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E-G Farmers’ Market Signs Are Here!

E-G Farmers’ Market Signs Are Here!

Now we need help making sandwich boards for them!

If you have some extra plywood and/or a spare hour or two, we’d like your help. We need to make three separate 2.5′ x 4′ sandwich boards to accommodate the “pointing” vinyl roadside signs pictured below, which will simply be affixed to the front.

EGFM sandwich sign

Let us know if you’re able to help out by using the contact form, or simply drop us a line via e-mail. This is a grassroots operation, and it’s going to take grassroots support to get it up and running. Don’t be shy about stepping forward to donate or volunteer a tiny fraction of your time or materials!

The official press release for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market has also gone out. If you’re a media-type person who can help spread the word, please download it here as a PDF.

Quarter-page flyers for the market are 99% ready too. In the coming days we’ll be printing and distributing them around the neighborhood (and that means to residents, businesses and churches). We put out an earlier call for some help and some wonderful folks put their names forward — but we could still use a few more feet on the ground. If you’re interested in putting a little bit of time to get flyers into people’s hands — maybe at your own church or workplace? — please e-mail us.

Oh, and big credit to Bri Musser, who created the logo design for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. It was sort of deconstructed for this vertical implementation, but the 6′ horizontal banner shows it in all its glory.

Upcoming Neighborhood Council Elections

Upcoming Neighborhood Council Elections

Got some free time? Want to devote some of it to helping lead Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council?

The EGNC will be holding officer elections at its next monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 10. All positions are up for grabs — and anyone who’s a member can put their name forward for nomination.

The officer positions include chair, co-chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer. Briefly: The chair heads meetings, appoints subcommittees and is the primary liaison between the EGNC and the city. The co-chair — which is a position that’s filled when necessary — helps share the load. The vice chair plays a slightly subordinate role, but in any event assists the chair and co-chair. The secretary writes everything down, such as meeting minutes and agendas. The treasurer at this point is a nominal role, but the position should be filled in anticipation of the EGNC becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

If you’d like to put your name forward, or if you have questions about the roles and responsibilities, please e-mail the nominations committee before April 8 so there’s enough time to include all names on the ballot.

Incidentally, this is a promising and exciting time to be an officer on the EGNC. Whoever is elected will help the neighborhood council with its transition into 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, assist in the neighborhood’s ambitious planning efforts, work towards establishing a more distinct identity in terms of social media and branding, and ensure that the city’s plans to revitalize North Monroe are consistent with what’s best for Emerson-Garfield.

February Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

February Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

[What follows is a recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council Meeting that took place on Wednesday, February 13. You can either read slimmed and streamlined version of the minutes below, or download the full version of the meeting’s minutes here.]

The meeting began with a presentation from Judge Tracy Staab of the Spokane Municipal Court. The judge gave a Powerpoint slideshow that detailed the many facets of the Court, such as crime statistics, budgets, and punishment or rehabilitation methods. The slideshow was supposed to be made available online at the Spokane Municipal Court’s website, but has not appeared as of this post.

The popular Spring Clean Up event is still tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 27 between 9am and 1pm at Faith Bible Church.

The call for logo designs for the neighborhood council is still out. Several entries have been submitted so far. If you have a design idea, please submit it to Chairwoman Liorah Wichser ahead of the vote in March. The general consensus was that our logo should reflect the historic nature of our neighborhood, the residential feel that we exude, the small local businesses that we have — and maybe that it should have a marmot on it.

Members were asked to provide input on the pending mission statement as the neighborhood council works to become an official nonprofit organization.

Jackie Caro from Neighborhood Services talked briefly about the traffic-calming project that had been approved on Montgomery Street between Monroe and Northwest Blvd (see here for more info). The engineers need more time to evaluate the project, which means the project has been delayed. Anyone with follow-up questions can contact Jackie at (509) 625-6733. To apply for a traffic-calming project on your street, please download the Toolbox (PDF link) from the ONS. Applications are due very, very soon.

Laura Schlangen gave the report for Corbin Senior Center. The Movin’ and Groovin’ Fair is scheduled for Saturday, March 9 from 8am to 2pm. The Corbin Golf Tournament is set for June 21 at Indian Canyon. They are in search of donors and players. Corbin will also be holding a yard sale on May 11 from 9am to 2pm. If you provide your own table, the cost is $10. It will cost $20 if Corbin provides you a table. Food will be available for purchase as well.

Jay Cousins reported that the neighborhood planning committee has a new meeting time. It is the first Thursday of every month at 6pm in the upper north room of the Corbin Senior Center. The group is small and would love more attendees.

There will be was a meeting for the review of the city’s Comprehensive Plan at the Shadle Library from 5:30 to 7:30pm on Tuesday, February 19. The purpose is to update all aspects of the plan, with a particular eye on transportation. A more general meeting for the public has been scheduled for mid-March.

Community Development rep Sara Kimball reported that the new swing set at Corbin Park has been installed. New horseshoe pits are proposed to go in the area of the old swing set. There is going to be some tree pruning in Corbin Park and as many as five trees will be removed due to disease.

Sara is also accepting applications for repairing damaged sidewalks: see this post for more information on how to repair existing sidewalk or install new sidewalks near your home.

Finally, Kelly Cruz from West Central Neighborhood Council requested a neighborhood representative from our group to be on the Community Assembly’s Land Use Committee. Tom Powell agreed to be that representative. They meet on the third Thursday of every month.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 13 from 7 to (roughly) 9pm at Corbin Senior Center.

Citizen Code Enforcement Volunteers Needed

Citizen Code Enforcement Volunteers Needed

The Office of Neighborhood Services/Code Enforcement is currently accepting applications for Citizen Code Enforcement Volunteers.

Code Enforcement makes sure that all the niceties of neighborly living are maintained, even if there’s one party that doesn’t see why the niceties of neighborly living are necessary.

So, for example, Code Enforcement is what keeps your neighbors from erecting an 8-foot-high fence along your property while you’re away on vacation. When polite requests fail, it provides a route for reprimanding the homeowner with a dog that barks constantly. It’s a civilized, formal means of addressing the problem when one home on your block becomes a haven for junk, strange animals, fire hazards or late-night parties.

But the Code Enforcement team can’t be everywhere. That’s why they’re looking to train Citizen Code Enforcement Volunteers, who will be the “eyes on the streets” for Code Enforcement Officers. The volunteers will help identify code violations, and these violations will then be passed on to Code Enforcement Officers to perform further investigation.

Here’s what volunteers will be expected to do:

  • Identify code violations
  • Fill out Code Enforcement Violation forms on property owners
  • Take photos of violations if necessary
  • Act as a code enforcement liaison to neighborhood council and citizens
  • Be a witness in case of civil infraction or misdemeanor criminal charge is pursued
  • Must respect expectation of privacy as well as personal safety
  • Hand out dump pass and clean-up event material when there is a need

Yes, it has an air of Police Academy 4 about it, but upholding basic standards of consideration and community decency doesn’t automatically make you a tattletale or a busybody. Everyone wants to live in a pleasant neighborhood.

Interested? Download the background info and application pack here.

Now, Where Do We Go from Here?

Now, Where Do We Go from Here?

Thanks to everyone who took the time to follow the story about The Hoods and our response to it, we’ve had hundreds of new visitors to this site over the past 48 hours. We hope that it won’t be a one-off and that many of you will return to stay abreast of much less incendiary news about neighborhood developments and events.

Whether you agree with our point about The Hoods or not, we want to invite everyone with a stake in Emerson-Garfield to participate in our ongoing efforts to improve the neighborhood from the bottom up. Contrary to stereotype, Emerson-Garfield’s neighborhood council and planning committee aren’t a cabal of grumpy old men griping about kids on their lawn — the groups are diverse, they’re vibrant, they’re active, and they’re always looking for ways to become more of all those things.

Some of the biggest challenges we’ve historically faced are ignorance and apathy, but The Hoods has shown that people can become informed very quickly if the incentive is there, and that those people are anything but apathetic about their neighborhood.

So, where do we go from here?

Don’t limit your concern to a single of outburst of controversy. Don’t limit your comments to a single blog post. Don’t sour on an issue because of criticism. Instead, show up to neighborhood council and planning meetings. Speak your mind. Offer your input. Make suggestions for improvement. Help with the legwork. Because neither the individual councils nor The Hoods are the sole arbiters of what our neighborhoods are or what they can be. That takes all of us working in concert.

Here in Emerson-Garfield, there are two meetings this week that would welcome new faces, new voices, and new ideas:

  • Neighborhood Planning, 6pm on Wednesday at Corbin Senior Center. This is an initiative that is working toward a documented vision that could guide the neighborhood for the next decade and beyond.
  • Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council, 7pm on Wednesday at Corbin Senior Center. This focuses on practical issues and improvements such as crime updates, new playground equipment in the parks, and event planning.

If you’re fired up and live, work, or own property anywhere in Emerson-Garfield, we hope to see you at one or both of these meetings.