The Observation Deck

Anyone else go to the Ward 3 Block Watch meeting tonight? What were your thoughts?

I was there.

Someone made a comment as to why the Block Watch meeting was called, and why we just can't do something right now.

We need to ORGANIZE first.

David Lay wrote:I was there.

Someone made a comment as to why the Block Watch meeting was called, and why we just can't do something right now.

We need to ORGANIZE first.

Yeah, I was a little surprised by that. But I agree with you, that organization is the key and always is the first step.

I think the meeting overall was informative, I thought they lost control at the end and it ended a little chaotically. I'm still not really sure what's supposed to happen but I signed up on the sheet.

Definitely.

Needless to say, I signed up.

Can more be told about this? Was it a large turnout? Who from the City showed up? Who ran it? Was it ran well or was the chaos a symptom of positive energy but a lack of steering it to positive outcomes? Just curious.

Phil Florian wrote:Can more be told about this? Was it a large turnout? Who from the City showed up? Who ran it? Was it ran well or was the chaos a symptom of positive energy but a lack of steering it to positive outcomes? Just curious.

It was co-chaired by Sue Kelley and Diane Helbig. Fitzgerald and Demro were there and Madigan arrived shortly after it started. There were two LPD officers who gave a presentation.

The chaos at the end started as people angrily began to complain about lack of police response and how the Mayor and Council don't return calls. The two leading the meeting were seriously having trouble getting things focused at the end.

I think it was only saved because large groups of people began to just get up and head over to the table to sign up. This effectively ended the meeting.

The officer who was there said it was the largest block watch meeting he's been to yet.

Part of the issue is that there was no air conditioning and it was very hot in that gym. I think people were just getting cranky.

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I had to leave early, glad I missed the chaos, unfortunately I didn't miss the heat. I was only there to see what it was about since my area was not included in this meeting.

Rick, it's unfortunate that more people didn't sign up on your street. Hopefully once a good block watch gets going more people will join.

I do think these are a great idea. And I am happy that more meetings are being organized.

So when will my Ward (2) get such a meeting? Or did we have one already and I missed it?? Grrr... I have been off the LO Deck for a while until recently and am just getting caught up on the swing of things.

My hope is that Councilperson Demro was there to learn more about how to run such a meeting for our Ward and maybe skip a bit of the chaos. That is always the risk when having such an open forum. Maybe they could adopt the model used by the Schools when they were doing the building project? Even at smaller scale ward meetings those pics show a ton of people.

If possible, get some people to run some small group discussions after the main presentation is done. Generate some questions that way so folks (and their anger) are slightly removed from the process of asking the questions directly but still will get their questions addressed. Those school meetings were run so smoothly they are a good model for using elsewhere in the city.

I know they might not have enough police to coordinate the small tables (as the schools used teachers to run) but maybe some volunteers or something could fill that roll (as a coordinator of a small group discussion the leader doesn't need to answer questions but simply guide discussion).

This sounds great, though. What were people signing up for when they put their name on paper? Shifts in the watch?

What are some expectations of people in a block watch?

Phil,

Colleen Wing is running a Block Watch meeting on the 15th.

PS. Welcome back!

D'oh! Sweet. Marking the day on calendar now! Thanks!

Phil

So when will my Ward (2) get such a meeting?

Phil,

I know Colleen Wing has a block watch organizational meeting scheduled for August 15th at 7pm at city hall. The meeting is open to all residents from any ward.

Gosh David..I guess I need to type quicker.

I see council candidate Mike Summers was there, too (3rd picture)