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Home My WebLink About6/1/2017 Item 1, Monge (2) Christian, Kevin From:rmonge4surf@gmail.com on behalf of Roberto Monge <rmonge@pobox.com> Sent: 42 PM To:Harmon, Heidi Cc:john@johnashbaugh.com; Roberto Monge; E-mail Council Website; Mila Vujovich- Gould-Himelblau; Sandra Rowley; Sandra Lakeman; Lydia Mourenza; Allan Cooper; Kathie Walker; Richard Schmidt; carolyn smith; jamie lopes; betdehaan@gmail.com; racouillat@charter.net; Camille Small; Mike Clark; John B. Ashbaugh Subject: funding away from acquiring a park site for the North Broad Neighborhood Heidi, Thanks for the response. We appreciate it. I agree the City can't do it all, that's actually a big part of the premise of City Repair-- that we've the people have given up too much agency over the places that we live in everyday. I also think the Mormon church would be great, that field is idle so often and they recently cut the bushes down because folks were likely doing shady business back there. I have never seen anyone play or use that field which is a shame since we are so needing something like that. I just rode my bike by there yesterday lamenting that it is so under utilized. It's perfect with the creek so close in that it would let kids explore our water and greenways. Much of the city wildlife goes down the creek corridors from the Cerro San Luis. I think that there has been a misunderstanding so far about the fund in that we had assumed that the City was working on their process steps to move forward -- but it seems like there wasn't any progress or that staff acted on the direction they had received. We as a community are glad to jump in and help-- we agree that a timeline and staff direction to help would be very useful. If there is a timeline though, it should be based on the good faith that staff and the timeline respects any Parks Department processes. Thanks again we really do appreciate a council that is open to discussions and needs of the people in the different neighborhoods and villages. Roberto On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 3:58 PM, Harmon, Heidi <hharmon@slocity.org> wrote: Thank you so much for your letter about the use of park money. I agree that public gathering spaces are essential for building a strong and resilient community. I recognize the power and importance of parks. They have public health, economic, and community building benefits. I would really love to see a park in your neighborhood. The neighborhood should galvanize together, much like it has writing letters about this budget item, and do everything it can to locate and potentially find a park space. I think we all, at times, want the 1 city to solve all of our problems but that's probably just not going to happen. I have already called the Mormon church and left a message to see if they are at all interested in partnering on this. This may result in a park and it may not. But this is the kind of conversation we all need to be having with as many businesses and property owners as possible if this is something we want to see. I will be happy to do my part and the city will too, but so must the neighborhood. Whatever decision we get tonight, I am certain that if the money is allowed to stay in a fund for the park that a timeline will be placed upon it. My guess is it would be two years from now, at the end of this current budget cycle. With this in mind, it would be essential that the neighborhood move quickly to make this happen. Thank you so much for sharing your passion about making your neighborhood and the city a more community oriented place. I am with you, Mayor Harmon From: john@johnashbaugh.com <john@johnashbaugh.com> Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2017 11:07:06 AM To: Roberto Monge; E-mail Council Website Cc: Mila Vujovich-LaBarre; cc mc lean; Kit Gould-Himelblau; Sandra Rowley; Sandra Lakeman; Lydia Mourenza; Allan Cooper; Kathie Walker; Richard Schmidt; carolyn smith; jamie lopes; betdehaan@gmail.com; racouillat@charter.net; Camille Small; Mike Clark; jdduenow@gmail.com; bob shanbrom; Dia Hurd; John B. Ashbaugh Subject: Re: Please do not take funding away from acquiring a park site for the North Broad Neighborhood Excellent letter, Roberto. You've driven the point home in a very professional way, but also with a personal perspective. Hope to see you at Council at 5:30! John B. Ashbaugh, Ph.D. From: rmonge4surf@gmail.com <rmonge4surf@gmail.com> on behalf of Roberto Monge <rmonge@pobox.com> Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2017 10:28 AM To: emailcouncil@slocity.org Cc: Mila Vujovich-LaBarre; cc mc lean; Kit Gould-Himelblau; Sandra Rowley; Sandra Lakeman; Lydia Mourenza; Allan Cooper; Kathie Walker; Richard Schmidt; carolyn smith; jamie lopes; betdehaan@gmail.com; racouillat@charter.net; Roberto Monge; Camille Small; Mike Clark; jdduenow@gmail.com; bob shanbrom; Dia Hurd; John B. Ashbaugh Subject: Please do not take funding away from acquiring a park site for the North Broad Neighborhood Honorable Mayor and City Council, I am emailing you regarding the city park fund that our neighborhood had gained through community organizing and public engagement. I have heard that the $900,000 is at risk and this makes me realize why people get fed up with public engagement and politics. This taking back of what we thought was given to is was the third big arrow in the back after 22 Chorro and 71 Palomar approvals. 2 Here are my concerns: 1) Our Neighborhood is being burdened with more high density housing for students (22 Chorro and 71 Palomar) in addition to the Valencia. This will bring even more traffic to the streets which will make it even harder for people to walk to a park safely. Not having access to parks also has negative mental wellness effects. This means civility and health and happiness will go down in our neighborhood as density and conflict increases. We do not have to place to meet our new neighbors and create relationships. 2) We want safe routes to parks for our kids. I just realized that in the 10 years I've been in this neighborhood, I have NOT sent my kids down to a park on their own. My kids, 10 and 13, are extremely free range and capable kids -- but the distance and crossing major intersections ( Foothill or Santa Rosa) don't feel safe. I have great sadness about this reflection. We used to live off Broad & South and we regularly walked down to meadow park and talked to families and friends. We had birthday parties there and learned to slack line under the shadow of the trees. 3) I was recently in Paris and I walked around this metropolis but you could still get a sense of these small villages every 2-3 blocks. I was struck by the number of small pocket parks. There was high density housing but you can bet that there was a park nearby to meet the needs of those people. After 3pm you could see families, young couples and elderly playing chess at a park. It was beautiful to see how integrated the neighborhoods were due to having this small gathering place. 4) Our only recourse when we want to gather the neighborhood is to take over a street. If we go through proper channels this takes months and about $600 in permit and road barriers. If you aren't going to help us get a park I ask that you permanently waive any street closure fees, provide free traffic plans, and provide us with the barriers so that we can setup a pocket park when we need one. 5) My friend and mentor Mark Lakeman talks about how the US has the least number of public gathering places of all developed nations. We also have the highest violence and crime rates. There's a correlation there. He brings it back to our colonial past and our westward expansion using the Land Ordinance of 1785 for fort/town developments. We are still living in the grid of based on the Land Ordinance of 1785 is still in play. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2013/11/12/fixing_broken_neighborhoods_happy_city_by _charles_montgomery.html Happy City - Slate Magazine 3 www.slate.com Award-winning Canadian journalist Charles Montgomery's fascinating new book Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design examines how lesson ... The grid was the fastest, simplest way to divide land so that it could be commodified. Rectangular units were easy to survey, buy, sell, and tax. They made it easier to provide services. The grid was a spectacular success as an economic tool, but it created some seriously unbalanced cities. The Land Ordinance of 1785 did not have provisions for parks or open space. Its cities comprised private lots and public roads, as though the city existed purely for commerce rather than for the people that commerce was thought to enrich. In town after town, planners subdivided, overlooked, or avoided public parks and plazas. Cities that wanted parks actually had to buy the land from private holders. The result was that in most neighborhoods, the streets themselves became the only shared public space. As they came to be dominated by cars, the public living room—and the village that might have been born within it—disappeared. I know a park can be seen as frivolous in times of climate change and other pressing issues, but I consider public gathering spaces the heart of democracy and of our villages. It's there that we meet people of different political ideas. It's when our families play together that we are open to the fact that we are all human and we can set ideologies aside. There's a reason you all like to travel to far of places to visit these old villages, and it has a lot to do with how the town is laid out. Maybe we won't need to travel to Italy or a remote village in mexico if we feel like we live in a village. Please help us create a park on this side of town. We need it. Thanks, Roberto Monge 89 La Entrada Ave. Co-founder City Repair SLO https://cityrepairslo.org/ 4 City Repair SLO | Villaging the Hood cityrepairslo.org Welcome to City Repair SLO, Our goal is to recreate our village centers and reconnect with our neighbors. To create neighborhood groups whose mission is to improve ... 5