Author: Emmett O'Connell (Page 132 of 176)

Here it is.

She gets her first inbound link before any outbound ones. How funny.

Sarah is an former co-worker and cube neighbor of mine, who is one of those people who always assumed would have a blog, but she never actually did. Glad she has one now though.

The city council passed a new pedestrian interference ordinance this week, which pissed a bunch of people off, some enough to protest one of the city councilmember’s business. They seem to have backed off though, and now we’re getting some really good suggestions. And, some others I’m not so sure of, but I respect the intent.

One of the above links (this one) refers to a the idea of a better public process in Olympia dealing with big community issues. Our common things as it where. Here is a great paragraph:

A friend of mine who is an Appreciate Inquiry Facilitator, attended the Town Hall meeting in September. Following the meeting, she shared with me her observations that it seemed the community members were talking AT each other and not WITH each other. She has since offered to train a Steering Committee made up of community members and leaders in the appreciate inquiry process with our wider community aimed at opening up channels of dialogue, getting to know one another’s perspectives, wants and needs in life and begin to find creative solutions to complex community issues. I have mentioned this offer to the City Council and will continue to follow up with individual council members about utilizing her knowledge and training. I mention this, because it is my belief that this form of communication may be much more effective in bringing our community together to meet the needs of both those on the streets and those who are housed. What do you think?

UPDATE: Great comment thread here.

This is a great way to deal with divisive issues:

The Spokane Indians Baseball Club, in conjunction with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, today unveiled new team logos and uniforms. This is believed to be the first time that a professional sports team has worked in conjunction with a local tribe to create a team identity.

…

When the team began to contemplate a new logo two years ago, they started with the assumption that, once again, the best way to show respect to local tribes would be to stay away from any Native American imagery. However, during a meeting with the Spokane Tribe’s Culture Committee early in the logo development process, it became clear that the use of subtle and respectful Indian images would be welcomed by the Tribe. The Spokane Tribal Council released the following statement about the Spokane Indians logo and the process of creating the new identity:

“Immediately upon contact from the Spokane Indians Baseball Management team, the Spokane Tribe believed the request to offer input with the team’s new look would prove to be a win-win situation for all involved. The Spokane Tribal Council along with input from its Culture Committee, and community Elders wanted to use this opportunity to build a long lasting successful working relationship with the baseball team carrying the Spokane Tribe’s name.”

Mayor Mark Foutch and councilmember Joe Hyer get back to me on my idea:

My email:

I was following the discussion the last couple of weeks regarding the possible closure of the after school programs at Olympia Middle Schools. Has there been any discussion about bringing the Boys and Girls Club into the formula?

Olympia, unlike Tumwater and Lacey, has no Boys and Girls Clubs. I would think that have one of two programs in Olympia would take pressure off of the city from having to provide after school alternatives.

Thanks,
Emmett O’Connell

Mayor Mark:

Emmett, as I understand it the YMCA already provides these programs in the elementary schools by charging families (and allowing low income kids to participate free or at reduced rates). So while we seem to be ready to extend funding at WMS to keep the program going as is for the rest of the school year, we will be looking for other options. One might be for our Parks and Rec dept to continue to run the programs in middle schools but charge/administer a fee schedule. Another might be to engage a nonprofit like the Y or B and G clubs. Stay tuned for opportunities to weigh in on this.

Joe:

I know discussion has occurred as to whether or not OPARD is the best vehicle to deliver these services, and I heard YMCA mentioned at one point. I also know these are great services, and we want them to continue — I’ll pass on the bOys and Girls CLub idea, which I had not considered …

Thanks,

joe

The city of Olympia is considering lopping $18,000 of its budget by either charging for an after school program they run out of our local middle schools, or by cutting it out completly. This reminded me of a decision the council made earlier this year to cut a down down youth drop in program (saving $30,000).

At the time I wondered that maybe geography killed the downtown program, that because of where the program was situated, that it was doomed to failure. Teen programs in residential neighborhoods survive, while ones in ones in commercial downtowns will fail.

The decision to cut the the middle school based programs seems more budgetary than a concern over their popularity. Kids like them, we just can’t afford them. Which is why is makes sense to charge for them, possibly with some sliding scale fees involved.

Anyway, I’ve known this for awhile, but of the three major cities in Thurston County, Olympia is the only one without a Boys and Girls Club (Tumwater, Lacey and even Rochester have one). Why wouldn’t partnering with a new Boys and Girls Club, instead of leaving it up to the city Parks and Rec. Department, save costs? Plus, this is what the B&G Club do, I think they’d have a good idea of how exactly to do this kind of thing well.

For me, this is as much a conversation about public space as it is about where kids go after school when their parents aren’t home. We should be thinking about how to provide more public space and using our current public space (especially our under used schools) more effectively. I wrote about a similar thought to use our high schools as after hours public libraries here.

Last week was a hoot, this week is about more civility and police taking pictures of people and what they do with those pictures.

Already, before I woke up today, people had already lined up and qued into stores across the country. All the craziness — trampling, running through stores to get deeply discounted DVD players — would have already happened before I even had any coffee. I’m not saying there was any craziness this year, I haven’t really checked yet.

Here is one video indicating we’re in for another sad Black Friday (people lined up 13 hours early at a Best Buy in Maryland):

Even without people literally walking over each other for the best deals this morning, the spirit of Black Friday lives, and that’s what I’m sad about today. On the day after Thanksgiving, we as a nation start our steep commercial climb into the Christmas season. And, I wish for at least today there was an alternative. An alternative for fellowship and service.

The only actual “organized” alternative to Black Friday is Buy Nothing Day. Organized in North America by AdBusters, Buy Nothing Day is, in my opinion, a reactionary and eventually negative answer to Black Friday. You see, I’m successfully buying nothing today.

I’m going to watch my son for most of the day, watch some college football and read a couple of good books. Pretty common day for fall.

But, these things don’t actually improve anything that is ruined by Black Friday. Simply “buying nothing” doesn’t make my community better, serve anyone or take away the bad effects of Black Friday, so in the end it rings hollow.

We need a positive reaction to not only Black Friday, but also “Buy Nothing Day.” Maybe a magazine like Sojourners or a blog like Street Prophets promoting a day of service, similar to how Martin Luther King day has become a day of service.

While the folks at AdBusters are right, no one was “born to shop,” we were all born to be of service and in fellowship. On all days, after we give thanks for our blessings, we should give service and love to our communities.

Rep. Hunt’s letter from this morning:

State needs program to reach young voters

The Olympian’s article on the recent mock student election underscores the concern many of us have about the “political literacy” of the next generation of voters. All of us should be alarmed that only 4.4 percent of eligible 18- to 21-year-olds in Thurston County – the seat of our state government – actually vote.

Even more alarming is the fact that young people don’t participate in civic processes because, as the article points out, they don’t understand or feel comfortable with such processes.

That’s why I have asked my fellow state legislators to join me in urging Gov. Chris Gregoire to include sufficient funds in the 2007-09 state budget to support a public-private effort to develop a student election and civic education program.

The prototype for such a program would be hands-on, Internet driven and age-appropriate to capture and hold student interest. The goal will be to promote a practical familiarity with actual campaign and election “mechanics,” not just the philosophical underpinnings of our system of government. In my view, this will encourage greater participation when such students reach voting age.

Thank you for highlighting this issue in your paper, and I urge you and your readers to join us in supporting this effort.

Rep. Sam Hunt, 22nd Legislative District

Maybe this is one more thing for us to talk about when we get around to talking next week.

I like the idea of teaching civics via the internet (and here), so I think a TVW like effort (a non-profit funded by the state) would work.

I also like that he started with the example of voting, but broadened his argument to “great participation,” implying that it isn’t just voting we should be worried about, but rather deeper participation like lobbying local government, civil discussion and organizing (boy that sounds heavy).

This is something I noticed a couple of days ago, but a visitor who googled “Terry Thompson political consultant” and stumbled upon my post about Terry Thompson not understanding blogs reminded me to write about it.

When you look for Terry on the internet (with either “Olympia” or “political consultant” attached to it) you get my post about him way before you find a link to his own website. The reason for this is that Terry hasn’t taken the proper steps to increase his google page rank.

Of course, his page should be the first one you find when you search “Terry Thompson Olympia” or especially “Terry Thompson political consultant,” but they’re not.

What you find is some jerk bad-mouthing him.

Sigh.

A few years ago the UK began a major technological push in their national government that included a Local E-Democracy section, which according to David Wilcox of Designing for Civil Society, are coming into their own. This can happen here too.

Which may explain the reaction of an outgoing Brit pol to internet citizens:

Taylor also compared British citizens to “teenagers” and suggested that they could be “caricatured as being increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government.”

Talk about condescending!

I’m sure from the perspective of a politician sitting at the center of what used to be a top-down system of authority, the flowering of public voices online can’t be pleasant. But Taylor ought to realize that he is blaming the public for a system that was designed by politicians to keep the public out, with the result that we think the worst of them. If people seem unruly and disrespectful, maybe it’s because the politicians aren’t using the internet to let them in and share in understanding how government works and can be reworked.