Santa Rosa Together: 2013

Greetings!

The first meeting of Santa Rosa Together was successfully held on November 16th, 10am to Noon, at Lawrence Cook Middle School, 2480 Sebastopol Road, in Santa Rosa. Eighty-five residents participated in the meeting, and notes from it are included below.

A second meeting will be held on February 1, 2014 at the same time and place. We can be reached by commenting on this post, and leaving your contact information.

PART ONE: TABLE REPORTS

Today’s Values

Sacrifice

Think to the future

Shared ownership

Equality

Compromise

Willingness to change

Nonjudgmental

Share your ideas

Be positive

Compassion

Share truth from heart

Atmosphere of trust

Since of humor

Respect

Open communication

Honesty

Active listening

Boldness

Humility

Hope

Creativity

Table 1

What is working

Outreach

Welcoming youth
Community building activities
Community engaging in social media
Everyone is strong
Being able to reach to everyone

Not working

How the government is framed
Good role models
Having a name put on you Elsie Allen
Being able to influence the youth to be more engaged in the community

Table 2

What is working

Neighborhood summits
PTAs sponsored events engaging families in school activities
School initiated forums discussion about Andy Lopez
Hiring community engagement manager (Santa Rosa)
City manager putting more focus on community
Churches getting involved in social justice
Created a forum to take action on identified injustice
Church is having existing strong models of engaging individuals in addressing social justice issues
Social media being used to inform residents and get input
Neighborhood organizations
Countywide initiatives promoting shared goals -- upstream thinking cradle to career
Santa Rosa city schools new strategic plan and community meetings
Service organizations such as YMCA, Bike Coalition FSA reaching out and engaging the community

What is not working

People need to feel heard empowered
Listening hasn't translated into action
People aren't being invited to participate in decision-making and creation of shared goals
Not enough humility
Individuals are self-centered apathetic disinterested
Life creates challenges to engagement no time no resources exhaustion
Distrust of government
Prior efforts at planning collaboration haven't resulted in real change

Table 3

What is working

A lot of opportunities already exist (boards, committees, councils regularly meet)
Many opportunities
Diverse groups exist
Neighborhoods have a person to reach out to
Honest desire of elected bodies to be open and engaged
But are we capitalizing on it
County talks about city
Dial it down to micro neighborhoods schools then tangible changes can be made
Numerous 501(c)(3)'s doing work equals community engagement
Parents showing up
Technology central portal to connect with whoever I need to know about XYZ
Youth get it

What is not working

More disengaged communities exist than just the ones we hear about
Poor attendance
Not approachable to those who aren't embedded
Same people all the time
Getting new people engaged
Not a new issue
How do you take democracy to neighborhoods rather than expect them to come to democracy?
City not here today
People wait until something isn't working to get engaged
Missed opportunity City Council doesn't represent specific districts
Unincorporated areas as Islands
A lot of duplication of opportunity with different measures of success
Hard to figure out where to go
If not in the loop not aware of opportunities

Table 4

What's working

Service organization support
Interested and informed citizens
People are spending time volunteering
Individuals feel connected
Sonoma County has potential to connect community
Public officials willing to be seen
Recognition of own accountability
Opportunities to express opinions
Santa Rosa DINE program
74% of people are volunteers

What's not working

Breaking conversations into neighborhoods instead of city
Elected officials live east of freeway and cannot be part of the whole
Not reaching the youth community
Living and creating engagement for intergenerational populations
Usual suspects show up at community events

Table 5

What is working

Cinco de Mayo
Reaching out to other people across boundaries
Creating events that promote engagements Mendocino garden and other projects
Creating parks
Community coalitions coming together

What is not working

Schools are once again ethnically divided and are no longer neighborhood schools
Coming together to confront our fears
Changing age demographics
Bringing people together that would otherwise not engage

Table 6

What is working

DINE City sponsored dinner conversations
People who are engaged are truly engaged
City publicizes meetings City Council is online
Some neighborhood associations work well
Busy people will come together when of interest
Padres Unidos leadership group
DIG youth leadership
Day and Night Festival in South Park

What is not working

Latino events not attended by entire community
Isolated provincially geographically
Public not involved until too late in decision-making process
Not easy to get answers on mySantarosa.com
City doesn't always follow through

Table 7

What is working

A lot of people working together
Community oriented populace here family oriented strong values on children
People keeping things going in their community
Taking responsibility to hear all voices
Citizens follow through push the follow-up
voting
Building relationships at block level
Santa Rosa Junior College has a website
New leadership at Santa Rosa City Schools engaged with community and in collaboratives
Take best practices values and focus on youth
We have same values it's how we get there
Get rid of labels i.e. Progressive, Business
Letting others take credit for good work

What is not working

The bureaucracy takes a lot of effort to get things done
A lot of reluctance to sharing power & not even recognized as an issue
At an early age youth are separated from participation in community
Paid employees control dialog: in the past lead a community engagement project but not implemented
Using Brown Act and budget/staff shortages to impede community-lead involvement. 7-
Problems w/ city attorney, & City manager controlling
Neighborhoods and neighbors don't talk to each other
Focusing on differences doesn't work
Money talks: Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Santa Rosa are getting their agendas met

Table 8

What is working

Shared information via Facebook, Twitter
Neighborhood website, online communication
Immediate access to information
Resident led website info
Welcoming committee within neighborhoods
Identify problem areas such as sex offender in your neighborhood break-ins house cars etc.
Nonprofits reach out and help create stronger community leaders
County more community civic engagement
Better connections to provide services that help change : Health action, Upstream Investment,
Training
Programs help students for better future: College prep provide opportunities,alumni share experience,
Mentors, fundraiser
Change perception of school

What is not working

Street lights and lighting (and roads)
Not enough community events publicity needed
Communities not set up to make engagement accessible: public spaces, venues etc. especially new parts neighborhoods
More inclusive multicultural
Nonequality: Race Class, Economic divide, ethnic divide.
Ageism demographics divided and segmented
Missing opportunities
School segregation : Elsie Allen Mexican Latino, Montgomery White
We are having fragmented conversations we don't come together
We keep building the same foundation and never finish building the house
We have significant class issues
We get stuck on budget concerns
We lack understanding of how government works
We must vote yes or no and the loser doesn't feel heard

Table 9

What is working

We have a community advisory board and community engagement
Clear desire to do something that works
I see people embracing the idea that change may be a good idea
We have an abundance of hubs to create community engagement
A lot of goodwill and organized efforts
Number one in volunteerism we want to be engaged
We want to involve the youth and they want to be involved
A desire to create a better future is present
We have a civic minded business community
Government officials are willing to engage in conversation
The neighborhood organizing toolbox is better

What is not working

Balance for voice online, paid professionals versus unpaid part-time volunteers
NIMBY versus the right to control impacts our neighborhood not easy to resolve
Location does engagement require going downtown or can downtown come to Community
General comments, Table 9
Youth engagement
More comfort with where youth are at
Invite them and you'll know
Without pressure to conform to adult expectations
How to bring in new people to community immigrants women
Expanded definition to being active in day to day activities
Engagement equals survival work taking care of family can all of those things be held together and equal community engagement
What is our community definition of successful community engagement

Table 10

What is working

Join your neighborhood organization
Tomorrow's leaders today
Familiarize ourselves with government agencies
School groups contributing
Youth empowerment in city and county involve youth voices
Puppetshows engaging school
Via Esperanza how to get Spanish-speaking parents involved
Parents joining to be effective leaders
Project ELF be involved in keeping people informed about city government
Social media

What is not working

People hampered by systems
Creativity comes outside systems
Mass printing
Social media contact only
Overloaded class sizes
No local government instruction in schools

PART TWO: THEMES

Draft of Themes from Tables (each comment will include number of table, +/- for working, not working):

Youth

Schools & Families

Neighborhoods

City/County Government

Diversity/Segregation

Citizens/Individuals

Religious Congregations

Community Based Organizations

Internet, Social Media, & Media
Other, Miscellaneous, or ???

Theme: Youth

Welcoming youth 1+
Good role models 1-
Being able to influence youth to be more engaged in community 1-
Youth get it 3+
Not reaching the youth community 4-
Take best practices, values & focus on youth 7+
Youth are separated from participation in the community at an early age 7-
Programs help students for a better future: college prep, alumni share experience, mentors, fundraiser 8+
We want to involve youth and they want to be involved. 9+
More comfort with where youth are at, invite them and you’ll know 9-

Theme: Schools &/or Families

Having a (bad) name put on you (Elsie Allen) 1-
PTA-sponsored events engaging families in school activities 2+
School initiated forums discussing Andy Lopez 2+
County-wide initiatives promoting shared goals—upstream thinking, Cradle to Career. 2+
Parents showing up 3+
Schools are once again ethnically divided and are no longer neighborhood schools 5-
Bringing people together that would otherwise not engage 5-
Santa Rosa Junior College has a website 7+
New leadership at SRCS engaged with community & in collaboratives 7+
Change perception of school 8+

Theme: Schools &/or Families cont.

School segregation: Elsie Allen (Mexican/Latino), Montgomery (White) 8-
People embracing the idea that change may be a good idea 9+ (also added in themes: government, citizens)
School groups contributing 10+
Puppet shows engaging school
Via Esperanza, how to get Spanish-speaking parents involved (also added to CBO’s) 10+
Parents joining to be effective leaders 10+
Overloaded class sizes 10-
No local government instruction in schools 10-
Dial it down to micro-neighborhoods schools then tangible changes can be made (also added to neighborhoods) 3+

Theme: Neighborhoods

Neighborhood summits 2+ (also government?)
Neighborhood organizations 2+
Dial it down to micro-neighborhoods schools then tangible changes can be made 3+
Creating events that promote engagements: Mendocino gardens and other projects 5+
Creating Parks 5+
Some neighborhood associations work well 6+
Day and Night Festival in South Park 6+
Latino events not attended by entire community (also in diversity/segregation) 6-
Isolated provincially, geographically (also in diversity/segregation) 6-
Building relationships at block level 7+
Neighborhoods and neighbors don’t talk to each other 7-
Neighborhood website, online communication 8+ (also in internet)
Welcoming committee within neighborhoods 8+
Identify problem areas such as sex offender in your neighborhood; break-ins house cars, etc. 8+

Theme: Neighborhoods cont.

Street lights and lighting (and roads) 8- (also in govt.)
Communities not set up to make engagement accessible: public spaces, venues etc. especially new parts neighborhoods 8- (also in Govt. theme)
The neighborhood organizing tool belt is better 9+
NIMBY versus the right to control impacts our neighborhood, not easy to resolve 9- (also government, citizens)
Join neighborhood organization 10+

Theme: City/County Government

How government is frames 1-
Neighborhood summits 2+ (or neighborhoods?)
Hiring community engagement manager (SR) 2+
City manager putting more focus on community 2+
Social media being used to inform residents & get input 2+ (also in internet/social media)
Countywide initiatives promoting shared goals—Upstream thinking, Cradle to career 2+ (also in schools)
People need to feel heard and empowered 2-
Listening hasn’t translated into action 2-
People aren’t being invited to participate in decision-making and creation of shared goals 2-
Prior efforts at planning collaboration haven’t resulted in real change 2-
A lot of opportunities already exist (boards, committees, councils regularly meet) 3+ BUT
Poor attendance 3-
Not approachable to those who aren’t embedded 3-
Neighborhoods have a person to reach out to 3+
Honest desire of elected bodies to be open and engaged (but are we capitalizing on it?) 3+
County talks with City 3+
Same people all the time 3-
Getting new people engaged 3-

Theme Government, Cont.

How do you take democracy to neighborhoods rather than expect them to come to democracy? 3-
City not here today 3-
Missed opportunity City Council doesn’t represent specific districts 3-
Unincorporated areas as islands 3-
Hard to figure out where to go 3-
People wait until something isn’t working to get engaged 3-
If not in the loop not aware of opportunities 3- (also in citizens & individuals)
Public officials willing to be seen 4+
Opportunities to express opinions 4+
Santa Rosa DINE program
Breaking conversations into neighborhoods instead of city(wide?) 4-
Elected officials live east of freeway & cannot be part of whole 4-
City publicizes meetings; Council is online 6+
Public not involved until too late in decision-making process 6-
City doesn’t always follow-through 6-
Money talks, Chamber of Commerce, LSR are getting their agendas met 7+
Citizens follow-through, push the follow-up, voting 7+
Get rid of labels in politics (progressive, business) 7+
The bureaucracy takes a lot of effort to get things done 7- (also in Schools & Family)
A lot of reluctance to sharing power & not recognized as an issue 7-
Paid employees control the dialog. (In the past I lead a community engagement project, but was not implemented) 7-
Using Brown Act and budget/staff shortages to
impede community-lead involvement. 7-
More civic engagement on County level 8+

Theme Government, cont.

Better connections to provide services that help

change: Health Action, Upstream Investment, Training. 8+

Street lights (and roads) 8-
Communities not set up to make engagement accessible: public spaces, venues etc. especially new parts neighborhoods 8-
We lack understanding of how government works 8-
We have a community advisory board and community engagement 9+
I see people embracing the idea that change may be a good idea (also in themes Schools, and citizens)9+
Government officials are willing to engage in conversation 9+
NIMBY vs. right to control impacts our neighborhood not easy to resolve (also in theme neighborhoods, & individuals) 9-
Location: does engagement require going downtown or can downtown come to community? 9-
People hampered by systems 10-

Theme: Diversity & Segregation

Diverse groups exist 3+
More disengaged communities exist than just the ones we hear about 3-
Unincorporated areas as islands (also in government, schools)3-
Elected officials live east of the freeway and cannot be part of the whole 4-
Reaching out to other people across boundaries 5+
Schools are once again ethnically divided and are no longer neighborhood schools 5- (also in Schools)
Bringing people together that would otherwise not engagement 5- (also in Schools)
More multicultural inclusiveness 8-
Non-equality, race/class; economic & ethnic
Theme: Diversity & Segregation cont.

divide 8-

School segregation: Elsie Allen (Mexican/Latino), Montgomery (White)8- (also in Schools)
Ageism demographics divided and segmented 8-
We have significant Class issues 8-
How to bring in new people to community: immigrants, women? 9-

Theme: Citizens & Individuals

Individuals are self-centered, apathetic, disinterested 2-
Life creates challenges to engagement, no time, no resources, exhaustion 2-
Distrust of government 2-
Poor attendance 3-
People wait until something isn’t working to get engaged 3- (also in govt.)
Hard to figure out where to go 3- (also govt.)
If not in the loop, not aware of opportunities 3- (also in govt.)
Interested & informed citizens 4+
People are spending time volunteering 4+
Individuals feel connected 4+
Opportunities to express opinions 4+ (also in govt.)
74% of our citizens are volunteers
Usual suspect show up at community events 4-
Changing age demographics 5-
People who are engaged are truly engaged 6+
Busy people will come together when of interest 6+
A lot of people coming together 7+
Voting 7+
We are having fragmented conversations, we don’t come together 8-
We keep building the same foundation and never

Theme: Citizens & Individuals cont.

finish building the house 8-
I see people embracing the idea that change may be a good idea 9+ (also schools & govt.)
Number one in volunteerism; we want to be engaged. 9+
A desire to create a better future is present 9+
NIMBY vs. The right to control impacts our neighborhood not easy to resolve (also in govt. & neighborhoods) 9-
Expanded definition to being active in day-to-day activities 9-
Familiarize ourselves with government agencies 10+

Theme: Religious Communities

Churches getting involved in social justice 2+
(churches?) created a forum to take action on identified injustice 2+
Church is having existing strong models of engaging individuals in addressing social justice issues 2+

Theme: Community-based Organizations (Non-profits)

Service organizations such as YMCA, Bike Coalition, FSA reaching out and engaging the community 2+
Service organization support 4+
Padres Unidos and DIG Youth Leadership groups
Non-profits reach out and help create stronger community leaders. 8+
Via Esperanza how to get Spanish-speaking parents involved (also in theme: Schools)

Theme: Internet, Social Marketing, Media

Community engaging in social media 1+
SRJC has a website 7+
Shared Information via Facebook, Twitter 8+
Neighborhood website, online communication 8+
Immediate access to information 8+
Resident-led website info 8+
Social media 10+
Social media contact only 10-

Theme: Other, Miscellaneous or ???

Outreach 1+
Everyone is strong 1+
Being able to reach to everyone 1+
Not enough humility 2- (govt?, individuals???)
A lot of duplication of opportunity with different measures of success 3-
Sonoma County has potential to connect community 4+
Recognition of own accountability
Living and creating engagement for intergenerational populations 4-
Cinco de Mayo 5+
Community coalitions coming together 5+
Community oriented populace here, family-oriented strong values on children 7+
Letting others take credit for good work 7+
Focusing on differences doesn’t work 7-
Not enough community events, publicity needed 8-
Missing opportunities 8-
We get stuck on buget concerns 8-
We must vote yes or no and theloser doesn’t feel heard 8-
Clear desire to do something that works 9+
We have an abundance of hubs to create community engagement 9+
A desire to create a better future is present 9+
We have a civic minded business community 9+
Expanded definition to being active in day-to-day Theme: Other, Miscellaneous or ??? cont.

activities 9-

Engagement equals survival work, taking care of family. Can all of those things be held together and equal community engagement? 9-
What is our community definition of successful community engagement? 9+
Creativity comes outside systems 10-
Mass printing 10-

Santa Rosa Together

Saturday, December 21, 2013

First Meeting of Santa Rosa Together held on November 16th at Cook Middle School in Santa Rosa.