We’re rapidly approaching the second Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for another Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting. It takes place tomorrow (November 12) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).

This month we’ll be hearing — no, really this time — from Tim Schwering, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Spokane Police Department, about the practicalities and policies of police body cameras. This is all the more topical in light of this weekend’s car chase across the north side that ended in a nonfatal officer-involved shooting at the 2200 block of N Post here in E-G. The officer’s body camera was not on at the time.

The major agenda item is the allocation of just shy of $55,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to our neighborhood. As discussed at the October meeting, an ad hoc neighborhood CDBG committee met at Gerardo’s and developed a proposal to split the money in the following ways: $20,000 toward N. Monroe revitalization (in conjunction with the STA), $30,000 toward sidewalk installation and repair, and the remainder to neighborhood nonprofits. This proposal will be discussed and refined by everyone in attendance, then approved by voting members.

To that end, we’ll be hearing brief CDBG-related presentations and requests from the STA, The Lands Council (in partnership with Fulcrum) and the West Central Community Center. George Dahl, Human Services Manager at City of Spokane, will be on hand to answer questions about the possibilities and limits of funding.

This meeting could run a bit longer than usual, but we will aim to finish around 8pm. Considered, forward-thinking allocation of CDBG funding is important, so it’s worth the extra time.

As always, the EGNC welcomes everyone and anyone who has a stake in our neighborhood, whether you’re a resident (renter or homeowner), a business owner, a church leader, head of a nonprofit, or you have a child who attends one of the many schools in Emerson-Garfield.

You can download the November 12 meeting materials as PDFs here:

• Agenda for the November 12, 2014 meeting. This contains letters of funding request from the WCCC and Fulcrum.
• Minutes from the October 8, 2014 meeting (pending approval)

And if you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP for the neighborhood council meeting on the event page.