2/22/13: Quality of Life Matrix

Below is a re-cap of what happened on Friday 2-22-2013. Attached are the revised Quality of Life Matrix documents, with short and long term issues separated. 

I would like to request a follow up meeting in March. We already had a success tonight with the passing of the moratorium of new recycling centers. Go NAG! :} Let's keep the momentum going! I would like a weekend day (3 hours) so we can get as many as possible there to discuss long term issues in our neighborhoods. Would you please let me know which weekend dates are best for you? 

Thanks~

Cybele Garcia Kohel
Vice President & Los Robles Representative

Craftsman Heights Neighborhood Association
cybelegarcia@me.com

Northwest Pasadena

Neighborhood Advocacy Group

Meeting February 22, 2013

Present:

Ann Tait, Melissa Ertler, Patrick Ontiveros, Laura Lipton Barboza, Abel Barboza, Cindy Clark-Schnuelle, Bob Kneisel, Bob Bryg, Cybele Garcia Kohel

On this evening, a group of neighbors who call themselves NAG and live in NW Pasadena, came together to mobilize around issues that affect their greater community. Cybele Garcia Kohel volunteered her skills as facilitator. The topics of discussion stemmed from a document generated from previous meetings, called the Quality of Life Matrix. This document outlined issues and solutions that NAG believes the City of Pasadena needs to address. This meeting’s focus was on expanding the discussion of the issues outlined in the Matrix document.

After introductions of individuals and the facilitation process, a focused discussion about the community’s strengths and difficulties ensued. Here are what the group responses were to each question in the focused discussion: 

• What is the one thing that stands out for you the most about our neighborhood? What else stands out in your mind?

1. Diverse, fragmented, crime, missing a voice, lack of leadership, non-participating residents, disjointed, lack of concern of enforcement, 
2. last and “final frontier” in Pasadena, come for the architecture and stay for the people

• What parts of our neighborhood draw you in, make you want to stay? What is the most difficult thing to understand about our neighborhood for you?

1. Culture, various attractions, quite a participatory city, attractive area, attractive neighbors, center of it all in Los Angeles, convenience, swap meets, 
2. Unsavory activities, loitering, Community Arms issues, no innovative approaches to problem solving, the city is reactive vs. Proactive

• We have some themes in the Matrix document, and in what each of you have said just now. Which ones do you see the community embracing as an issue? 

1. Community Participation, City bureaucracy, Community Policing

• What are these themes really about? What will this mean for the future of our community? 

1. The City is not listening, systems in place are archaic, resources cut (in City departments or mis-appropriated), Resident initiative and persistence alone solves problems, Police methods are outdated, historic families are not participating

This was a broad discussion. In the end, we decided that while all the individual issues outlined in the Matrix document are valid and concerning, they are in effect symptoms of deeper rooted problems. We resolved to combine some efforts, and dig deeper on how to resolve the deep rooted ones. Below is a reworking of the Matrix, which separates the short term issues and the longer term ones. 

We ran out of time this evening and were unable to finish discussing how to address the long term issues. I propose we have a meeting in March to finish the discussion and establish a plan of attack. At the end of the meeting in March, we will have an action plan to address these issues.