Candace Mumm Mobile Office (Feb 19)

Candace Mumm Mobile Office (Feb 19)

Candace Mumm portraitIf you’ve been looking to bend the ear of your District 3 city council member, then be sure to join Candace Mumm when she hosts a joint mobile office with Amber Waldref tomorrow on Wednesday, February 19 from 11:30am-1pm at The Mustard Seed in the Northtown Mall.

At the mobile office you’ll be able to enjoy an optional no-host lunch with these two council members along with other engaged citizens. You’ll be able to discuss your issues and concerns for our city as well as ask about the topics our City Council is deciding. As an added bonus, you’ll have the chance to meet the new Northtown General Manager and learn about new stores and design of the mall.

Reminder: Get there early for priority seating.

Montgomery Ave Traffic-Circle Landscaping & MoU

Montgomery Ave Traffic-Circle Landscaping & MoU

The traffic circles (aka roundabouts) on Montgomery Ave that are slated to be installed this year between the 1100 and 1400 blocks of Montgomery Ave require a memorandum of understanding (MoU) if they are to be landscaped and not drab concrete slabs.

A memorandum of understanding is a non-legal document that lays out the terms of a common course of action. In this case, the parties involved are the City of Spokane and the residents and organizations on Montgomery Ave. The agreement is that the residents and organizations will maintain the landscaping (i.e., occasional weeding, watering, pruning.)

A Landscaped Roundabout
An example of a landscaped roundabout

As part of the MoU, the Montgomery Ave residents will be able to decide which plants, flowers and grasses are installed by the city in the course of landscaping.

Some of the ground cover options include wild ginger, Scotch heather, sunrose and sticky geranium. Native perennials include wildflowers such as common yarrow, aquilegia and coral bells. Ornamental grasses are also an option. See the slideshow below.

Download this PDF for a recap of images and suggestions of landscaping possibilities. The city asks to keep the following in mind when choosing:

  • Any treatment that is installed needs to be kept within 36″ so that it doesn’t obstruct the site
  • A mix of plants would be the best option to make the traffic circles esthetically pleasing all year
  • Plants chosen should be drought resistant to limit the water that is needed

As of this writing, Trinity Catholic School and three families have agreed to sign the MoU. We would like more to join them in this very minimal commitment of time and effort, as many hands make light work. If you live near the site and are interested in adding your name to the MoU, please get in touch.

It’s worth reiterating here that this is one of Spokane’s most forward-thinking residential traffic-calming initiatives, and it’s a compliment that Emerson-Garfield was chosen to be the neighborhood that will benefit.

Spokane Public Montessori Will Unify in Emerson-Garfield

Spokane Public Montessori Will Unify in Emerson-Garfield

The Spokane Public School Board voted last night to unify the Spokane Public Montessori program at the Community School (aka Havermale; 1300 W Knox) here in Emerson-Garfield. It goes into effect for the upcoming 2014-15 school year.

For the past 26 years, Spokane’s public Montessori programs — public, not private, being fairly unique in and of itself — have been housed within Balboa Elementary to the north (just above Francis) and Jefferson Elementary to the south (on 37th). Unification at this single central location will allow those two previously separate programs to pool their staff, resources, and enjoy a dedicated facility that is better equipped for the Montessori educational method.

The Spokesman-Review has a typically bitty story on the vote and some of the responses to unification. An info sheet and FAQ (PDF file) on enrolling in the Montessori program and the logistics of unification was also issued prior to the school board’s vote.

Havermale 2012

From a neighborhood standpoint, the even better news is that the Medicine Wheel Academy will remain in the building and the Community School will move just down the road to Bancroft (1025 W Spofford), so Emerson-Garfield does not end up losing these valuable learning programs altogether. (Although, if you’re being pedantic, the move does put the Community School just within the West Central border.)

Representatives from the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council have already sat down with city traffic engineers to see how this new primary school might be a candidate for Safe Routes to School improvements, and they will be pursuing that goal in the coming months. The larger plan is to create a safe, ideally pedestrian-oriented network that will benefit all the schools that are clustered in or near Emerson-Garfield, including Garfield Elementary, North Central, Trinity Catholic and Audubon. If you’re interested in joining that effort, please get in touch.

The increased space that Havermale offers also means that the public Montessori program, which will continue to admit new students by a lottery system, will likely have more spots available for new students.

If you would like to enroll your child in the Montessori program for the 2014-15 school year, you must attend the orientation and registration meeting on either Thursday, February 20 (5:30-7:30pm) or Saturday, February 22 (10am-12pm). Both will be held at Havermale.

So: Welcome to Emerson-Garfield, current and future Montessori parents and students! We look forward to collaborating with you in cool and creative ways to build stronger neighborhood and school communities.

Materials for the February 12 EGNC Meeting

Materials for the February 12 EGNC Meeting

We know the snow is knee deep in places, but there are 101 (count ’em) reasons to brave the winter weather and make it to the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, February 12. It starts promptly at 7pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).

At this meeting the EGNC will be taking sidewalk and traffic-calming requests. This means that if you have sidewalk that is missing or in need of repair outside your home, business, church or other property, you should be there to mark the spot on a map and help rank these proposals in terms of priority before submitting them to the city.

There will also be guest speakers with useful and interesting information on a variety of topics, including pedestrian and traffic studies on N. Monroe, energy-efficient home improvement options, news and thanks from the West Central Community Center, and a proposed law enforcement partnership to reduce underage drinking.

Plus there’s the usual slew of announcements and updates, reports on the significant progress among the Neighborhood Planning effort and how that will make the leap into implementation, check-ins from the Spokane Police and COPS, and news on changes to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) eligibility.

Download the February 12 meeting materials for approval here:

We look forward to seeing you there!

Law Enforcement Partnership to Reduce Underage Drinking

Law Enforcement Partnership to Reduce Underage Drinking

From a press release from the West Central Community Coalition regarding a proposed law enforcement partnership to reduce underage drinking:

Data shows that in a large portion of the Spokane Community arrest of youth is nearly twice that of the state average with alcohol being a contributing factor.

The West Central Community Coalition in partnership with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, in collaboration with Spokane Police Department and Spokane School District 81 have received a grant to reduce and bring awareness of underage drinking in the community.

Data contained in the What’s Happening in West Central — A Community Needs Assessment Book shows that arrest of youth (10- 17) is nearly twice that of the state average with alcohol being a contributing factor.

The West Central Community Coalition is partnering with local law enforcement, Spokane County Community Services, and Whitworth University to reduce underage drinking thru the use of alcohol purchase surveys and compliance checks of local liquor retailers.

Additionally the coalition will be partnering with School District 81 to conduct student surveys in order to assess youth perception of alcohol consumption.

The geographic area for these efforts will be from the Spokane River north to Wellesley and from Division west to the Spokane River (see attached map).

In an effort to bring awareness of the impacts and costs associated with underage drinking, the Coalition [gave] a presentation to the Spokane City Council at its December 16th, 2013 meeting at 6 pm.

The West Central Community Coalition is comprised of local non-profits, social service agencies, and government entities and has been in existence since 1994.

Law enforcement partnership

As you’ll note from the map to the left, Emerson-Garfield neighborhood is part of the geographic area that falls under the remit of this law enforcement partnership. Portions of the North Hill and Northwest neighborhoods are part of it as well.

Kelly Cruz, who is helping to spearhead this effort on behalf of the West Central Community Coalition, will be presenting additional information on the initiative and answering questions about its scope, implementation, and ramifications at the upcoming Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, February 12.