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Materials for the March 12 EGNC Meeting

Materials for the March 12 EGNC Meeting

As another Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting nears, the snow has given way to rain. At least it’s some sort of seasonal progress. And it’s reason enough to join the EGNC on Wednesday, March 12 at 7pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland) as we begin preparing in earnest for the exciting year ahead.

And that’s not just feel-good inspirational fluff. There really is some exciting stuff going on.

This EGNC meeting brings five guest speakers — all of whom have been limited in advance to ten minutes or less. That means you’ll get your informational fix but it won’t eat up your entire evening. Most of the speakers have agreed to hang around after the meeting so you can pose your questions on an informal, one-on-one basis.

Dom Felix will be talking about the Spokane Police Accountability and Reform Coalition (SPARC). Kim Ferraro will be giving a preview of what’s happening at the West Central Community Center. Buzz Bellessa of North Hill Neighborhood Council will be proposing a developer agreement for the city-owned property on the corner of Cora and N. Monroe. Angel Spell of Spokane Urban Forestry will address everything to do with street trees. And a representative of the Spokane Human Rights Commission will explain what their organization has been up to.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Karen Cornwell of Avista will not be presenting. We hope she’ll be able to reschedule for April’s meeting.

Also on the agenda is the scheduling of mobile speed signs (for traffic-calming analysis), preparation for next month’s EGNC elections, discussion about the proposed Summer Parkways event in Emerson-Garfield, Neighborhood Planning updates, and lots more.

Download the March 12 meeting materials here:

We look forward to seeing you there!

Neighborhood Council Elections and Call for Reps

Neighborhood Council Elections and Call for Reps

In April the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) will be holding elections for the following officer positions:

  • Chair
  • Vice-chair
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer

These positions are all currently occupied but should not go uncontested. If you are interested in running, please put your name forward at the next neighborhood council meeting on Wednesday, March 12. Keep in mind that you must be a voting member to throw your hat into the ring — which means you will need to have attended three EGNC meetings in the past six months.

Emerson-Garfield is also looking for representatives to become involved in groups that are important to the neighborhood. These include:

All of these volunteer groups generally involve a nominal time commitment of just one meeting per month. Ideally you would also attend the monthly neighborhood council meeting to keep EGNC members apprised of relevant issues and opportunities.

If you’d like to be the neighborhood rep for any of these groups (or co-rep; there’s no reason why two or three people couldn’t share a single responsibility), please speak up at the next neighborhood council meeting or get in touch beforehand. If you’re already involved in one of them and you happen to work or reside in E-G, let us know that too!

These unelected positions are just as essential as the elected officer positions. It’s important for Emerson-Garfield to have a voice as these groups develop citywide plans and policy for the future, and it’s equally important for E-G residents to be kept informed of how those plans and policies are taking shape over time.

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting (Jan 27)

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting (Jan 27)

Building Stronger Neighborhoods — a subcommittee of the Community Assembly dedicated to raising awareness about and increasing participating in neighborhood councils — will be holding its first meeting of the new year on Monday, January 27 from 5-6pm at Fire Station 4 (1515 W Riverside Ave). Please note that the meeting has been moved to a new time, as the 11:30am lunchtime meetings had limited people’s ability to attend.

The Building Stronger Neighborhoods committee had a productive 2013 and is looking to build on that foundation with a number of goals for 2014. These include alerting neighborhoods to events in the Hot Topic Training series (which has included workshops on nonprofit status, social media and community outreach) and working more closely with area schools to maintain updated neighborhood websites.

Building Stronger Neighborhoods 2014

You don’t necessarily have to be involved with your neighborhood council to take part in BSN, but it does help for long-term involvement, since one of the committee’s aims is to develop a closer connection between Spokane residents and their respective neighborhood councils. But in the end all it takes to participate is a bit of neighborhood pride.

For more information on Building Stronger Neighborhoods, get in touch with Jackie Caro at (509) 625-6733 or jcaro@spokanecity.org.

Community Assembly 2013 Report/2014 Goals

Community Assembly 2013 Report/2014 Goals

The Spokesman-Review just published a bite-sized overview of the Community Assembly’s accomplishments over the past year and its goals for 2014. It’s a good chance to see what these volunteer representatives have been doing for their respective neighborhoods when it comes to public safety, land use, pedestrian and traffic improvements, and raising neighborhood awareness.

The story also features a graphic that illustrates how the Community Assembly/neighborhood council process works alongside direct citizen engagement to ensure that our individual voices are heard with collective force at the city level. For handy reference, we’ve included it below.

October Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

October Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

Mere days before the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council convenes for its meeting on Wednesday, November 13 at 7pm in the Corbin Senior Center, we thought it a good time to bring everyone up to speed on what the EGNC did last month.

After the meeting kicked off in the usual manner shortly after 7pm, Matt West of the Lands Council gave a presentation about Spokane River toxins and eating fish caught there. One of the two more common toxins is PCBs/PBDEs (flame retardants). Exposure to these chemicals comes from eating fish caught in the river. The other toxin is heavy metals, which are remnants of a century of mining upstream. Exposure to heavy metals comes from ingesting dirt or contact with broken skin. More information is available through the Lands Council.

Garbage Czar Karl Boldt noted that dump passes would be available after the meeting and on October 26 at the Corbin Senior Center.

Information concerning Photo Red funds was discussed next. Up until a recent decision by the City Council, all profits derived from red light fines — for context, $437,000 was raised in 2012 — were used to fund traffic-calming improvements like traffic circles and curb bump-outs. The recent vote by the City Council changed this allocation so that in the future, $100,000 of the total funds will go to the Spokane Police, $50,000 will go to the COPS program, and $20,000 will go to graffiti abatement. The rest will go for traffic calming. It should be noted that the EGNC, along with the Community Assembly and many other neighborhood councils voted (in an advisory capacity) to keep all funds collected through the Photo Red program strictly for traffic calming projects.

It was announced that Christ Clinic had successfully applied for a permit to allow them to use a house adjacent to their property for commercial use. It was previously zoned residential and a minor zone change was allowed.

Corbin Senior Center reported a successful Walk-Along at Corbin Park, which brought out more people than last year and raised $1,000. Harvard Park sponsored a Spaghetti Fundraiser, which brought in another $1,000. The Munch and Mingle Auction sold out the day before the event. Unfortunately, the Parks Department did not increase the contract funding amount for Corbin, even though a number of people (including representatives of the EGNC) wrote letters. Senator Andy Billig has offered to guide Corbin towards the possibility of maybe getting a grant for a new elevator. Corbin’s name will appear next month as we dole out Community Development Block Grant funds with a request for funds for a variety of needs.

The Emerson Community Garden is wrapping up its season, and there is a cleanup day scheduled for Sunday, October 20. Membership is just $20 a season and everyone shares in the harvest.

As of this meeting, there were two remaining Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Markets for the season. Four raffles are set for the final gathering on Friday, October 18, and you must be present to win.

Megan Kennedy, who heads the Neighborhood Planning Committee, announced there is a big planning workshop meeting scheduled for the next evening (Thursday, October 10) from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 14 at the same place and time. The more people who attend, the better and more inclusive the planning effort will be.

Lt. Dean Sprague gave the monthly crime report. Statistics show that neighborhood crime rates are down. Starting on the first of the year, the Spokane Police Department will be surveying itself regarding racial profiling. Currently, 88% of those arrested are white males. Officers will be filling out information detailing demographics after every arrest that will then a collated, synthesized and processed to see how they are doing.

The Community Assembly has a retreat scheduled for Saturday, October 12 where the focus will be reinventing Community Assembly and Neighborhood Councils. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich will be the keynote speaker.

New playground equipment for Emerson Park was installed in July. Sidewalks are also complete for this year and many of the projects are just now being wrapped up.

Training seminars for Building Stronger Neighborhoods have been going on, and the next one will be on October 21 at Corbin Senior Center. It will address the pros, cons and how-tos of neighborhood councils forming nonprofit organizations

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12pm.