I am concerned about recent conversations about fiefdoms and neighborhoods. I
don't think we should be disrespectful of the many good accomplishments of
neighborhood staff and organizing efforts, or encourage the city to not fund
these efforts. These efforts to work with our neighbors, play an important
part in how or city works.
Good neighborhood staff are a great treasure
I have worked with many from several different communities.
I get strength and inspiration from my neighborhood. I live in Seward which
has a great wealth of talented and interesting people. Seward list members
include: Erik Riese, Sheldon Mains, Jean Johnstad, Cara Letofsky, MJ Mueller,
Todd Melby, Cam Gordon. Seward is a good place to live, work, and play. I
regard the term-neighborhood activist-as a positive label.
I think it is really important to have a neighborhood level of democracy. I
am really proud of the accomplishments of my neighborhood and how it has
used NRP and other funding: Fairs, celebrations, art crawls. garden tours,
environmental activism, Milwaukee Ave. the preservation and neighborhood
control of hundreds of units of affordable housing in the Seward Towers,
housing preservation and rehab, the East African River Cruise, investment in
the park building and facilities, investment in alternative energy, the
improvement of Franklin Ave. our cooperative efforts with Seward Redesign,
partners in the River Gorge Stewards, etc., etc.
{I just came from the Seward Winter Ice (rain) Follies}
My point is not to extol the virtues of Seward, but to extol the virtues of
grass roots democracy and neighborhood levels of organizing in Seward and
other neighborhoods. Participatory democracy is the antidote to political
cynicism and apathy. The structure of how decisions are made and increasing
the number of people who are involved will continue to be great challenges.
The Issues list itself is an electronic neighborhood where the dynamic of
discussion and interaction does have influence and application to decisions
that are being made about our city.
There many places where social action and interaction takes place, political
parties, churches, non profit groups, citizen boards, garden clubs, but there
is something very important in organizing close to home on neighborhood
levels. Not to say that there isn't a need to better connect individual
neighborhood initiatives or that there isn't going to be conflict or
controversy.
NRP has successes and failures, but has generally been a good mechanism for
getting the kind of citizen input that makes us a better city. Even in
difficult times in terms of city financing, there needs to be a funding
mechanism that enables neighbors to have some staff for neighborhood
organizing.
Thanks, Scott Vreeland, Seward, Chair of the Seward Neighborhood Group
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