WEST DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP
Meeting 3/19 5:30 P.M.
Attendees: Tony, Christina, Jackie, Nita, Greg, Amber, David Pritchett, Helene Schneider, Sharon
1. Haley St Bridge Project: There is a desire to tie the neighborhood lighting to the bridge project because this is a more efficient use of the construction resources and timeframe. Greg pointed out that having two funding sources and two missions for one job could be problematic for the contractor. But it could be worked out. There is tentative budget for the project, tied to the stimulus package. Timeframe is uncertain, with groundbreaking potentially in the late summer / early fall, depending on funding received, and a 6-12 month project afterwards. The shuttered house is to be demolished, and most of the property will be used as sloping creekside. The remaining plot, which may be very small, is not big enough for a dogpark. One suggestion is a community garden that is fenced in, where only neighbors have access, and can go and plant flowers, vegetables or fruit trees. Another suggestion is to just landscape it, but in a way that is non-conducive to sleeping or loitering. The city has a landscaping plan, but there may still be room to maneuver here as to what we’d like to see instead of just landscaping. Greg, you have been providing most of the insight on this project, with some new updates from David and Helene. Would you be interested in leading a subteam for this going forward?
2. Parking permit subteam formed: Amber, Tony, and Christina.
1. Action item: If you want to join that team, help out, or put in some input, contact anyone on this subteam. Don, I think we got your thoughts on the subject :)
3. Brownie’s Market: It is clear we need to file complaints against Brownie’s with ABC. We’ve seen folks using the barrels as temporary outdoor bars. Per Helene, there are zoning issues with that kind of usage. James lined up electricians to install the safety lights David promised. But there were no lights James outlined a plan for action here:
1. Focus attention on the liquor licensing: Since Brownie’s liquor license expires at the end of the year, we need to make it hard for ABC to renew it.
1. Action Item: File complaints with ABC - EVERYONE. Christina has included the form below.
Attendees: Tony, Christina, Jackie, Nita, Greg, Amber, David Pritchett, Helene Schneider, Sharon
1. Haley St Bridge Project: There is a desire to tie the neighborhood lighting to the bridge project because this is a more efficient use of the construction resources and timeframe. Greg pointed out that having two funding sources and two missions for one job could be problematic for the contractor. But it could be worked out. There is tentative budget for the project, tied to the stimulus package. Timeframe is uncertain, with groundbreaking potentially in the late summer / early fall, depending on funding received, and a 6-12 month project afterwards. The shuttered house is to be demolished, and most of the property will be used as sloping creekside. The remaining plot, which may be very small, is not big enough for a dogpark. One suggestion is a community garden that is fenced in, where only neighbors have access, and can go and plant flowers, vegetables or fruit trees. Another suggestion is to just landscape it, but in a way that is non-conducive to sleeping or loitering. The city has a landscaping plan, but there may still be room to maneuver here as to what we’d like to see instead of just landscaping. Greg, you have been providing most of the insight on this project, with some new updates from David and Helene. Would you be interested in leading a subteam for this going forward?
2. Parking permit subteam formed: Amber, Tony, and Christina.
1. Action item: If you want to join that team, help out, or put in some input, contact anyone on this subteam. Don, I think we got your thoughts on the subject :)
3. Brownie’s Market: It is clear we need to file complaints against Brownie’s with ABC. We’ve seen folks using the barrels as temporary outdoor bars. Per Helene, there are zoning issues with that kind of usage. James lined up electricians to install the safety lights David promised. But there were no lights James outlined a plan for action here:
1. Focus attention on the liquor licensing: Since Brownie’s liquor license expires at the end of the year, we need to make it hard for ABC to renew it.
1. Action Item: File complaints with ABC - EVERYONE. Christina has included the form below.
Just fill it out and send it in. Do this ASAP, by the end of March. Enough complaints WILL cause ABC to sit up and notice, and hopefully refuse to renew his license. Once you’ve filed a complaint, we should have a way of tracking that.
2. Action Item: Christina, is there a way on i-neighbors that we could track the form submissions, like the poll you constructed?
2. Zoning violations. For some reason, the zoning board tends to be a better policing force than...well, the police. So our next step is to work with zoning because he’s in violation of zoning laws. We’ll probably need a subteam to tackle this.
1. Action Item: This would be a call for a subteam leader....
3. Investigate the falsified (potential) police report. We are not entirely certain that a ‘retaliation’ did actually occur against David / Brownie’s Market. A police report was not filed until March 5, even though the incident occurred on March 1.
1. Action Item: Again, need a subteam leader for this...
Some meeting format notes:
WDNG Meeting 03/19/09
First, I want to thank Greg and Amber very much for hosting us and organizing this meeting. It was very kind of you to open your home to us.
2. Action Item: Christina, is there a way on i-neighbors that we could track the form submissions, like the poll you constructed?
2. Zoning violations. For some reason, the zoning board tends to be a better policing force than...well, the police. So our next step is to work with zoning because he’s in violation of zoning laws. We’ll probably need a subteam to tackle this.
1. Action Item: This would be a call for a subteam leader....
3. Investigate the falsified (potential) police report. We are not entirely certain that a ‘retaliation’ did actually occur against David / Brownie’s Market. A police report was not filed until March 5, even though the incident occurred on March 1.
1. Action Item: Again, need a subteam leader for this...
Some meeting format notes:
WDNG Meeting 03/19/09
First, I want to thank Greg and Amber very much for hosting us and organizing this meeting. It was very kind of you to open your home to us.
This group is really coming together and getting organized. Amber has suggested (and Christina is organizing) monthly meetings for our group to organize these efforts and keep everyone up to date. Given that we’ll be meeting a lot more often, and in larger groups as more people join with us, including business owners, officials, residents, and other interested parties, I’d like to ask that we adopt a set of ground rules in our meetings so as to make the most productive use of everyone’s time:
1. Start at 6:00 PM – this gives folks time to get home from work, deal with organizing children, babysitters, etc, and still get to the meeting on time.
2. Be on time. If you’re late, it’s disruptive, and you may ask questions that force us to backtrack over ground already covered, thus wasting time. Being on time is courteous, and helps everyone get out of the meeting on time.
3. Keep comments brief and focused on topic. Side stories and personal sagas may be entertaining, but don’t necessarily help us move forward. This group typically has a lot of ground to cover. It will only be possible to cover it in 1 – 1.5 hours if we stay focused, which leads to....
4. Stick to the agenda.
5. Have a secretary or minute-taker at each meeting. The notes from the meeting can then be posted on i-neighbors so everyone can review what happened, and be on the same page.
6. Be courteous and respectful of the views of others, even if they don’t match yours.
7. End on time.
1. Start at 6:00 PM – this gives folks time to get home from work, deal with organizing children, babysitters, etc, and still get to the meeting on time.
2. Be on time. If you’re late, it’s disruptive, and you may ask questions that force us to backtrack over ground already covered, thus wasting time. Being on time is courteous, and helps everyone get out of the meeting on time.
3. Keep comments brief and focused on topic. Side stories and personal sagas may be entertaining, but don’t necessarily help us move forward. This group typically has a lot of ground to cover. It will only be possible to cover it in 1 – 1.5 hours if we stay focused, which leads to....
4. Stick to the agenda.
5. Have a secretary or minute-taker at each meeting. The notes from the meeting can then be posted on i-neighbors so everyone can review what happened, and be on the same page.
6. Be courteous and respectful of the views of others, even if they don’t match yours.
7. End on time.
Posts
Wow! This is great to set up the blogger-blogspot website format as a record. Event notices and reports with photos can be here later.
ReplyDeleteThe work of the growing Neighborhood Group is helping me shape ideas for neighborhood empowerment to tap into more responsive City government assistance, both financial and procedural.
For the HaleyDeLaVina Street Bridge project, the City has an overly simple briefing page, updated late January; see:
http://www.lowermissioncreek.org/bridge_projects.htm
For that bridge project, the first formal news on the funding status is expected at the SBCAG meeting to be held at 0830 on Thursday, 16th April, at the County Board of Supes meeting room. I will look for that agenda and let everyone know.
--David Pritchett
(definitely not to be confused with "David" Singh)