Westcott East Neighborhood Association Retreat Minutes May 11, 2009 Board Members Present: Tony Gigliotti, Barbara Humphrey, Grace McNamara, Biboti and Jill Ouikahilo, Lisa Salisbury, Charles Tremper, Joanne Waghorne, Marilyn Zaleon What is (should be) the purpose of WENA and who are our stakeholders? The following responses were generated to the above question as we enjoyed Dorian's pizza: Information sharing, networking Getting residents involved in activities to get them to know each other Provide information about upcoming events Move beyond redundancy (TNT) to new directions or actions Move talk in to action Give people something to take with them and want to come back Restructure meetings Use as forum to put ideas on the table, discuss, and work things out when there is disagreement Civic engagement and engagement with each other Meetings are meaningless without commitment WENA Board Business: Some business was conducted at the meeting: Lisa was approved for WENA board membership on a motion by Jill, second by Joanne and unanimous vote of approval. April 13, 2009 minutes were approved on a motion by Jill, second by Lisa. Slate of officers to bring to June meeting: President: Barbara Humphrey Vice President: Lisa Salisbury Secretary: Charles Tremper Treasurer: Starke Donnally What are the topic areas/issues that WENA should/could address? It was decided to look at topic areas and actions as ways to increase participation, membership and, eventually, board membership. Organizational issues were tackled after action issues: Neighborhood Living: Information Sharing to Enhance Safety, Quality of Life Provide a directory of who to call if …. How to save trees if sidewalks are slated for repair What is happening—when, where, etc. Quality of Life Issues to address include noise, trash, illegal parking, impassable sidewalks Put a process in place to address that starts with person-to-person, and only requires government intervention if can't be resolved at person-to-person, or person-to- investor owner levels Door-to-door campaign, one block at a time, to get to know people, talk about issues, develop mechanisms to address them on a block-to-block, neighbor-to-neighbor basis Community Engagement Monthly potlucks at people's houses Block parties Get togethers Reach out to neighbors Include students in outreach Talk with neighbors about how to deal with troubled properties Engage with politicians and institutions in a non-institutional, helpful manner Develop packets for new (and not so new) residents that could be taken door-to-door. Lisa will work on contents. Westcott History Let's look at what WENA has accomplished in its 20+ years of existence Who should we be talking to before they are gone, such as Ollie, Jerry Grant, etc.— people who have memories and memorabilia Tony will get started on this Charles will help and suggests handing out a bulleted list at Westcott Fair WENA Business District Healthy business district enhances health of neighborhood and vice versa, but there are times when one intrudes on the other and we need to have mechanisms to work things out. Parking is one example, but there may be others. Need to figure out what we want from them and what they want from us Maybe expecting them to participate in WENA meetings is unrealistic and we should schedule separate meetings to talk, relate Agreed that WENA should do walking patrol for one more year only. If merchants don't take over by 2010-2011, it will go away. Need to communicate this to them so they can make plans. What can we do to help Jill and Biboti get their dance studio up and running, and address negative business concerns regarding competition? WENA Organization Issues Meeting Date/Time/Place Location works, but start earlier (6:30) if library can accommodate us at that time. No meeting in July, but meet in August. August meeting may be outside in alternative location Communication Minutes out 2 weeks prior to meeting, with meeting notice and call for agenda items to board and email list Rely on email, but explore other options, such as postcard sized yearly meeting list, flyer, etc. Get WENA contact emails on WENA Gmail account. Provide access to Lisa and Charles, and one of them will use it to get minutes, meeting notice and call for agenda items out 1-2 weeks prior to WENA meeting. Also will use Gmail list and web site to provide information about upcoming events. Logo Redo existing to make look better (Lisa) Consider design contest involving neighbors, schools. Tony will contact Liz Liddy. WENA Meeting Structure Start with introductions, but not good news. Maybe at closure, people could give news as part of announcements. Get minutes out in advance, as for corrections prior to meeting. Just approve at meeting as formality, but do not spend time reading and discussing. Provide information, such as WLR, UNP, safety report, in writing. No need to discuss unless there is something worthy to discuss. These meetings don't need to duplicate what is already being done at TNT. Can welcome elected/appointed officials, city staff (such as police), but do not ask for reports from them at the meeting. Maybe time for questions from WENA members to them, but this should be limited and may be eliminated if can't limit. Can send one person to represent WENA at TNT with specific questions or issues for city officials. STAY ON TOPIC. Lisa will help by letting us know when we start to stray and help bring us back. WENA Membership Membership initiative start by getting important information about WENA out in laminate form to neighbors, with WENA logo and contact info Get membership information out to neighbors Get WENA name, logo out in other ways, such as bags with WENA logo that carries packets of information about neighborhood, such as who to call, what is happening. Lisa will begin compiling important information and look into where we could obtain inexpensive bags with WENA logo Marilyn will get existing membership list to Jill and Lisa. We won't expend energy contacting names on the list, but recruiting neighbors, many of whom are on the list. The list will give us contact info, and can be used to add new contacts. At each meeting, we will gather names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, and these will be added to the "member" database. Lisa will design the sign in sheets. Move from 501(c)(4) to 501(c)(3)? May not qualify—need charitable purpose Would have to curtail lobbying or advocacy Could accept grants, but not sure if need Higher level of reporting requirements Meeting Evaluation Good cooperation Good to be able to outline goals and plans Action plans are valuable Building membership around block-by-block, neighbor-to-neighbor connections should produce positive results Helpful to have action items, but still not clear how these will be incorporated into meeting agendas and what we walk away with Plans for the future are good We all have to work hard at keeping meetings on track Good ideas on the table, good things to work on NEXT MEETING: Monday, June 8, 6:30 at Petit Library