Council of Neighborhood Associations

May 2019

MEETING AGENDA

  • 6:30 – 6:35PM Welcome and Introductions
  • 6:35 – 6:40PM Review Amend/Approve Minutes
  • 6:40 – 6:50PM Update from Councilmember Gilman
  • 6:50 – 7:00PM Summary of OPC hearing
  • 7:00 – 7:15PM Update on the Thurston County Food Project
  • 7:15 – 7:30PM CNA East – West Neighborhood Candidate Forums
  • 7:30 – 8:10PM Comments and discussion from those who attended either/both of the Downtown and Community Meetings on Homelessness Response Planning
  • 8:10 – 8:20PM Agenda Items for June
  • 8:30PM Adjourn

Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) Minutes

Date: Monday, May 13, 2019   Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Ave, Room 207, Olympia WA

Present:  Officers: Chair, Denise Pantelis, Cain Road Area. Vice Chair, Dave Marty, Indian Creek. Co-secretaries, Marty Worcester, Redwood Estates & Jennifer Davis, South Capitol.

Members: Clydia Cuykendall, WLH; Chris Arnold, NCA; Randy Libert, LCC; Jim Sweeny, ENA; Bob Jacobs, Governor Stevens. Don Law, EBDNA; Jacque Ellis, Castlewood; Mark Toy, SWONA, Melissa Allen, BHNA.

Representatives and Guests: Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director Community Planning & Development. Mark Russell, Deputy Director, City of Olympia Public Works. Evergreen Students Jeremy Mohn, Hope Kilbourne, Katy Payne.

The Meeting Convened at 6:32 PM by Chair, Denise Pantelis. Members and City officials introduced themselves.

  1. Minutes of April 8, 2019: Corrections made– simplifying description of tax incentives and other minor corrections– and were approved as corrected.
  2. Agenda: Agenda was amended, removing update from Councilmember Gilman (with request to send an alternate if he will be out for more meetings)
  3. Presentation from Evergreen State College Students: Dave Marty introduced Master’s students from Evergreen State College. Jeremy Mohn, Hope Kilbourne, Katy Payne presented a capstone proposal for CNA, focused on civic participation and whether social media is a barrier or encouragement to civic participation. The students discussed their research findings, showing that in- person civic participation is low. The goal of project is to use online resources to counter the effect of social participation, e.g., the CNA web site. Social media can help people feel comfortable engaging because they know others attending. The students presented ideas on how to make the CNA events calendar more engaging, such as a moderated discussion board and better organized links. CNA members asked questions and discussed aspects of the idea, how social media works for neighborhoods in general (including Next-door), how to better maintain all the various links and connections, and how to create a more informed community/constructive communication (e.g., suggesting contacts for info on various problems). A clear problem/goal statement is critical to put into context the purpose of the CNA web site. Dave Marty is the liaison to the students if folks have follow-up questions.
  4. Summary of Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) hearing: Dave and Denise attended this hearing (Bob had provided comments ahead). There were 11 proposals advertised, and OPC took action on 10 of 11 items. The item held back had to do with public notification. There is an assumption that sending public notice to RNA contacts will mean notice gets distributed to the neighbors. Denise requested a joint meeting with the OPC to discuss notice and expectations about RNA role in public participation. Bob brought up the lack of context/purpose provided for the ordinance changes that went to the OPC. Need the city to have consistent problem statements for items, even small ones.
  5. Update on the Thurston County Food Project: Denise gave an update on participants in the Thurston County Food Project. Denise described the impressive statistics– 163 banana boxes of food were collected from neighborhoods last month, representing a huge positive impact. Denise can help arrange a presentation to anyone’s neighborhood group. Bob suggested City Council do a recognition of neighborhood participation in this project.
  6. CNA East – West Neighborhood Candidate Forums: Last council election, four neighborhoods organized a successful forum at the Elks Club. Want to propose this year doing two forums, one on east side and one on west side. Discussed keeping it to just city council candidates. Need to sort and categorize questions ahead of time. We had a few planning meetings ahead of time, and we had a survey monkey to collect questions ahead of time. Eastside one will be at Elks Club. Mark Toy said they can use Gloria Dei church, and he has expressed interest. We will put as agenda item for volunteers on next agenda.   
  7. Comments and discussion from those who attended either/both of the Downtown and Community Meetings on Homelessness Response Planning: Jennifer gave some brief context about how the Workgroup is listening and working on response planning, with a series of focus groups upcoming and collection of perspective from different groups, including homeless people themselves. Members who attended shared their experiences. There was a huge variety in report out and a lack of consensus. Discussed some of what was heard and experienced. Well-moderated and attended. Concern with the scope of the problem, fear around the issue, differing expectations. Chris discussed his experience with the homeless census, and how homeless people themselves are concerned with giving out information. Discussed how public safety levy is helping OPD respond to those needing the most help. Denise talked about barriers to signing up for Engage Olympia, including divulging your personal information.
  8. Agenda Items for June:
    • Details on tax incentives for multifamily housing- clarifying what they really are
    • Update on planning for fall candidate forums- east/west
    • Parks update– Dog parks, sprayground
    • Request for CNA for a statement of support for a city/county Climate Action Plan (although we may have a policy on not taking a position on such things—Clydia volunteered to research it)
    • Matching grant signed for training sessions for all RNA reps/board members—need subcommittee and scheduling.

Final note: the city’s google group is going away and you need to re-sign up for the issues you need information on; Dave will put on CNA web site.

The meeting adjourned at 7:56 PM

Submitted by Jennifer Davis – Co-Secretary

20190513_Minutes PDF