Want intelligent feedback on your writing, or a critique on a poem or bit of prose? Join us for SPLAB’s acclaimed writer’s critique circle, Living Room.

Writers of all ages and skill levels gather in the 2nd floor lounge of the Columbia City Cinema, at 4816 Rainier AV S, Tuesdays at 7P to read new work, the work of someone else or to just be in the engaging company of other writers. You suggested donation of 3-$10 helps SPLAB put on special events and expand programming.

Running each Tuesday until December 15th and again every Tuesday night in February through the end of May, it’s Living Room. Writers are encouraged to continue the dialog during the week at this here website.

& join us in March for a visit by acclaimed Beat Poet Michael McClure.

Our thanks go to Paul Doyle and the Columbia City Cinema.

1. Meeting called to order
2. Introductions – All (5 min)
3. Introduction of Cpt Emerick, new South Precinct Commander (10 min)
4. Review and Approval of June Meeting Minutes- Greg A (5 min)
5. Report from the Membership & Outreach Committee (5 min)
• Potential Vote on Admittance of New Member
6. Report from the representative to the NPAC- Christie C (5 min)
7. Report from the representative to the CNC- Dick B (5 min)
8. Report of the Neighborhood Projects Fund Review Committee (5 min)
• Funding Outcomes
9. DPD Briefing on Neighborhood Plan Draft Strategies (30 min)
10. Parks Department Briefing on Open Space Levy (10 min)
11. SDOT Briefing on the Bridging the Gap Large Transportation Project Process (20 min)
• Q&A
• Introduction of 2007 BTG Large Project applicants
12. Friends of Library Presentation (10 min)
13. Announcements- All (10 min)
14. Adjourn at 8:30 p.m.

We meet every Saturday morning at 8:30 (Parking lot outside The Verve) and Tuesday evenings at 6:30 (In front of the Pottery Studio at Seward Park). Saturday we generally run together the first mile and then split into groups to suit everyones' wants/needs. And we always meet back at The Verve or Empire Espresso for water, coffee, socializing and maybe a bite to eat.

Tuesday's are a 2-3 mile run broken up with various strength training excercises.

DINKs/SINKs
Tuesday, AUGUST 25th
7 PM
Saffron
5100 South Dawson (by the PCC)
http://www.saffronrest.com/
Please let me know if you are going to make it so I can give the restaurant a head count- ten.ryem|asil#ten.ryem|asil (also let me know if you want to be added to the mailing list)

THANKS

Who we are: A social group for young professionals with no children (we do love our friends with children but are looking for a chance to meet others at the same stage in life, and it seems that the ‘with children’ group is pretty well connected through schools, parent groups, daycare, etc…)

The criteria will be very loose- SINKs, single professionals…. all are welcome!

Thanks to all who attended the Neighborhood Planning Meeting (a LOT of you!). A strong showing of attendance is a great way to show the city that we care about our neighborhood and have a lot of ideas for how to continue to improve! Kudos to all who attended.

Please come to hear what transpired at the neighborhood planning meeting, or if you attended the meeting, please come by and share your experience.

We have a couple projects that can be done on a small scale in the neighborhood but have a lasting effect:

The Department of Neighborhoods is GIVING AWAY FRUIT TREES! If you can get 5 other households to participate, everyone gets free apple or cherry trees. Come to the meeting to learn more!

The Department of Neighborhoods is ALSO giving away "small and simple" grants to people with project ideas that cost less than $15,000 and can be completed in less than 12 months. Bring your ideas and get some more details at the meeting!

Also, learn about "natural drainage systems" and find out how to advocate for Columbia City, Hillman City, or Genesee to get one of these. Think tree-lined streets, traffic calming, and sidewalk/curb/gutter improvements all in one! This would be a great project for one of the many streets in our areas with no curbs or gutters and minimal sidewalks. Please come by the meeting to find out more.

DINKs/SINKs (double or single income no kids)
This THURSDAY (tomorrow) March 30, 2009
6pm, Verve Wine Bar

We are just a casual social group that meets once a month, please join us and spread the word!

RSVP, for more info or to get on the DINK/SINK mailing list email:
ten.ryem|asiL#ten.ryem|asiL

Listening Mothers focuses on the mother’s and baby’s experience and the relationship they share with each other. Integrating recent research findings with the intuition and understanding mothers have for their babies sets the foundation for long lasting emotional health.

What You’ll Gain…

Clarity - Develop your identity as a mother and discuss your feelings about this role.

Insight - Strengthen your emotional bond with your child as you explore your thoughts and feelings about your baby and motherhood.

Awareness - Look into your childhood experiences and how they impact your parenting.

Confidence - Learn how to tune into and respond to your baby’s needs. Help your baby feel calm and interested in his/her world.

Knowledge - Talk about how your relationship with your partner affects the baby and how your baby impacts your relationship.

Understanding - Learn how baby’s primary relationships and experiences set the foundation for early learning.

When: Fridays, starting April 10
Time: 1pm - 2:30pm
Where: Seattle Home Maternity, 3830 South Ferdinand
To register: Visit us online at www.listeningmothers.org or call 275-0104

The Listening Mothers program has been supporting infants and their moms to strengthen their relationships for 10 years.

Planning is necessary to build the long-term vision of how our city can meet its citizens’ needs for healthy swimming opportunities. Only through the public process such a plan would provide can we build broad consensus on priorities and methods for addressing all aspects of costs. Ongoing maintenance and operational costs are a mounting challenge for the Parks Department as a whole, but these issues are particularly problematic for our aging pool system.
We are in the process of applying for the NMF grant and need your pledged volunteer hours to match available funds. See below for ideas about how you can contribute.
Then email me; Aimee Bullock, c/o Friends of Pools in SE Seattle gro.sloopelttaes|eemia#gro.sloopelttaes|eemia and let me know how many hours you can contribute over the course of a 12 month project should the application be approved.

Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant Application

To match a $25,000 grant, we need 834 pledged hours of volunteer time.

Here’s how you can help during your pledged hours:

Attend community-driven design/planning meetings
Attend project steering committee meetings
Help with outreach (posting flyers, handing out notices)
Aquatics research in design and programming
Attending public hearings and writing letters to public officials
Hosting information tables at local events to raise awareness
Offering specialized services: marketing, technical writing, internet expertise, grant writing, urban planning, demographic research, economic analysis, architecture and structural engineering consulting, and pro bono legal advice
Liaison work with: community councils and other local institutions and organizations

Our collection is relatively small right now (just Settlers of Catan, Through the Desert Carcassonne, Xiang Qi, Go, Balloon Cup, and Lost Cities), so we'd hope that other people would be able to contribute to the pool. Some are two-player games, but most are 3-5. Lots of good suggestions can be found on BoardGameGeek.

If you're interested, just add a post here and we'll put something together once there are enough people. Thanks for reading!

A social group for young professionals with no children (we do love our friends with children but are looking for a chance to meet others at the same stage in life, and it seems that the ‘with children’ group is pretty well connected through schools, parent groups, daycare, etc…)

The criteria will be very loose- SINKs, single professionals, etc… are all welcome!

How about we meet up at Columbia City Ale House on Thursday, January 22nd at 7pm for dinner/drinks? This is very casual so feel free to show up late- I assume we will be there till 9ish. Please share this with neighbors who may be interested in this group and may not ready the wiki.

If you can take a min please respond to this if you will attend- so I know if anyone else will be there besides my husband and I. :)

THANKS! Look forward to meeting you.

The meeting will be held Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Columbia City branch of the Seattle Public Library, 4721 Rainier Ave. S. (at Rainier Ave. S. and S. Alaska Sts.) from 10:30 AM - 1 PM. We won't be providing refreshments, so feel free to bring your own snacks, lunch and/or beverages.

The question Lois and I came up with follows. Then I received "official" materials from the Transition Team. If you want to read their Participant Guide, which includes more specific questions, ahead of time, please contact me at moc.liamg|ecurpseulbj#moc.liamg|ecurpseulbj. We'll have our discussion and listen to people's stories and ideas and then send the feedback on to the Transition Team. Have your say - join us on the 27th!

"Based on your experiences receiving and working in health care, how can the Obama Administration design a health care system that:

• Meets people's needs for care and other services (information, support for health behavior change, care coordination, etc.)
• Is affordable and accessible
• Provides an equitable, safe, healthful place for people to work and
• Includes alternative approaches to healing and wellness?"

Lois Thetford has worked for many years as a health care practitioner and activist in community clinics and homeless shelters. She helped found the Fremont Women's Clinic and the 45th Street Clinic. She received the Jefferson Award in 2001 for her wonderful service to the community. I have worked in health care for most of my adult life in a variety of capacities (nursing, health promotion, quality improvement, physician/staff training, etc.) and have a strong interest in alternative methods of healing.

Thank you - June BlueSpruce

I think there are some unpleasant things going on in our neighborhood groups, and that's definitely part of the problem.

It can be hard for people who are deeply involved in something to make it feel inviting for new folks, or even to see that it's not inviting for new folks. These are things we could all work on.

I think another factor is that lots of people get excited about working on a particular project or issue, but they're not interested in the work of maintaining a standing organization. Life is short, we've all got busy lives, decisions about bylaws feel pretty distant from the playground project you were so passionate about… So once the playground is built, the trees are planted, the political campaign is over, or whatever — people drift off. (This doesn't mean you lose the connections forged during the project, though… I think the Hillman City group actually leaves behind a pretty good network of relationships and an e-mail list that will continue to serve the neighborhood, even without an ongoing organization. And if the need should arise for an official group, I have no doubt it will rise again, partly because people know each other now, and how to work together.)

They say that the era of civic-groups-as-social-glue is waning (see Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone). People are getting their sense of identity, belonging, connection, etc. elsewhere (church groups, activity clubs, school communities, even at work). Many of us are feeling these pulls from too many directions at once, even (who, me?). And so maybe when the neighborhood group meetings start to feel less than fun, it makes sense to bail & put your energy somewhere else.

(Which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, except that these neighborhood groups often represent the "voice" of the neighborhood, the official channel of communication with the City… so if people drift off or otherwise bail, they're no longer part of that communication…)

I'm definitely *not* a major participant in any of the groups we're talking about, so I'm not presuming to have any comprehensive answers. But these are a few of the factors that affect me, and possibly others.

Thanks for bringing this up, Scott.

Cheers,

Mikala

Hillman City has hung up their spurs. Columbia City can't command a quorum. Our District Council(s) are fractious and fractured. Even our neighborhood's long-established churches are dwindling. Recently it seems our local organizing efforts boil down to a few committed people, then just evaporate. What's up with that?

My first instinct is to tackle the question head-on, to write the mother of all blogs, a definitive post that lays out the whole damn problem. But my view is limited. Besides, this is a wiki — so I'll toss these questions in and see what ideas come of them.

What is it that challenges sustained neighborhood organization? Is "hyper-local" really hip, or is it mostly hype? What have we learned? Are there better alternatives?

Meeting called to order by Boyd Pickrell, President
Rules of Conduct (5 mins)
Introductions (5 mins)
Review minutes for September 2008 (5 mins)

Nominations for SEDC representative to the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee and discussion regarding process for selecting a representative (10 mins)
Nominations for SE District Council Executive Committee (10 mins)

Vote: SEDC Policy on Adopting and Reporting Positions on Issues of Public Policy. (15 mins)

Presentation: Seattle City Council Member Sally Clark
Re: Incentive zoning plus the neighborhood planning process (20 mins)

Presentation: Sara Robertson, Seattle Department of Transportation
Re: the Southeast Transportation Study plus strategies to address parking concerns at the Sound Transit light rail stations (15 mins)

Presentation: Chris Leman, Chair of the City Neighborhood Council
Re: offer by former Department of Neighborhoods Director Jim Diers to initiate discussion to resolve concerns held by organizations that have chosen not to participate in the District Council (15 mins)

Discussion: City Neighborhood Council issues (5 mins)
a) Position regarding Southeast Neighborhood District Council at large membership
b) Election of CNC executive committee

Public comment period (15 mins – longer if required)

We're meeting 1st and 3rd Mondays at 7pm, New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S., Columbia City. Free. Come to any or all sessions.

Sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Party. For more information call 206-722-2453,
email moc.gnirpsdnim|elttaesPSF#moc.gnirpsdnim|elttaesPSF, or visit www.socialism.com.

We will meet this coming Sunday at 1 pm on Mountainview Dr., just south of Columbian Way. Please come join us! We will probably be cutting ivy off trees. If you have a hand saw and/or clippers, please bring them. We do have some extra tools and gloves.

Regular work parties are planned for the first and third Sundays of the month from 1-3pm.

Please be apart of this effort to create a beautiful, local, southend park!

Questions, email Mary at ude.ups|gnojedm#ude.ups|gnojedm