COMMENTARY

AMELIA GRAVES

Editor’s Note: Amelia Graves is a member of the Vero Beach City Council.

“We take too much of our heritage for granted. Harriman State Park is not Mt. Vernon. Nor is it Yosemite. But heritage cannot be measured on a scale…”

Mary E. Reed wrote these words examining the history of Harriman State Park in Idaho. Unless you hail from Idaho or frequently visit, you’ve probably never heard of Harriman State Park. It isn’t grand in scale, nor does it contain any natural or man made wonders of the world. Heck, if you Google Harriman State Park the one in New York comes up first, but that is exactly Ms. Reed’s point. The need for the creation and preservation of Harriman was not measurable on a scale, because its value is intangible, but just as precious, it is a part of their heritage, a part just as worthy of preservation.

The Charter Referendum the City Council will be placing before voters this fall is vitally important in making sure we as a community do not take our heritage for granted, or expect that others, without an appreciation of our history, will understand its worth. The Referendum would afford Charter protection and prohibit the sale, lease, trade, or gifting away of public lands without the approval by public vote of properties that are part of our daily landscape, but not included in our Charter, such as Crestlawn Cemetery.

Referendum. That word has held quite a distinct place in our vernacular as of late and everyone is a little battle fatigued. However, with the upcoming referendum this fall there need not be divisiveness. By protecting City Parks and City Land we will continue the legacy passed down to us by our City’s Founders. Their vision and commitment to open green space is one of the defining characteristics of our community, it is often what attracts so many people to live here. As a City we consider the environment and the natural setting of the land in which we live. We always have and we need to continue to do so.

For a slice of Vero Beach, walk through one of our parks in the afternoon. Recently, I watched two kids attempt to “keep their eye on the ball” as I (and everyone else around) heard their Dad reassuringly say multiple times over the expanse of grass as I looped past. People stretched out reading or letting babies crawl around on a blanket, people engaging with one another within the grounds of our public spaces. These fields of grass, the playground equipment, the trees, and paths – these belong to all of us. They are as much yours as they are mine. This is a common space where we can come and see the value of who we are as a City.

When we hear names like MacWilliam Park or Bob Summers we often let our minds build an imagined image of who these people must have been – after all they have a park named after them. What special place did they hold in our past? The answer: They were ordinary citizens who possessed an extraordinary commitment to our City and we can honor their work by protecting their legacies.

A legacy that also extends to Crestlawn Cemetery. For many of us, Crestlawn Cemetery is a sacred and hallowed place in our hearts and minds. When we go there to say goodbye to a member of our community and walk the winding road we are walking through the memory of people who created the foundation of our City, people who forged through palmetto scrub and heat to carve into the side of the Atlantic a City that is committed to the preservation of the natural world and pristine environment in which we live.

The promise we made as a City to honor our community through Crestlawn is one we cannot risk breaking simply because there are those incapable of understanding its true value and simply see it as a line item in a budget book. For those of us with roots here the meaning of Crestlawn runs deeper.

This November we as a community have the opportunity to continue our Founders’ work and bringing it forward for future generations to enjoy by protecting City Parks and City Lands by placing them within our Charter. The final version of the proposed Charter amendment will move through Council and be available to the public to review before the vote takes place. This vote is for you, by you the public, to honor and protect your natural vision for the City of Vero Beach.

As a community we need to act to preserve public lands and restate our commitment to the conservation of both our green space and our heritage.  This referendum defines the literal boundaries of our City and protects the figurative lines in our minds of how our City should reflect the values of us, the people, who live within its limits.