Earthquake Preparedness: You're Invited

Joyce, a member of the Willie White Park Focus Group, asked me to pass along the following invitation. Sure looks like a great opportunity! (And, I'm guessing the presentation will give us an excuse to meander through the fascinating aisles of M & I Surplus.)

*************

MONTHLY COMMUNITY MEETING

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

WORKSHOP

WITH

MR. GEORGE HUNTER

LA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT

M&I SURPLUS

On Thursday, March 18, 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M., the Willie White Park Focus Group will feature an EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP at Willie White Park & Community Center, 365 Battram, Pomona. Mr. George Hunter from The Pomona Unified School District will coordinate the workshop.

The meeting will help residents be prepared when "THE BIG ONE HITS." It is coming, learn what, when, why and how to be ready.

Also, LA County Fire Station 186 and local merchant M&I Surplus will be on hand to talk about what you need in your kit, what and how much do you need for yourself, your kids and your pets, where do you go and how do you get there, and the role of fire personnel when "THE BIG ONE HITS.? A sample earthquake kit will be on display for your review.

Receive your take-home earthquake preparedness guide and checklist. YOU REALLY NEED TO ATTEND.

As always, refreshments will be served plus door prize drawings.

Beginning in April of 2010, The Willie White Park Focus Group (WWPFG) will move its meetings to the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

The WWPFG is an association of neighbors organized in the early 1990's to address gang problems and to uplift their formerly depressed neighborhood. Former Councilman Willie White is the founder. WWPFG sponsors monthly meetings with guest speakers from local and state government offices, police department, fire department, Pomona Unified School District , and local service organizations.

For further information, call Melba Robison at (909) 596-4273 or M. Joyce Bakersmith at (909) 392-8666.

I want to count for something

An exciting piece of mail arrived yesterday. No, not my 2010 Census form. But, a note telling me my 2010 Census form is on its way. I'm so excited! Seriously. I want to count. (I see the headline now: "Census participation meets existential need").

Remember my little elevator speech about why we should all give a hoot about being counted? Well, Robert M. Groves, director of the US Census Bureau, makes a more succinct case:

"Your response is important. Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may not receive its fair share."

Word!

By the way, big props to the City of Fontana. I was out that way last week and noticed TONS of signage encouraging residents to take part in the Census (including a very prominent link on the city's web page). I don't remember seeing any "get out the count" efforts here in Pomona (other than that cryptic presentation I ranted about previously).

A Bulletin about the Daily Bulletin

If you would like the Daily Bulletin to publish information about your NW meetings in the Neighborhood section of the paper, just ask. Send details to the city desk via e-mail, fax, or snail mail.

E-mail: citydesk@inlandnewspapers.com

Fax: 909-948-9038

Snail mail: 2041 E. Fourth St, Ontario, CA 91764

Thank you, Daily Bulletin, for helping build community.

Neighborhood Mapping

This afternoon we attended a three-hour meeting of Neighborhood Watch Block Captains, hosted by the Pomona Police Department's Crime Prevention Officers.

After some tasty eats, introductions, and conversation, we engaged in semi-structured discussion of NW topics such as strategies for growing and sustaining watch groups. During this discussion, the Block Captains of a wildly successful NW group shared with us a tool they developed to enhance communication among neighbors: a map.

This wasn't just any map. This was a detailed neighborhood map keyed to resident names, contact information, pet information, kid information, etc. Very impressive.

I found myself thinking, "No doubt such a tool would be tremendously useful IF...if only our neighborhood was less vacant; if only our neighborhood experienced less turnover." When we first started our NW group four or five years ago, we tried putting together a map. By the time we printed it, it was already out of date. Grrr.

Hearing about the successes of this other group's map has nevertheless inspired me to give it another go.

Preparing for Pomona Beautification Day

The date has been set for the 2010 Pomona Beautification Day. Save the date: Saturday, May 1.

Huddle up with your neighbors and friends to brainstorm a project you'd like to complete in your neighborhood. This is great opportunity to rid your neighborhood of an eye sore or beautify a barren patch of land -- and the city will provide supplies and festivities.

We're hoping the Garfield Park community center will be far enough along by May 1 that the kiddos in the neighborhood will be able to do a little landscaping or maybe a community art project.

The planning committee is looking for entertainment acts to perform at the post-clean up festival-with-food at the Fairplex. If you know of someone who might be interested, please contact them to see if they are game. It would be great to have some Pomona talent headline the festival. Let Rick DeBruyne know about the lead. You can e-mail him at rdebruyne@verizon.net

Stay tuned for registration information.

An elevator speech about community development

The final speaker at last night's Area Commander meeting was a representative from Pomona's Community Development Department. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the heck we were suppose to get out this presentation, amorphously titled 2010-2011 Citizen Participation.

The speaker provided a hefty handout containing 19 PowerPoint slides (one whole page per slide; note to printer: next time consider using the 3-slides-per-page "handouts" format for printing). She then proceeded to walk us through slides with riveting titles (yes, that is sarcasm you detect) such as: "Statutory Spending Caps" and "CDBG Funding Comes with Rules." Yawn.

Finally, I raised my hand to ask why residents should care about this information. (Those of you who read the M-M-M-My Pomona blog may remember I asked a similar question of the Housing Division's Annual Report.)

With a little prodding, the answer became clear. So, to save you the bewilderment I navigated while listening to a poorly structured presentation that seems to have been prepared for a totally different audience, I present Pride's elevator speech [1] about why we should all give a damn:

"All of us benefit from Pomona's community development efforts. These efforts include improving code enforcement, public facilities, and neighborhood services; providing economic support to home owners, home buyers, and renters; and operating shelters for our city's homeless citizens.

"Pomona's community development efforts are largely supported by Federal funding. The amount of funding we receive is determined by residents' responses to the Census. We receive more funding when more people participate in the Census. Please encourage everyone you know to participate. Let's make sure all of Pomona's residents are counted!

"Once we receive Federal funding, we have to determine how to spend the funds. Your input helps the city determine how to spend the money. If you haven't already done so, complete and submit the Community Needs Survey; a copy appears in the Housing Division's Annual Report that arrived in your mailbox last month. If you don't have a copy of the survey, you can complete it online. Go to the city's homepage, then click on the featured link titled Community Needs Survey.

"The city mailed out 44,000 paper copies of the survey. Yet, only 1,200 surveys have been returned to date. Do the math: 2.7% of those who received the survey get to inform how the city spends its Federal funds.[2] The city needs input from as many residents as possible. Let your voice be heard!

"To summarize, I'll reiterate two points. First, participate in the Census so Pomona receives all the Federal funding it is entitled to. Second, complete the Community Needs Survey so the city knows how you think these funds should be spent. Thank you."

So that pretty much summarizes my understanding of what Tuesday evening's presentation intended to communicate. If others can help sharpen my understanding or representation of the issues, by all means, comment.



[1] Perhaps I could get this all in on the elevator ride down into the bowels of the Hoover Dam.

[2] Presumably the "1,200 surveys completed" estimate includes both paper and electronic responses. I'm not sure if 44,000 is the number of households in Pomona, or just a sampling of residences.

Good time had by all

The block party to celebrate the new playground in Garfield Park was quite the success. We devoured 90 cup cakes, waded through 3 gallons of lemonade and 1 gallon of milk, colored an impressive number of Valentines, and tried out all the cool playground equipment.

I wish I had thought to count the number of kids and parents in attendance. I'm guessing there were 50 kids and 15 - 20 adults.

In addition to celebrating the playground, neighbors brainstormed ideas for the new community center the city is developing on Mountain View. The community center was made possible by a "Weed and Seed" grant the city received from the Department of Justice.

Ideas shared by the kids include a lending library, places for crafts, board games, and science projects, and homework support. Ideas shared by the parents include health and nutrition sessions, parent support groups, computer classes, and ESL classes.

No doubt our next block party will celebrate the grand opening of the community center, hopefully before schools lets out for the summer recess.