Thursday, February 28, 2008
Maddy
Sorry it has taken a while for me to jump in and for not being perhaps at my best at our meeting. As some of you know I have started working full time in Salt Lake at Tracy Aviary as Director of Marketing and Guest Services and I love it but I have been swamped at work and my stress level has been a bit high. My apologies.
Anyway enough of whining!! Wow, some great ideas. So many of our classes conversations lean to the environmental side and it what many of us are quite passionate about I lean toward a project in this area. It is also something I would be so proud to have my kids see us doing.
Ok here goes at the risk of sounding realllllllly stupid I woke up the night of our meeting and thought it's so simple the idea was presented right to us at the meeting. It is causing a major change in my habits one that I was selfishly and lazily procrastinating on. Any guesses?
It's all about the water bottle. Alison's water bottle. I have plenty of REI water bottles that I use for hiking but I love my straight from the fridge indiviudal single serving, environmentally damaging water bottles for everyday drinking.
It has been nagging at me to make the switch but I love the convenience of the single serves and I don't think I am alone. I really think we can make a huge impact into the amount of single serve water bottles used in Park City. We could probably track some of our success through re-cycle Utah and the private recycling centers. Not sure about the ones that go straight to the landfill.Maybe we could incoroporate this through the school district and get people to sign a pledge or contract to give up the store bought water bottle.
Then interestingly enough right after this I grabbed a single serve and there was a notation on it saying how the new shape of the bottle saves 30% plastic. My daughter the next day pointed the notation out at the dinner table. I think there is a buzz about how incredibly wasteful buying water bottles.
OK off my water bottle soapbox. Go easy on the responses I'm under stress...just kidding.
Wasn't sure if we were e-mailing or posting but right now this will have to do.
Talk to you all soon.
Maddy
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
FREE! What about the volunteers?
Kaitlin's response
Let's Go Big!
The green world and...
working with Jessica and the Rec Dept. on bringing activities to the kids at
different affordable-housing apartment complexes. We had a summer program
last year and also applied for a grant with United Way. We will put a
year-round program in place, with visits to 4 different complexes. Twice a
month during the school year and once a week during the summer.
To add to what Lisa had said: it seemed to us that many times it wasn't
necessarily a money issue, but more about transportation and whether any of
the parents were available to drop off their kids for activities. Therefore,
it is a goal of ours to also take the kids on the bus and show them how to
use the free bus system so they can learn how to get to the Boys and Girls
Club, how to get to the Library, etc.
It seems to me like there is more programs offered for younger kids, but
maybe we can come up with something for teenagers which seems to be a harder
group to reach out to.
Thanks, Johanna
the Latino kids: there should be money available for low-income kids (and
there are plenty in town who are not Latino as well) who want to
participate in recreational sports programs through Park City Rec or Basin
Rec. If you'll pardon me for adding my two bits, I'm up to speed on this one
because the topic was part of our family activities for a few years. As a
personal service project, my older son, who is now 17, spent several years
setting up a youth sports scholarship fund that he arranged for Basin Rec to
manage. He initially raised $5,000 to start the fund, and a year or so ago,
completed a second fundraising effort through corporate and individual
sponsorships, raising $62,000 to sustain the scholarships for a five year
period. He then negotiated with the Summit County Commission and Park City
Manager Tom Bakaly, and they each agreed to fund youth sport scholarships as
a line in their annual budget at $5,000 from each governmental entity for a
total of $10,000 yearly. So, there should be money in that account. If they
are using all of that, of course, that is great news! Then the question
would be whether or not they need additional funds to meet the greater
demand, and that could become a class project if the Flavors decide that's
something they want to focus on. Also, many of the club sports (soccer,
lacrosse, etc.) have some scholarship funds available (though they always
need more), so that's another option for families. Educating families about
these options is a definite need, as is encouraging people to take advantage
of them.
Just some more info for the ideas and discussions!
Lisa
Carey's post
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Affordable Housing/Sustainability
What I have seen happen/am seeing happen - is that these somewhat arms
length families are so attracted to "their" experience they become
vested as full time residents OR they bring more people with them.
Example, my father is from Las Vegas (business man) he now owns a home
here...there is a HUGE growing community of Las Vegans in this town
now, high profile people from "Vegas" his peers call PC a "little
Vegas" - this sub sect of our community is used to - in their home
town calling the shots...big tides can shift with these influxes...new
character/influences/impact they begin
working/investing and participating in the political process. The
community evolves as a result - arms length slowly becomes a vocal new
"local".
Sara
I just wanted to share what I learned at the Summit Youth Summit in January: it is not specifically the Latino teenagers that are using drugs or partying excessively, but a lot of the kids of rich parents. Many of the panelists were saying that a lot of kids’ parents are out of town a great deal, leaving their kids at home where they have easy access to alcohol and nobody to keep an eye on them…
Johanna
people pay amount to 67% of the pie. On the other hand I wonder whether they
really care enough as they are only here for a short time. And wouldn't it
have more of an impact to work with those parts of the community that are
not too involved but here year-round?
Also, I have to say I don't really know much about the 2nd homeowners'
"attitudes," maybe you can explain some more... :-)
Jo
Marla Howard
You are right, Marla, and teenagers are such a hard group to reach in general. You might have all heard about Summit Youth Link which is a resources website for teenagers, done by teenagers.http://www.summityouthlink.org/
It was just launched in January. Lindsey was also involved and provided great insights on their panel!
Narrowing down our focus to a specific age group might be helpful.
Johanna
another couple of emails that come in - I am trying to type fast and
my heart is beating! Maybe some of you are out in the pow, I wish I was.
I think it is awesome we are "jumping in" this morning with thoughts
already...
I just need to say that whatever we choose, I am going to lobby hard
so that EACH of us "flavors" has the opportunity to share/voice our
thoughts/reactions/hopes etc and that we each get to play a role
somehow...in the ultimate selection. I.e. we are ALL passionate about
a great variety of issue/issues in this town...I thought Lisa's
comments were very astute in that we each have different "approaches"
or perceptions as it pertains to leadership. So, when we finally
arrive at our decision I hope that we can sit in a circle (sorry is
that too touchy feely?) and allow each individual to express their
thoughts on the selection so that we can all really
participate...AND as Lisa said, this is probably 50% about process as
well as product!
Personally, I am inspired by the concept of "recognition" or better
yet having a real impact/legacy - I plan on being here long term,
raising my family etc...I can't help but get seduced by the fact that
we have an incredible opportunity to create a real lasting "legacy" of
our own...My point is that I hope we can mold our ultimate concept into a truly significant "template" that will have deep reaching effects in "our" shared
community/visions...
Throwing my concept out there (but supporting everyones passions!) I
was most affected yesterday by the Pres of Rossignol's statement that
we "bleed the same blood" we are all in this together YIKES, do we/are we?
The fact that our second home owners (and 3rd, 4th, 5th homeowners)
have a tremendous impact and contribution in OUR lives - their taxes
are one of the biggest contributors to our way of life - this is a
powerful position...I am in the real estate business guys in Deer
Valley, I meet A LOT of these individuals on a daily business...and it
does NOT feel as though we are on the same page - how about bridging
the gap between the us and them mentality i.e. some kind of an intro
to Park City: welcoming and communicating a shared vision/sense of
community (allowing space for individuals to define their sense of community) to make sure the void between the apparent "have" and "have nots" doesn't widen so far that we have competing interests and values that do not compliment one another.
I have to stop writing! Sorry for the length...
Look forward to the other responses...
Sara
HI guys,
Just to throw new ideas out there, I wanted to put my two cents in.
1) A growing problem in our community is graffiti. Graffiti can singlehandedly ruin beauty of the city, but also can cause other problems such as higher crime rates, lower housing prices, etc. There is a program out there called TAG (Teenagers Against Graffiti). Since this is a crime that typically is committed by teenagers, this program targets teenagers in trying to prevent it. In other cities, local home improvement businesses have donate the supplies for removal, and the program has teens “on call” when the police or others report some new graffiti. The teens respond and remove the graffiti, and in the meantime get kudos from property owners and community members for their efforts and a sense of pride in their community that they can portray to peers. Since we have Lindsay and Andrew in the class, and some of you may even have teenagers in the schools, I thought this could be a project worth starting up in our community.
2)
Annette ellis
process of considering all the ideas presented, and the merits of each, and
as you do so, please fully consider your part in the discussion:
* What is truly unique about me?
* What are the personal and professional strengths that I have to
offer? Do I have a particular area of expertise that will benefit the
project? Can I practice these strengths during this process?
* As a leader and a contributor, what are the areas that I want to
improve, expand or explore in myself? What can I learn from my classmates?
* Where are my efforts strengthened by partnering with others whose
abilities are stronger than mine in a certain area? How do my abilities and
those of my classmates compliment each other?
* When is the best strategy for me to step back and let others lead in
a particular area?
* When will my stepping forward to take the lead benefit the process,
the group, and the success of our efforts?
* If I tend to be an observer, or keep my thoughts to myself, what am
I willing to do to take my place as a strong contributor to this project?
* If I tend to dominate discussion with my brilliant ideas ;-) , am I
also listening for the voices that are not being heard? Can I sometimes
learn as much from listening as from taking charge? Conversely, when is it
time to set discussion aside and take action to get the job done?
* What are the issues that I observe in our community that strike a
chord for me? Why do I feel strongly about these issues? What triggers the
emotion, and why am I paying attention?
* When I hear people complaining about issues, do I spend my energy
joining in the complaining, or do I convert those concerns to ideas or
suggestions that might affect change? When am I willing to step up and be
part of that change, or become the leader of that effort?
* Where are the "gaps" that I perceive in our community, and what are
my ideas about how to address those?
* What do I feel truly passionate about, and how can I communicate
that passion to others?
* If someone else's idea is new to me, or even uncomfortable to me, am
I willing to listen to the idea anyway, and consider its merits? Even if I
do not agree with it, am I able to support the idea's importance to someone
else and consider what I might learn from it if I give it a try?
These are just a few questions to consider as your class project discussion
begins. As we discussed last night, every single one of you has something to
contribute to this project and to the class. The unique perspective of every
voice deserves to be heard and is critical to the dialogue. Keep a list of
the ideas suggested, and note the ones you are especially interested in.
There are no silly suggestions-- they are all welcome! Enjoy the
brainstorming, dig deep for great ideas, and make sure you are part of the
process!
All the best to every one of the amazing "flavors" in Class 14!
Lisa
It is certainly going to be tough deciding on what project to take on this year. I have a feeling that this class will come up with many.
I am proposing a project around affordable housing. The project would be education and awareness for the need for affordable housing and changing the mis-perceptions of many of those opposed to it. With affordable housing I mean units that are sold to working locals and are deed-restricted (not the mess that Mountain Lands put up across from the high school), not seasonal rentals for resort workers.
Our town and surrounding areas are loosing their sense of community without full-time, working residents (look at Old Town).
If anyone would like to join me in putting together a proposal for this to be the Flavor's project, please let me know.
Thanks,
Katie
I love Julie’s idea and maybe the two can be combined by broadening our focus to include not only the people who live in PC proper but also those in Summit County who are a part of and affected by what is happening here. This will naturally include the Latino community and overall reach out to “those whose voices aren’t always the strongest.”
Johanna
Marla Howard
project idea
Good morning Flavors!
I really enjoyed Allison’s exercise yesterday which made us think about what it is we value about Park City, what we think is important and what we would like to see in the future.
On my long drive home, I started thinking about the class project, and I was wondering whether the Latino community will be involved in what the Sustainability Team is planning over the next 15 months. Maybe Allison can comment on this. But my idea was that if there is no plan yet on how to involve them, it would be great to work on that and figure out what they like about Park City, etc. They are a big part of this community and it is their home. It would be a real step towards better integration I think.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks, Johanna