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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Actions 05-06-96 JtSes ROANOKE CITY COUNCIL ROANOKE NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP JOINT SESSION MAY 6, 1996 12:30 p.m. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM AGENDA 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Welcome. Mayor Bowers. Introduction of Steering Committee Members. Statement of Purpose. Mayor Bowers and Chairman Winstead. Update - Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership. Group Discussion. Other Remarks. Adjournment. In the late 1970s, the city's leaders knew that government alone could not solve Roanoke's problems. Relationah~s in the comm~mity were strained as fiscal conditions were bleak and suburban flight lef~ Roanoke City weak. City leaders knew that solving those problems would requires greater citizen participation and a closer partnership among many elements of the community. The city leaders also knew they needed a way to bring pull this partnership together. City Council sponsored a community-wide forum to get input from residents. Over 500 people attended the forum held at the Civic Center and many expressed the things they liked and the things they would change about living in Roanoke. WBRA-TV produced a Neighborhood Partnership program to tell people about the effort and The Roanoke Times and World News started its "Neighbors" section to provide a place for neighborhood news to be seen. These first efforts were so successful that a team of consultants was hired to complete a neighborhood planning process in four neighborhoods and to begin forging a partnership relationship between the city, businesses, non-profits and neighborhoods. To help institutionalize the Parmership approach, City Council appointed the Roanoke Neighborhood Parmership Steering Committee in 1980. This 30-member committee was composed of volunteers from neighborhoods, non-profit agencies, businesses and government. In 1981, the Steering Committee developed the first Partnership budget which included a paid Partnership Coordinator. To assist the growing number of Partner~h'.m members, as well as coordinate the work of the many city depamnents which assist with neighborhood requests, a secretary and a planner were hired in 1984. Today, the Partnership consists of 25 neighborhood organizations, 3 business associations, 23 City Council -appointed Steering Committee members, committed city staft~ business and non- profit agencies, and hundreds of volunteers. The Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership is an action-oriented coalition of neighborhoods, business, and Roanoke City Government working to preserve and improve the quality of living in Roanoke. This is our mission statement as developed by the Steering Committee. The goals of the Partnership have remained consistent over the years: they are Communication, Technical Assistance, Training and Advocacy. More plainly, the Partnership goals are: 1. to improve communication between the city and citizens; 2. to provide assistance to neighborhood organizations; 3. to provide leadership training and other education to neighborhood leaders; 4. and, to serve as an advocate w/thin City Hall for neighborhood interest. We meet these goals by providing a forum for two-way communication between citizens and government; providing access to the resources of neighborhoods, businesses, and government; and involving citizens in decisions which affect their lives and quality of life. m going to nm through and briefly hit on most of our programs: U U We have a Community Life Sub=committee of the Steering Committee which focuses on community development, (I have a saying that the most important reason for having a comm~mity organization is to Party, by that I mean socialize. These events strengthen our senses of belonging and our sense ofresponsib'dity.) -Chili Cookoff was held this weekend -Pot Luck coming up in June, where neighborhood leaders share what they learned at N-USA -Anniversary and Awards Celebration is in September -Holiday Celebration is in December. -Neighborhoods are also very active in Community Development activities, like picnics and Public Safety Appreciation events. (Last year, 8 neighborhoods held public safety events.) The Partnership has an Awards Program. There is an ad-hoc Awards Sub-committee which reviews, the nominations, all made by neighborhoods. There are six categories, but all nominees recerve recognition. The awards are handed out at the Anniversary Celebration. Last year we had a record of 23 nominations made. There is a Communication Sub-committee which works on maintaining communication with neighborhoods and the whole community. -In the past, we publiahed a bi-annual, city-wide newsletter, distributed in the Roanoke Times. This year, we are hoping to utilize the proposed "City Page" to publish information about the Partnership and organizing in leu of the publication coming out of the Partnership budget. -This committee may be expanded to include Marketing the Partnership. In Addition to the City-wide newsletter, the Partnership staff?puts together a monthly newsletter called "Neighborhood Notes" to get information to neighborhood organizations and all our partners. Elizabeth Watson, the Partnership Secretary, edits our newsletter and it is printed and distributed in house. The Partnership has a couple of Neighborhood Grant Programs. The Mini-grant has been around since the be~nnlng of the Partnership. It is a grant for up to $1,500 and can be used for neighborhood projects, such as beautification and newsletters. Most of the neighborhood signs you see in the community were mini-grant projects. The Neighborhood Development Grant is for $2-10,000 and is for more major projects. A neighborhood is qualified for these grants alter soccessfuHy completing a Mini-grant. Mrs Thomhili's neighborhood has used this grant to SACEUR or fix up property in their neighborhood. Applications for both grants are reviewed by the Grants Sub-Committee. This task has gotten more difficult lately. Because of changes in HUD guidelines, neighborhoods that once qualified for CDBG funds no longer do and there isu't enough City funds in the program to meet the requests. For example, we will be getting $10,000 CDBG funds for Mini-grants and we've received requests for about $3,500 of those funds. Conversely, we have $5,000 available in City funds for Mini-grants and have received $9,500 in requests for these funds. Operation Paintbrush is another program where neighborhoods can improve the appearance of their comm~mity. With the help of the Housing Authority, we take paint houses of people who might not otherwise be able to. All projects are recommended by the neighborhoods. Last year, we did 12 Operation Paintbrush projects. Eyesores are another major issues to neighborhoods. Eyesores are complicated things, not just affecting property values. They effect the quality of life in neighborhoods. An unkept neighborhood also has an increased occurrence of crime. The Partnership has always worked hard to eliminate eyesores in the comm~mity. Many neighborhoods have Eyesore Committees whose job it is to turn in eyesore complaints. We have a program called Eyesore Alert! in which we follow up on complaints. In 1994, the Partnership and many neighborhood leaders worked with Bill Clark, Director of Public Works, on a committee to solve some eyesore problems. The towing program recently initiated, was recommended by that group. Another effort to fight eyesores is just starting with a team of people, including Dolores Daniels and the Citizens Request for Services, who are getting together to systematically communicate between departments, be able to follow up on complaints, and more efficiently correct our community's eyesore complaints. Working with these teams is very common for the Partnership. We have been very active in participating with the City Action Team, who have been meeting since August, 1995. The Teamhas at least 16 members, made up of various city departments. We are working together in an effort to coordinate our work in the community and take note of when we need to do things differently. The Partnership also represented neighborhood concerns on the committee which drat~ed the Rental Inspections Program. We also helped design and administer the public process where the community got the oppommity to have a say in what the program would look like. The Partnership and neighborhood leaders are about to participate on other to provide community input in desi~mfing programs. Some of the upcoming issues are: -10th Street improvements -Automated trash -Bulk trash collection -the Ward System Neighborhood beautification and eyesores are important issues that directly effect the quality of life in neighborhoods. Another issue, which is so much more complicated, has an even bigger influence on neighborhoods. That issue is Crime. Crime~ is a major issue for neighborhoods. I noticed on the national news last night that crime rates were down all across the country. The news attributed this to three things: Community Policing; enforcement on minor infractions; and the commlnlity' S participation and lack of tolerance for crime. The Partnership is a member of the Virginia Crime Prevention Association. We have a Crime Prevention Sub-committee that holds community-wide fomma on crime prevention topics. Many neighborhoods have Crime Watches. Agroup ofconcemedneighborhood leaders has also started the Neighborhood Court Watch, to learn more about what happens a~er the arrest. Both Crime Watches and the Court Watch are asking for incident reports on crimes in neighborhoods. We are also still working on getting some form of police/neighborhood liaison program working. To help neighborhoods deal with the issues they take on, the Partner,qb'? has started a new Training Program. It began last summer with a survey of nelghborhood training needs. Of 100 surveys that went out, 33 were returned. We learned about neighborhood needs and developed a curriculum on topics like Member.qhip Development and Crime Prevention. We set up presenters, most of whom were volunteers. Each session had a manual or booklet. And most of the training evaluations were very positive. With the experience gained ~om this first training program effort, we will be setting up the next curriculum this summer. We have also been developing brochures in addition to the training events and workbooks. They explain how to do things and give information. The first brochures include How to plan a block Party and 911, an informational piece on the 911 emergency system More information about neighborhood issues was gotten through a plsnning session held in November. We learned about neighborhood issues and some strategies for solutions. Recently, the Long Range Planning Sub-committee put together a Steering Committee Retreat where the neighborhood issues were addressed and assigned to sub-committees. These sub-committee assignments will be the topic of the next Steering Committee meeting. There have been some new developments in the Partnership that are worth mentioning. The Presidents Council will probably be an important part of the Partnership structure. The Presidents Council has been talked about within the Partnership family for a long time. The council provides a forum for neighborhood leaders to network, to learn what each other is doing, and to share solutions to problems. The other thing that the Presidents Council is doing, is prioritizing issues. It is very helpful for me to be able to that this is an important neighborhood issue having had the neighborhoods come together to agree on its importance. One of our challenges will be reco~t, nizi~g that each neighborhood has its own unique concerns while prioritizing city-wide concerns. The Presidents Council will also give the city administration and city council and forum to communicate with neighborhoods.