Jan 31, 2008

Revival at the Library

Community CouncilAbout 30 people met tonight and agreed to bring The Capitol Hill Community Council out of hibernation.

I'm sure others took better notes [update: here too] and will cover it in depth. It was a good first gathering, nice to see diverse viewpoints.

One of the points I walked away with is people tend to think big. Some folks want a venue to rant about high-rise developments. Others wanted to create umbrella orgs that will interface with other city groups.

I see a ton of value in grassroots initiatives that will give a core group of people projects to rally around. Especially early in the life of this group. Those projects will contribute to the quality and character of the neighborhood and give the group an identity.

No matter if we're reviving the previous CHCC or building a new one, this will be a different group of folks with different priorities working in a different environment. It seems to me like we will have to build momentum from a stand-still and a good way to do that is from the ground up.

Jan 17, 2008

First CHCC 2.0 Meeting

Andrew put together a great snapshot of CHCC 2.0 -- looks like lots of enthusiasm for an online and offline forum for action. He is collecting feedback on timing for the first meeting. Either Jan. 30 or 31st at 6-8pm at the Capitol Hill Library.

Jan 9, 2008

Safety Forum

I am guilty of thinking real change comes from only the broadest, highest levels of government. That is not always the case.

My wife attended the Capitol Hill safety forum last night (I was working but learned of the forum on Miller Park.) [Recap by CHS.] She came away enthused about our new community -- in light of a terrible, senseless act -- and impressed by the attention paid by the mayor, SPD and other city officials. My wife even stepped up to the mic to voice her view on poor lighting in the neighborhood -- to a thunderous round of applause and cheers, I'm told! ;)

My wife's comments, among many others, were included in a report by King5 NBC News. Besides being married to a budding TV star, this shows me how change can be enacted at the local level.

Neighbors gather to speak to their officials. Local media broadcasts dialogue. Blogs raise specific, relevant issues. Forums for discussion appear online and off. Community voices emerge.

Jan 2, 2008

Welcome to Capitol Hill

My wife and I lived in East Harlem for three years. Closest thing to violence like what happened to this poor woman on New Years eve in Capitol Hill was a few shootings between gang members and NYPD six blocks away from us -- still close to home but not 10 steps away like this.

Terrible.

Linking to the P-I and Dan Savage's updates and comments (many speculative) in hopes that someone can help piece this story together.

UPDATE: Here's a sketch of the suspect a "person of interest" in Shannon Harps murder. Call SPD tip line at (206) 233-5000 if you have any information.

sketch

[P-I and Slog via CHS]