and an homage to its origins.”

If the New Yorker claims “a SENSE of authenticity” is among the reasons to eat at this restaurant – one of its main draws – imagine the impact of ACTUAL, full-up authenticity (?) as a marketing tool for our city, and our downtown in particular.

As to Dave’s point that much political speech is inauthentic, people in public life are sound-bitten into staying on-message. It was Mr. Lupo’s willingness to engage with me, rather than “punish” me, that made the “authentic” moment possible. Note Rick Snyder attracted bike protestors over his observations of the expensive of the bike/pedestrian bridge over US 23 near Geddes (which replaces the existing sidewalks on the now-auto bridge as the bike/pedestrian path over US 23). Lesson: if you say what you really think, you will be punished for it. The protestor’s over-wrought conclusion, that Snyder must not like bicycles because he questioned that particular project, is exactly why we have almost no authentic public discourse: when push comes to shove, people don’t actually want it.

In other forums, I have been chastised for sharing my perception that The Charm Zone is in grave danger from our City Parents, and for expressing how that shapes my view of Heritage Row. For that matter, AnnArbor.com sound-bit my support for Heritage Row’s planned investment in The Seven Houses into an apparent endorsement of AA.com’s goal of bulldozing the entire Charm Zone. In our current public life, “No authentic deed goes unpunished”. Wonder if that’s among the reasons that council seems to do so much in apparent secrecy (I appreciate that there may be others).

This is part of what makes The Chron so refreshing – its readers, authors, Editor, and Publisher seem to actually want authentic dialogue. Rare indeed.

John Floyd
Republican for Council
5th Ward

“You guys are the ones who transformed Main Street from dying old-line retail into the present out-door life-style mall that it is. This transformation has required an artistry every bit as skilled and creative as any studio artist. You work in different mediums than a studio artist – merchandizing, presentation, marketing, – and you need business skills instead of, say, refined drawing technique, but you must be every bit as much an observer of people and the world, every bit as insightful about what you see, and just as imaginative in your responses, as portrait painters or sculptures. ”

John Floyd
Republican for Council
5th Ward

Re: [1] “I can’t tell whether the (controversial) imputation of good faith is your opinion or just what you think Rapundalo wants us to think.” I did not mean to express an opinion about whether the process was begun and will be finished in good faith, nor did I mean to suggest that it’s merely what Rapundalo wants people to think.

I was offering that italicized text as a reasonable approximation of what Rapundalo would have said that morning at Conor O’Neils, if, for example, someone had solicited his input, or if the context had been an authentic conversation, not a candidate forum. That passage was meant to achieve a lot of rhetorical goals, which included at least the following: (i) to point out that Rapundalo attended (ii) to highlight that of all the people in the room, he really is the guy who could have shed the most light on the status of the Library Lot process (iii) to write something that I thought would ring as authentically Rapundalo to anyone who’s familiar with him and the facts of the Library Lot (iv) to write it in a way that’s consistent with authentic “recited” political talk so that it tied into one of the conceits of the piece (v) to introduce to readers the actual facts of the Library Lot situation. Based on your [Rod's] response as a reader, it’s worth mulling over whether I was asking that passage to do too much work.

I did weigh various alternatives to meeting those goals, including dropping the “creative writing” challenge inherent in the passage. For example, a different approach would have been to simply quote a recent Chronicle meeting report where Rapundalo’s update on the RFP review committee’s activity was given. In the end, what I settled on is what you see published.