I've been watching city council meetings and reading the conversations on "Education Hill of Redmond" Facebook Group and it's obvious that both want better communication of city government with the neighborhoods. In fact, one of mayoral candidate Steve Fields message is that Redmond's neighborhoods have been left behind while the city concentrates on developing the downtown. Councilmember Kim Allen recently recommended to the Mayor that council should hold some of their meetings in various neighborhoods so they can explain growth concerns and communicate better with the residents; city hall is too removed from us.
I found a city -- Bend, Oregon -- that is very organized in running neighborhood associations for their residents. Each association has a website and communication vehicle to reach their city and each other. The link to Bend's neighborhood associations is found here: http://www.bend.or.us/index.aspx?page=832. I recommend you take a look. It is very impressive. A few years ago I recommended Bend's neighborhood association model to the city. They ignored it.
The City of Redmond held "Community Advisory Committees" (CAC) several years ago for a few neighborhoods. Unfortunately, only select residents were invited to attend and the meetings were not ongoing. I tried to get on the Education Hill CAC but wasn't invited. Ouch.
The Education Hill Facebook Group lit up with comments about 166th Ave and downtown growth. It was satisfying to communicate with our Ed Hill neighbors and even Councilmember John Stilin got online. But Redmond government can do a lot better than informal Facebook Groups organized by citizens. Redmond government needs to step up with an ongoing and organized forum for our neighborhoods. Learning about the Bend association model would be a good start. The time is ripe. Our neighborhoods are looking for help.
By Bob Yoder
I found a city -- Bend, Oregon -- that is very organized in running neighborhood associations for their residents. Each association has a website and communication vehicle to reach their city and each other. The link to Bend's neighborhood associations is found here: http://www.bend.or.us/index.aspx?page=832. I recommend you take a look. It is very impressive. A few years ago I recommended Bend's neighborhood association model to the city. They ignored it.
The City of Redmond held "Community Advisory Committees" (CAC) several years ago for a few neighborhoods. Unfortunately, only select residents were invited to attend and the meetings were not ongoing. I tried to get on the Education Hill CAC but wasn't invited. Ouch.
The Education Hill Facebook Group lit up with comments about 166th Ave and downtown growth. It was satisfying to communicate with our Ed Hill neighbors and even Councilmember John Stilin got online. But Redmond government can do a lot better than informal Facebook Groups organized by citizens. Redmond government needs to step up with an ongoing and organized forum for our neighborhoods. Learning about the Bend association model would be a good start. The time is ripe. Our neighborhoods are looking for help.
By Bob Yoder
The City seems to be doing less communication in the last few years, particularly of the listening kind. I remember a number of listening events a few years ago that were oriented primarily toward neighborhood issues being brought up by local residents. Two of our Councilmembers were on community advisory committees before they were elected 6-8 years ago. More typically hearings and other outreach are now focused on individual issues such as the Bike Jump Park, the Budget and parks planning. My suggestion is to contact Jane Christenson or Planning Director Rob Odle to express general concern about lack of two-way communication.
ReplyDeleteThat said, most Councilmembers are happy to listen to concerns and impart any knowledge we do have. There are eight elected officials in Redmond, and seven of them are not the Mayor. My practice is to go to as many City events as possible and be available. I regularly attend the Green Redmond work parties on the last Saturday of the month. I also meet with people who express a specific concern, some of them on a fairly regular basis. My textable phone number is 425-830-4265. My email address is hmyers@redmond.gov.
Everybody seems to have a busy schedule, so it is hard to guess in advance what residents want to talk about and when, so it is best if you and some friends want to talk, arrange a meeting. Couple of other possibilities. Come to our Open Mike session at the beginning of each regular business meeting (1st and 3rd Tuesday nights at 7:30). You will get four minutes, and may use the opportunity to make new connections. We also have an Ombud (gender neutral term approved by the State of Washington) who handles inquiries and requests addressed to council@redmond.gov. The position rotates monthly, so if you did not get a satisfactory answer, try it again next month.
Specificity and persistence pay. I hear all sorts of general comments which really cannot be addressed with an understandable action. We also get people coming out for a single event, and then disappear. If you don't get a response, remind us. We may not have appreciated the significance or timeliness of the issue, or simply didn't understand what you wanted.
Sustaining local interest in a neighborhood association has been the challenge in the past. Sometimes after a few months the meetings become the same five people and their personal agendas. Nothing wrong with a personal agenda, but they should be pursued individually.
Hope this helps, and hope to hear from you-
Hank Myers
425-830-4265 (talk or text)
hmyers@redmond.gov