public event – Page 39 – Emerson-Garfield Community

Project Hope Meet & Greet (Feb 13)

February 9, 2014 Emerson Garfield

Project Hope, our neighborhood partner in the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market, is hosting a meet and greet with James Kashork, the organization’s new executive director, on Thursday, February 13. It will start at 6pm at the Maxwell House Restaurant (1425 N. Ash).

James is a familiar face around Spokane, not least due to his involvement with a variety of faith-based organizations such as Spokane Urban Ministries and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. As the new full-time executive director for Project Hope, he’s already hard at work at his desk in the nonprofit’s new offices in Salem Lutheran Church, where will be helping to coordinate Project Hope’s existing activities as well as build the donor and volunteer base for anticipated future growth.

Part of that future growth involves closer ties with Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood and its at-risk youth. With Project Hope, these youth will find a productive and positive channel for their free time that includes gardening, lawn care, market sales and more.

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market was Project Hope’s first “official” collaboration with Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council, and this year will see an even closer collaboration between the two organizations. For example, Project Hope’s Riverfront Farms will sell vegetables grown by its youth participants at the EGFM.

If you’re interested in meeting James, finding out more about Project Hope, or supporting the organization through donations or volunteering, we encourage you to attend the February 13 meet and greet. You can also reach out to James via e-mail at james@projecthopespokane.org.

Mayor Condon’s State of the City Address Tonight

January 30, 2014 Emerson Garfield

Mayor Condon will be giving his State of the City address tonight (Thursday, January 30) at 6pm in the North Central High School (1600 N. Howard) Skylight Room. The event is open to the public.

The mayor will be talking this evening about progress made in 2013 in priority areas such as public safety, streets and utilities He will also speak to the work that lies ahead this year and beyond.

The festivities actually start an hour earlier (at 5pm), when you’ll have the chance to meet North Central STEM science students, learn about what they’re working on and mingle during an informal reception.

There will be time following the address for citizens to offer feedback in person. If you’d prefer, you can submit comments and questions via e-mail to Vision2020@spokanecity.org.

Neighborhood Training: Succession Planning (Jan 6)

December 28, 2013 Emerson Garfield

The Office of Neighborhood Services will be holding another event in its successful and informative Neighborhood Training series. This one is on succession planning: that is, how the current group of neighborhood council officers will be replaced by the newly elected group of officers following this year’s voting process (which most councils typically hold in January).

Incidentally, Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council holds its annual elections in April.

The succession planning workshop will take place on Monday, January 6 from 6 to 7:30pm at the Northeast Community Center (4001 N. Cook) [map]. It will be a great opportunity to learn how your neighborhood — or any committee, for that matter — can groom new leadership as well as plan for expected and unexpected departures of current leadership.

If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Jackie Caro at jcaro@spokanecity.org or (509) 625-6733.

This is not just for neighborhood chairs or executive committees; it’s open to anyone who’s interested. So please spread the word.

Traffic-Calming Orientation Tonight (Dec 16)

December 16, 2013 Emerson Garfield

Apologies for the short notice (our neighborhood council is still waiting on being paired with a Web intern to help us post in a more timely fashion), but there’s a traffic-calming orientation tonight, December 16, from 5:30-7pm at City Hall [map].

Traffic calming is a frequent topic at neighborhood council meetings across Spokane. This 90-minute session will bring you up to speed on how you can slow down traffic in your neighborhood. You’ll learn how a stretch of road might qualify for traffic-calming measures, what forms traffic calming can take (such as curb bumpouts, roundabouts, or street trees), and what steps are necessary to get those improvements installed.

The meeting takes place in the Council Briefing Center, which is located on the lower level of City Hall, and is hosted by the Office of Neighborhood Services. Anyone with an interest in the topic is welcome to attend.

Meet & Eat with Andrew Chanse (Nov 7)

November 6, 2013 Emerson Garfield

Chief Garry Park Neighborhood Council is hosting a Meet & Eat with new Spokane Library Director Andrew Chanse on Thursday, November 7. It will take place at Cassano’s Italian Grocery (2002 E Mission Ave) [map] from 5-6:30pm.

Meet & Eats are hosted by individual neighborhood councils and provide an opportunity for people from all over Spokane to engage with community leaders on an informal basis. They not meant to be stage-managed PR events, but rather down-to-earth forums where you can get to know the guest speaker as well as offer feedback and pose pressing questions.

In Andrew Chanse’s case, concerned citizens and library supporters want to know how he plans to help sustain the libraries on a long-term basis since the recent levy, which starts in January 2014, will expire at the end of 2017. Chanse was brought to Spokane from Arizona in July of this year largely because it was thought he was ideally suited to address this issue.