Join Busybody Neighbors
Attend. Bring us your ideas. Bring your projects. Bring us your friends and neighbors. Consider becoming a Board member.
On Saturday, January 8, we will be presenting a program featuring Seattle’s Deputy Chief of Police Clark Kimerer and City Councilmember Tim Burgess, Chair of the Public Safety and Education Committee, along with representatives from the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition. The Squire Park Community Council will also be electing new Board members.
Issues of public safety are multi-pronged. Beyond catching the bad guys, public safety encompasses issues of economic development, social justice, and neighborhood cohesiveness and caring for each other. Engaging with our public servants is one important step. But, this must be combined with building a sense of connection, continuation, and identity if these efforts are to have any lasting affect.
Recently, a long-existing community council for a neighborhood near Squire Park faced what its President termed a “crisis”. Only five people showed up at the meeting where that community council was scheduled to select board members for the next year. In a call to service on the CentralDistrictNews.com the community council president called the situation “disheartening”. Discussion followed. One writer trolled “(t)here is nothing more irritating than busybody neighbors who want to have a say in their neighbors’ business. For anyone who wants to get involved in their community, I have only one thing to say: GET A LIFE and leave your neighbors alone. “
If, on the other hand, you’re more open to taking part in an effort with your neighbors to build community through the community council join us at CAMP on Saturday morning, January 8th. Online communication among community members can be very important. However, it does not replace getting together face to face. In response to the troll, another commenter wrote “I believe a sense of neighborhood and neighbors directly impacts quality of life — and kids’ quality of life.”
One of the most important foundations for any neighborhood to develop is a sense of identity and working together to enhance the livability of the area. During the last decade vacant buildings became homes, and places where residents can congregate and socialize have been developed. Nonetheless, there is more to be accomplished in order to fully realize vitality of the neighborhood and its rich diversity.
Exactly what the community council works on, and the measure of success it can achieve depends on the participation of neighbors. That could be you. The SPCC Newsletter goes to more than three thousand households. We hope the Newsletter gives you some information that’s news to you. But, a primary goal of the Newsletter is to encourage you to join us for the quarterly meetings. Please join the Squire Park Community Council in January for coffee, refreshments and conversation, and please consider becoming a new Board member.
*Boundaries as established in the 1980’s, are 23rd Avenue, E. Union Street, 12th Avenue, and S. Jackson Street. SPCC is the City-recognized organization that advocates for efforts to protect and enhance neighborhood livability and vitality.
10:AM to noon, CAMP 722 18th Avenue, Saturday, January 8, 2011