Friends, ....Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got 'til its gone...they paved paradise and put up a parking lot... ...they took all the trees and put them in a tree museum, and charged all the people $25 just to see 'em.... These lyrics from Joni Mitchell's Yellow Taxi ring true on this gorgeous autumn day, as we contemplate the principle of parkland. Yes, 30 years ago, we paved the historic parkland around Ft. Negley, and we put up a parking lot. But this week our city council approved $40 million NEW dollars for parks. Why isn't that enough to send the crew from NYC and LA packing in a big yellow taxi, and to "buy" our own historic parkland back? I know, that sounds crazy, right? Because our city council has still not voted to give this historic parkland away, and because there are at least 3 unsettled lawsuits related to this action of giving a "99 year lease" of city parkland to the trust-fund-trio. But, if we must, let us "buy" our own historic parkland back with money the council approved for our parks. Ask your city council member to put just 15% of those funds appropriated to "unpave" our paradise at Ft. Negley Park -- before the developers put up a boutique and a swinging hot spot. According to figures by Hawkins Partners, who wrote the 2016 Plan to Play and provided costs to the city for the "unpacking and paving" of land at the Fairgrounds, that's twice what it should cost to "unpave" this paradise. Below I've linked Nashville's own Amy Grant, performing Big Yellow Taxi at Puckett's in Franklin. There is nothing more magical than seeing a home-grown talent like Amy Grant bring voice to this current situation. Let's keep the promises to our community - if this historic parkland can be paved over, what's to stop the city from carving off "underutilized" corners of Centennial Park, Percy Warner Park, or Shelby Bottoms - and charging our citizens to see trees? Add your name & remind your city council person and our mayor that principles are still more important than PR firms. Alice Ganier Rolli District 17 Resident