Special
Meeting for Survey and Participation Agreement
February 12, 2011, 10:30 am
Perkins Restaurant
Present: Jenny Bjorgo, Chiffon
Williams, Carol Pass, Mary Gonsior, Rosie Cruz, Earl Simms, Linda Leonard, Mahammed Cali, Brad Pass, Alfonso
Cruz, Sherzad Kordion
10:30 Participation Agreement:
Discussion
Considered some other
neighborhood Phase II Plans, The Wedge, Survey only seem to have included 21
people. Comment: Most neighborhoods don’t have to translate or explain what a
survey is.
·
Review
of Document, Carol will change draft to include group’s ideas/changes.
·
Again,
Time Line looks ambitious, It was decided to leave it and try to accomplish the
actions
·
Neighborhood
Description is accurate and useful
·
Steering
Committee Description: Concern that we can get enough people involved to form
an appropriate Steering Committee. What is an appropriate sSeering Comm.? It
was mentioned that we already cover almost all the ethnic categories. But we
still should have more people. Some N’hoods only had about 5 people for a
beginning group. Checking other N’hoods. EPIC is doing better than many.
·
Outreach
description reflects our decisions. Focus Groups and door-to-door survey, Jennie
and Chiffon will coordinate and see others to help. Rosie will do a focus
group Jennie has several Native
Americans who want to help. Mahamed will help w/focus groups and survey.
·
Plan
Development Process as we described. Focus groups won’t be hard, but will take
time. 2909 Bloomington Apartments already planned. Somali treats, Use NPI money
for food at focus groups
·
Jennie: Jobs, economy, should be in plan, not just
‘art’ and murals, etc.
·
Phase
II Approval Process okay, but expensive,
·
Creation
of brochure to advertise EPIC and the future.
·
Concern
that some most won’t want to do the survey. Need enthusiasm
·
Budget is bigger than anything we have used
before…but we never did this before.
·
Plan needs to remain pretty general but the
group wants ‘concreteness’, not fluff, not just concepts
·
Carol
observed that most of the discussion has been on whether we can do this and how
fast and not on the methods in the Agreement itself. Also do we like the
concepts on the survey?? A mix of concrete and concepts. Taken from discussions
and comment papers at last Annual Meeting.
Group
likes the plan, stands up to other plans, just may take longer with our extreme
diversity. Can amend if necessary.
MOTION: Participation Agreement approved by
consensus.
Survey reexamined-
·
CP: Survey, methods, Decision to separate the
Business survey from the rest, Like Phase One. Businesses were never done
before our phase I , Joyce Wisdom was concerned and has her own survey going.
Didn’t want competition. Businesses need help, but EPIC has little money.
·
Concern
that EPIC can offer something meaningful. Demonstrate that in the survey.
·
Shortened
resident survey –tried to make it more concrete and fit what we actually
can/might do.
·
LL: We want to know if the neighborhood is better
or worse .
·
RC: Make a space for their own comments,
Spanish??
·
CP:
EPIC will have bilingual surveyers and translations
·
LL: Determine first languages, there is more
than Spanish and Somali. Find the English speaker in Hmong or Nepali Households.
·
JB: Years in neighborhood and if they want to
stay…Some people say it is like a small town..
·
CP:
Two sections: Housing and Community Betterment
·
LL:
Include Youth and Elders…Carol remarked that we have almost NO
elders…they all live in West Phillips or V V.
·
BP:
Agreed we want to suggest real programs that help people, the most
disadvantaged…
·
JB:
Again Jobs, not just ‘art’,etc.
but we do like art.
·
CP: We can get more specific later when nailing
down actual expenditures, etc.
·
Chiffon:
keep kids off the streets with sports, etc. that need discipline.
·
Plan
needs to remain pretty general but he group wants ‘concreteness’, not fluff
·
BP:
Need to include projects already in process that already have a lot of
neighborhood history and support….kitchen in the Park building and the Greenway
Apartments. And do we really think we can have an office for EPIC??
·
CP:
this came from when we have been
collaborating with Midtown, a lot of people want to float this idea. We
probably can never get an office if we don’t do it together. But may be too
ambitious. See what the community thinks.
·
CP:
The support for new construction also seems out there, but some people want it
included just in case. We can always put a zero there and keep it as a category
we want.
Group
likes the participation plan, stands up to other plans, just may take longer.
Survey endorsed by the task force, bring it to the Community Meeting. Vision
statement considered. Not final..Used ideas from the EPPark Vision statement…
The mission of EPIC is to promote the social, educational
and economic health of the community by involving all East Phillips residents
in its activities and by reaching out to all segments of the community
including traditionally under-represented groups to create, from our global
roots, a safe community that fosters open communication and mutual support
among neighbors.”
Carol
will put in changes in survey and email around for a last look and comments. It
was agreed to start soon but the cold will slow this down.
We
adjourned …Perkins was nice.
