Nurturing Neighborhoods -- discussion here.

There is nothing inherently magical or good or bad about a neighborhood. It denotes a geographical area within a city. Neighbors are those individuals living around you. Collectively, you make up a neighborhood. A neighborhood is basically what its members make of it. That can range from nothing, with no one knowing one another or interested in one another, to a vibrant, giving, teaching, and nurturing environment. The choice is ours. I'm assuming that most people would prefer the later. It would seem more beneficial and helpful for everyone to know one another, interact on a regular basis, look out for one another, and work towards both a safe and livable neighborhood. What do you think a neighborhood should be? Or do? How is your neighborhood? What is going on? Is your neighborhood working towards any goals? Is there anything at all happening in your neighborhood that will be helpful for the people who live there? In the spirit of nurturing neighborhoods, a group of us are going to get together to discuss and explore what is happening in our neighborhoods, what we would like to see happen, and how we can make those things become a reality. The date of our first meeting will be August 18, 6pm, at the public library in the children's section. Please join us and share your ideas of what you believe a neighborhood can be and do. Your thoughts on this matter are important! Put aside your shyness or lack of verbal abilities and at the very least, be present. Write your thoughts down, and I'll read them and leave your name off, if you so request. Your ideas are valuable and I will do anything I can to help you express them.
Bruce

The first Nurturing Neighborhoods action group was a huge success. We had about 25 people meet at the library on August 18. I want to thank everyone who attended. I thought the evening was well spent and our time together was productive and enlightening. Here is the list of issues-topics that we came up with. Please look these over and add anything you think I may have missed. I'm not the greatest at summing things up.
1. CITY CODES-ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING CODES: There is a lot of concern regarding city codes and how they effect neighborhoods. The concerns include mowing and weed problems, demolition restrictions and bureaucracy regarding dilapidated and dangerous homes and buildings, rentals in neighborhoods, dog control, poor or no sidewalks. It appears that there are codes in existence to deal with a lot of the concerns voices, but poor or no enforcement.
2. THE INFLUENCE OF RENTALS, NON-RESIDENT OWNERS OF PROPERTY, ON A NEIGHBORHOOD: This has been an ongoing concern for most all those present for quite some time. Everyone has seen neighborhoods deteriorate because of absentee landlords and turning singe family homes into multiple unit apartments. This generally leads to the home deteriorating and results in people moving into the neighborhood who may not have the same motivation for keeping up the neighborhood. No one seems to be able to apply pressure to landlords who neglect their properties. This concern was strong among many people who were present.

3. QUIET ZONES: Noise from trains and other sources is a concern. There is some frustration with how slow these things go. Noise does seem to be a factor in the livability and pleasantness of a neighborhood.

4. CURBS-SIDEWALKS-BIKE PATH'S: There were some questions regarding the fixing of curbs as it relates to beauty of neighborhoods. In particular, who and how are decisions regarding the repair of curbs made? Why do some neighborhoods seem to always be on the bottom of the list? Repair of sidewalks was also brought up, as was the need for bike path's. It was generally felt that these are things that improve the quality of neighborhoods.

5. FUNDS FOR NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECTS: The question was asked: Are there any funds, or can any be made available, for neighborhood groups to engage in and work on, to improve their neighborhoods? Some funds are available, for instance, to start a Neighborhood Watch group. This is a whole issue that can be further explored, and if necessary, lobbied for.

6. DRUGS: The buying and selling of drugs is clearly a neighborhood issue and problem. Almost everywhere in the city, this is a concern. Many participants voiced concern with enforcement and frustration over the fact that when they report activity, nothing gets done. There were some examples given of progress being made in some areas. This is clearly a frustrating issue for many and a difficult one.

7. NEIGHBORING: There are a lot of things that can be improved regarding the quality of our neighborhoods. Knowing one another is a first step. Looking out for one another, helping shut-ins, the elderly, making sure everyone has food, mowing for someone who can't, helping with upkeep of the home, all examples of quality of life issues that can be addressed at a neighborhood level. Fear of neighbors, who they are, what they are up to, is clearly an issue. Often, these fears can be dispelled by simply taking the time to meet them. Buying things together, (i.e. snow plower), neighborhood gardens, block parties, were all talked about as ways to help neighborhoods bond together.

8. POLICE-FIREMEN-POLITICIANS BEING FAMILIAR WITH NEIGHBORHOODS: It was felt that these groups of people, and the neighborhoods, would benefit if more time was spent getting to know and understand one another better. This could help in numerous ways, including the building of trust and opening up better lines of communication.

9. DOGS: There does seem to be a fairly widespread issue concerning dogs. This includes what is seen as dangerous dogs, at least by their actions, and noise generated by barking. This takes us back to are there codes, regulations, regarding these problems? Are they being enforced? If not, why?

10. OFFICE-COUNCIL-COMMISSION ON NEIGHBORHOOD INVOLVEMENT: The question was raised, do we need a central place where neighborhood issues can be raised and addressed? Not necessarily another city bureaucracy, but perhaps a citizen commission, with strong endorsement from the city, some funds, and other necessary support.

Hopefully, that is a fair summation of ten issues that were discussed. There are good things happening at the neighborhood level, including Neighborhood Watch groups, numerous block parties taking place, and ad hoc groups that have formed on a neighborhood level to discuss problems that they are experiencing. My hope for this group is that we will be able to bring all of these things together to help our neighborhoods become more livable, nurturing, and caring environments.

Our next meeting will be on Sept. 15, 6pm, at the library. Please look over this list and see which two we should prioritize for immediate action. We will each have two votes and will take the largest two vote getters as our first priorities. AND REMEMBER, BRING A NEIGHBOR WITH YOU.

Until Sept. 15.
Bruce

The September 15 meeting of the Nurturing Neighborhoods action group was well attended and we made significant progress in identifying two topics-subjects we are interested in pursuing. The two receiving the most votes were:
1. City codes and how they affect and influence neighborhoods. This topic covers a broad range of concerns, including animal control, rentals, yards, dilapidated homes, buildings, as well as the influence of absentee landlords on homes, property, in the neighborhood. (19 votes).

2. The establishment of a Neighborhood Involvement Commission, Office, Council. This entity would handle specific concerns, questions, involving neighborhoods. Might also make money available for neighborhood grants.

In discussing city codes, we decided to hold, host, co-host, a city wide panel to discuss codes, what is in existence, how they work, whether they work, are they being enforced, and the possible need for new one's. The city has agreed to provide information and city employees to participate. We will work out the date and let everyone know.

In discussing a Neighborhood Involvement office,commission, etc. a number of good ideas were discussed on the possible implementation of such an office, council, commission. There appears to be a lot of enthusiasm to make such an idea work. We will continue to explore how this might best happen at our next meeting.

The next meeting of the Nurturing Neighborhoods action group will be on October 20, 6p.m., upstairs at the library. BRING A NEIGHBOR! Let's work together to make our first two goals a reality. As Margaret Mead once said,
"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

The Nurturing Neighborhoods Action Group will host a panel discussion on codes, ordinances, dog control, rental properties, etc., on October 14, 6-7:30 pm, at the library, second floor. The city has agreed to provide 4-5 city employees who can talk about current ordinances and enforcement issues. PLAN ON ATTENDING! This is the beginning of accomplishing one of our goals. It should be an exciting evening. The city has been very cooperative in making this happen.Let's go all out for making this a successful evening.

The following people will be present from the city to act as panelists and answer questions:

Roy Parkin, Community Development Director
Dave Christensen, Chief of Police
Lindsey May, Police Captain
Dan Foley, Fire Captain

Don't forget, October 14, 6-7:30 p.m., at the library. Missing this will be worse than missing Woodstock.
Bruce

REMEMBER OCT. 14, 6 P.M. GALESBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY. SECOND FLOOR. ONCE IN A WHILE WE NEED TO REMIND CITY POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS THAT THEY WORK FOR US.
THIS IS OUR CHANCE!

The panel discussion on October 14 was attended by about 25 people. I would have hoped for a bit bigger crowd, but hey, 25 is 25. You can lead a citizen to water, but you can't make him drink.
The biggest concern that I heard was the rules on rentals and the follow-up on poor renters. Basically, there is none. The system clearly favors renters. Unfortunately, some of them take advantage of this. There are some deplorable conditions in existence. The people cannot speak for themselves due to feared repercussions from renters. (i.e. thrown out). There is some work to be done in this area.
Let the city know that you appreciate their cooperation and attendance.
We will discuss the forum briefly at our meeting on October 20, 6 p.m., at the library. Be sure to be there!
Bruce

Here is a summary of the third meeting of our group, which occurred on October 20. Hopefully, it will reflect something close to what happened.

We reviewed the panel discussion on codes that took place on October 14. It was attended by around 25 people. We had all hoped the attendance would be higher, but 25 is 25. General impressions were that the whole area of codes, ordinances, nuisances, etc., is an extremely complex issue, and that it appears no one has a handle on the many nuances of the system. The panel was not able, in most instances, to give direct answers. It appears that they, or really we, have made the rules of the city very complex, and that most things get lost in-between the pages of these codes and regulations, and dumping a problem from one department to the next, so that it eventually goes away. We are going to continue to work with this issue, with the hopes of bringing some clarity and simplicity to the system. Using a magistrate, or conflict negotiator, to resolve some of the complaints and violations was briefly talked about. Things get hung up in court forever. This is an interesting idea that we need to explore.

We then discussed how the group envisions the development of a Community Involvement commission, department, etc. There appears to be some movement in this area regarding the reorganization of an existing commission. It remains unclear what this commission will do, and how it will do it. Three members of the nurturing neighborhood group have been asked to be on the commission. We are going to watch how this develops, to see whether or not it will meet our expectations and the needs we have discussed.

We brought forward our third action priority, which is the general area called neighboring. The discussion centered around making sure decisions regarding the city are made by the citizens, in a bottom-up fashion, or, as it should be on an organizational chart, from us being on the top, and the decisions flowing down to the city council, city planner, and mayor. WE, THE CITIZENS, SHOULD BE ON TOP! Another area discussed was the development of neighborhood groups, organizations, that could take up neighborhood issues. These groups could be an extension of a neighborhood watch group. This is an interesting concept that the group will further explore. Drug problems in neighborhoods was briefly discussed, as was absent landlords. These will be hot topics at future meetings.

An idea came up to pamphlet neighborhoods as a way to publicize the nurturing neighborhood group, with the hopes of increasing interest and participation. Some of the group members agreed to create a pamphlet and we will reproduce it for distribution in various ways.

The next meeting is scheduled for November 16, 6 p.m., at the library. Remember to grab one or two, or twenty, people on your way. We don’t want anyone to miss out on this fun. THIS IS THE PEOPLE IN ACTION.

DUE TO A SCHEDULING CONFLICT, THE NEXT NURTURING NEIGHBORHOODS
ACTION MEETING HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 16, 6 P.M., AT THE LIBRARY.
SORRY. I HAD THEM PUT DOWN THE WRONG DATE.
THE MEETING IS NOW NOVEMBER 16, 6 P.M.

Our next Nurturing Neighborhood meeting will be Nov. 16, 6 p.m., at the library. I apologize for the Monday date. I asked for the wrong date, and the 17th was full by the time I caught it. I definitely did not mean to exclude city council members and the mayor and city planner. I was left with no choice but to go with Monday.

Some things going on, to think about:
1. The first meeting of the cities new commission that we are hoping will help with neighborhood issues will have taken place. We will get a report on the meeting and discuss if it sounds like this commission will meet our needs, expectations.
2. The hunger action group is sponsoring a free Christmas dinner on Dec. 22, 5-8 p.m., at the community center. What type of support do we want to provide? After all, hunger is a neighborhood issue.
3. Are we getting responses, action, regarding code issues? What next?
4. I am about to start a sign campaign on Seminary Street with my neighbors. Is there any interest for doing this anywhere else? i.e. on vacant lots.
5. Do we want to back using vacant lots in neighborhoods for gardens, mini-parks, public areas, etc? Could the signs be our first steps? Work for a change in the ordinance stating a building must be present?
6. The Christmas parade is coming up. Do we want to participate?
7. The magistrate idea brought up by Mr. Loomis is an interesting idea to help resolve neighborhood issues. Do we want to look into this further?
8. What would neighborhood organizations look like? How would we organize them? They could filter information into the commission. Do we want to look at this idea?
9. Anything else?

REMEMBER, NOV. 16, 6 P.M., AT THE LIBRARY. BRING A NEIGHBOR. BRING LOTS OF THEM!

We had about 15 people at our fourth meeting. It was a terrible night weather wise, and we had the meeting on a Monday rather than our normal Tuesday, so all in all the attendance wasn't bad.
WE went over each item in the above post. Here is a short summary of major topics:
1. There seemed to be some confusion among members of the new commission that met. It is unclear exactly how they will proceed.
2. A free dinner will be held on Dec. 22 at the community center, sponsored by the People of Galesburg, the hunger action group, and the neighborhood action group. We will be asking group members to make something and help, if you can. We will let you know what is needed.
3. The code issue is moving along. The city council made some changes to the dog ordinance. We need to stay after this one.
4. Signs are expensive to have made. Looking for a cheaper way to do this.
5. We are making progress regarding the use of lots that the city owns. We have aldermen who will help us.
6. We are going to participate in the Christmas Parade. Sunday, Nov. 22, 1:45 pm, at the corner of Chambers and Main. You can make a sign with something like, Nurturing Neighborhoods Action Group, or whatever. Buy a bag of candy to hand out.
7. Deferred magistrate discussion.
8. We are going to take a trip to Decatur to take to them about organizing neighborhoods. Five people expressed an interest in going. Please let me know if you would like to be included. I will let you know when a date is set.
That was about it. We had about 5 new people. We are moving along. I think we have us a winner. People are starting to take notice.

On December 15, The People of Galesburg are going to be busy. We will host a Town Forum at the public library at 6p.m., and the Nurturing Neighborhood Action Group will meet at 7:30pm, at The Center, across from the library on Cherry Street.

PLEASE NOTE THIS TIME AND PLACE CHANGE: DECEMBER 15, 7:30PM, AT THE CENTER.

You may want to attend both. It should be a good evening.

Bruce

Everyone is invited to the Community Christmas Dinner. This will be an opportunity for us to enjoy a meal together and talk about our future. Please plan on attending: December 22, 5-8 p.m. at the Community Center, 150 E. Simmons Street. Invite anyone. It is a night of celebration: We are stepping forward to build the city we deserve. All of us, together.

We are approaching the Christmas season with a busy schedule. Tuesday, December 15, The People in Galesburg will host an open forum for the general public, from 6-7:30,at the public library. Immediately after that meeting, the Nurturing Neighborhoods Action Group will meet at The Center, at 123 S. Cherry Street, directly East of the library.(You can walk from the library parking lot).
I am excited about the meeting, as our momentum continues to grow.

On Tuesday, December 22, The Hunger Action Group and The Nurturing Neighborhoods Group, both part of The People in Galesburg, will co-host a Community Christmas Dinner, open to anyone who needs or would enjoy a meal with friends. There are a lot of people stepping forward with donations of food and canned goods. The weather has been cold, but the hearts have been warm. It is satisfying to see people coming together to help one another. I couldn't be more encouraged. I believe we will have one heck of an evening. I'm looking forward to it.

The year is ending on a high note. I am glad to be a part of this group. Together we can make this town a place we can all have pride in. All we need to do is keep at it.