Here is my presentation I just presented tonight in the open forum in support of the Daniele’s Whole Foods project in Brighton. It has been three years and many thousands of dollars spent by the Daniele’s in an effort to bring a multi million dollar project to Brighton.
February 28, 2018 Daniele proposal for Whole Foods plaza in Brighton.
Good evening , My name is Mark Anthony, a lifelong Brighton Resident. Our family started the the family business, Anthony Funeral Chapel at 2305 Monroe Ave. in 1952, the year I was born. I live at 2288 Clover Street right behind clover lanes and I support the proposed Whole Foods project
I have three specific topics to address tonight. Change, purpose and leadership
Change. Monroe avenue as we all know is main corridor and a center of influence in Brighton. A gateway to our community and a place where one can find pretty much anything one might need. In my lifetime I have seen it transformed from single family homes to retail and service space and see it continually morphing and adapting as needs change. I see this opportunity with the Daniele’s project exciting and as a needed and welcome change.
One thing that will not change is my avoidance of Monroe ave during different times of day or seasons, and I’m fine with that. There will also be many times that you will find me in Whole Foods as it meets the dietary and nutritional needs so many of us are looking for. I do not see it affecting my life and how I live it because I can adapt, and I welcome the opportunity it brings. I know that I live next to a commercial zone and realize it has its issues but it is one of the main reasons I choose to live here.
Purpose. Development brings new opportunity, taxes and revenues helping support and maintain a strong and viable community. We should want successful business and be supportive of quality projects such as this. The last thing we want are closed storefronts and abandoned buildings that you find in communities that did not find ways to adapt to change. So our purpose is to support commerce, support this family and developers like them who have vision and are willing to work with us. Our purpose is to adapt to change. As a professional who has dedicated his life to helping people adapt to the ultimate change, a death of a loved one, I know there is no way around change, and there is life sustaining growth in change. As the late Wayne Dyer says,
When you change the way you look at the world, the world you look at changes.
Leadership. Albert Einstein once said: Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. As a business owner I know we need to support the leaders that will get us for A to B and also need to support the imaginative leaders, because, everything that exists today, did not exist until it was first imagined, EVERYTHING.
The Daniele family have created successful businesses after successful business. From a modest pizza shop to multiple business ventures today, they have clearly proven their success and provided us significant evidence of creating services that our communities have celebrated and gathered around for years. While it may not be the only reason to approve their project, I really believe that much like other imaginative leaders like the Wegmans, the Wilmot’s, The Eastman’s, The Schlegels, the Bauschs and other successful Rochester families, the Daniele’s want to make our town and city a better place.
But, truly, We all want that, no matter what side we appear to be on, and I believe that.
You as a community representative are in a position where you need to cross every T and dot every I and then listen and listen again to anyone who has an opinion or thought about just about everything. I, commend you and applaud you for your effort, but also feel frustrated and a bit angry for the time and cost you create for our business community. I have known this family for many years and know they will do “whatever it takes” to help the town meet their needs, now it’s time to help them, and in turn our town. It is time to acknowledge the imagination, success and good will of this family and provide them with an affirmative position on this project. It is time to lead not just represent. Lead by continuing to be a support to those you represent and lead for purposeful change and growth for our town. But most importantly, lead openly, honestly and authentically. Know one will ever fault you for that.
Thank you.
“Blessings on your journey”
Hope and Love on life's journey 