The ABC’s of Murder

COMMUNITY FORUM

Shared Concerns from Residents of Murder Creek

POSTED ANONYMOUSLY

People keep asking why some of us are nervous.

It’s not because we hate change.
It’s because we’ve lived through it before.

Change doesn’t arrive all at once.
It comes in phases.
And by the time you realize what it’s taken, it’s already been approved.

WHAT WE’RE AFRAID OF LOSING

Murder Creek is small enough that people still know each other.

Neighbors watch out for one another.
Kids grow up seeing the same faces at the grocery store.
People age in place.

That kind of stability doesn’t show up on development plans.

But once it’s gone, it doesn’t come back.

ABOUT THE ABC INITIATIVE

On paper, the plan makes sense.

Structure.
Oversight.
Accountability.

Those are good words.

But plans don’t absorb the consequences.
People do.

When reports are summarized, someone decides what counts.
When feedback is categorized, someone decides what’s acceptable.

Those decisions don’t feel neutral when you’re the one affected.

THE PART NO ONE TALKS ABOUT

Some neighborhoods will carry more of the burden than others.

Some people will be asked to “adjust.”
Some will be told it’s temporary.
Some will be promised protection that depends on conditions staying favorable.

Conditions rarely stay favorable.

WHY THIS IS HARD TO SAY OUT LOUD

If you speak up, you’re labeled resistant.
If you ask questions, you’re told to trust the process.

But trust isn’t built through silence.

Most of us aren’t trying to stop anything.
We’re trying to make sure we still recognize this place when it’s over.

WHAT WE WANT

To be heard without being dismissed.
To be protected without being patronized.
To matter even when progress is urgent.

Saving a town should not require losing the people who made it worth saving.