In attendance were the some of the City staffers that were there last week at the first dialogue in Ward 3 (at the NW Neighborhood Center). Councilmember Nina Trasoff and City Manager Mike Letcher did the welcomes. The format was the same, with six break out tables of residents discussing the same questions I wrote about in my previous blog “Let the Dialogues Begin” on 9/28/09.

Neighbors/activists I recognized participating tonight: Paul Mackey, Les Pierce, Don Ijams (Neighborhood Support Network), Colette Altaffer & Ruth Beeker (Neighborhood Infill Coalition), Robin Gomez, Bill Dupont, Mary DeCamp (candidate for Ward 3 council seat), Joanie Sawyer (Pro Neighborhoods), Alice Roe, Tres English.

Again, there was a promise at the end to post these comments and suggestions on their website, www.tucsonaz.gov/dialogues. But again there was no consensus on what are the City’s top budget priorities and what areas need to be cut. I wonder how the City Manager & his staff will weed through all these suggestions to come up with “key services” that should be prioritized for the City’s budget. Otherwise, these public dialogues may become mere “discussions”, with no solutions.

There are still five more City dialogues to attend in case you’ve missed the first three.

Coming up tomorrow night is the one in Ward 4 at Desert Sky Middle School, 9850 E. Rankin Loop, at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Be there to express your opinion on how the City of Tucson should prioritize their budget, but I wonder what the final outcome after these 8 dialogues will be. Stay tuned.

Donald Ijams, a retired Senior Management Analyst at TPD is the coordinator of this group and had dreamed of setting up such a network after he retired 4 years ago.

Residents of eight neighborhoods were represented at the meeting: Colonia del Valle, Doolen Fruitvale, El Montevideo, Palo Verde, Peter Howell, Sam Hughes, San Clemente, and South Park. This meeting was a roundtable discussion to share problems and projects going on in the neighborhoods. And these were diverse – from stray dogs & traffic circles, to crimes such as burglaries and murder. The benefits of Neighborhood Watches were discussed, and how neighborhood associations were handling new development, clean up projects, block parties, National Night Out, better street lighting, and tree trimming.

Don announced that he is a participant in a newly formed group called the Tucson Regional Visioning Process, which is seeking to define the “common values” of Tucson and the future of growth here. For updates on this project, an outgrowth of the last year’s Regional Town Hall, contact Donald at 520-795-0770 or dsijams at gmail.com.

Pro Neighborhoods was represented by Community Organizer Joanie Sawyer, who informed the neighbors of their new workshops on resources, with a $50 incentive/certificate for neighborhood associations that attend all 8 workshops, starting September 9 and ending on December 5:

1. GETTING STARTED: Basics for Beginning Neighborhood Groups
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 6 – 8:30 PM

2. FROM CAFECITOS TO DESIGN CHARETTES
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 6:00 – 9 PM

3. PRESERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Resources and Guides to Help You Work the System
Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 AM – 3 PM

4. GETTING THE WORD OUT Newsletters, Web sites, blogs and more
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 – 9 PM

5. EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN RELATIONSHIP I: Partnering with Your Community
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 – 9 PM

6. EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN RELATIONSHIP II: Partnering with Youth
Saturday, November 7, 9 AM – NOON

7. WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THAT PROPERTY?
Saturday, November 14, 9 AM – NOON

8. WHAT’S WORKING?
Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 AM – NOON

See the Pro Neighborhoods website or call 520-882-5885 for more information and workshops. I have previously blogged on their Community Organizing course which started in August.

Neighbors sharing community information and networking with other neighbors is what NSN is all about. I think Donald’s dream has come true.

I’ve take several similar mini-workshops there at Pro Neighborhoods over the years and I couldn’t have described the content of this course any better.

Being on non-profit boards (i. e. Friends of Agua Caliente Park), for my own neighborhood association, and political groups, I know that these courses are well worth the $75 fee (sliding scale available). You will learn to analyze your group structure, realize the passions & resources of each individual and business involved, learn how to reach out for more assistance, to create a common goal.

This course does give a certificate upon completion and 3 credits at Pima Community College, an added plus. It runs for 17 weeks till December 9 at 320 North Commerce Loop. Contact Joanie Sawyer at 520-903-3993 for more information or visit the Pro Neighborhoods website at:

http://www.proneighborhoods.org/workshops.php

PRO Neighborhoods was created in 1994 by a collaboration of City of Tucson, Pima County, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. I am also one of their grant reviewers to decide how to allot small grants (less than $5000) for neighborhood projects such as mini parks, classes, and clean up projects. A long list of the previous grant recipients is on their website if your neighborhood is thinking of applying.