Clare Strawn – Page 2 – River Road Community Organization

January 23, 2022June 25, 2022

March board elections

Do you want to help improve and protect the livability of the River Road neighborhood? • Do you want to stay informed about activities and decisions affecting the neighborhood? • Do you want a say on policies and decisions that affect the neighborhood? • Do you want to work collaboratively with other concerned neighbors? RRCO is actively recruiting RRCO members in good standing who are interested in serving on the RRCO Board. The March election is an opportunity to increase the diversity of the board. We want people who care about our neighborhood!
Time to put your name in the hat! If you are a member in good standing and want to run for the Board:

Step 1: Please review our mission and charter at https://riverroadco.org/about-rrco/ and the board member job description at https://tinyurl.com/boardjob The job description is here

Step 2: Please complete and submit an application https://forms.gle/y14ZtjvNYz6cz3T16

Step 3: Candidates will be invited to the July 18th Board meeting.

The three open positions are replacing members who are moving away or retiring. Replacements will be appointed by the board and affirmed at the August General Meeting.

About the RRCO Executive Board: Nominations and election of Executive Board members are held at the General Membership meeting in March of each year. There is a total of nine RRCO Board members. Board members serve staggered two-year terms, so this March 14th, four of the nine positions will be voted on.
Becoming an RRCO Member in Good Standing: River Road residents, property owners or per sons who operate businesses in River Road may become RRCO members, if they are 18 years old or older. To be a “Member in Good Standing” and, therefore, be able to vote in an RRCO election or run for a Executive Board position, a member must have attended at least one prior General Membership meeting or Executive Board meeting within the immediate preceding 12 months.
(Of course, new RRCO attendees may attend membership and board meetings and sign-in to become a new member or renew their membership at any time throughout the year!)

If you have any questions, email Cochair@Riverroadco.org.

November 12, 2021November 13, 2021

Neighbors Getting Organized

Savanah Forster wrote the reflections below after our November RRCO general meeting.

Why get organized as a neighborhood?
One of the most popular breakout groups at the November RRCO zoom meeting was for those interested in working with their neighbors on ways to address climate change. In that session my question was “How do we get our neighbors together for discussions and actions?”

Louisa de Heer (Community Advisory Committee of the Neighborhood Plan and Eugene Sustainability Commissioner) gave an enlightening presentation Addressing Climate Change in River Road (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1S_UlP7kxyGBw2cgVk1_tDI-NhrFZWDei/edit#slide=id.p1) . Now what do we do with this knowledge?

Jan Spencer is a one-man ecosystem. He’s produced a beautiful video https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGlkrwsLsnxPFpCHCdzWbkZXwpr?projector=1 describing what he’s been doing for many years and invites the public on tours of his gardens.

Back to the breakout group. Climate change is upon us, and severe weather and fires are now a regular part of life. And Covid 19 is still here. Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest” has been replaced with new knowledge that survival comes through cooperation. We need each other. We are social beings, and in this age, where extended families rarely live geographically nearby, we need to create that network of interdependent households.

I really like my neighborhood and my neighbors, but I admit I don’t know them. Most of them I don’t even know a first name. Why do I want to?

Much caring and sharing could be going on by getting organized. Our 5-block neighborhood has 3 book-sharing boxes and at least one neighbor who puts free veggies out every fall. So, there’s already an energy of caring and sharing.

But what about the elderly lady we wave to on her daily walk? What happened to the older gentleman who would occasionally walk with her but hasn’t been around for months? Are they okay? What if we are quarantined by Covid or smoke? Will they have medications, food, help?

There are things we can do as neighbors to address climate change due to consumerism. Sharing and trading goods and services with each other instead of shopping for them is one way.

But how to do we do it?
What is an effective way to welcome sharing without invading privacy?
How do we build trust with each other?
How do we get it started?

I would love to hear your suggestions and experiences with organizing neighbors. I believe more than ever we need to create hives of cooperation to survive the challenges of the pandemic and climate change. You can reach me by email at savanah2233@gmail.com and the RRCO cochairs at cochair@riverroadco.org

July 12, 2021

Fears and Facts

Recently the community was asked to consider a safe sleep parking facility in the previous Park and Ride station at River Road and River Avenue. The city was considering that spot or one a block or so away at a church that had closed. There was a long thread in Next Door about this possibility. Many important and legitimate concerns were voiced including prevalence of North Eugene High School students who congregate there, the busy traffic and freeway entrance, and the fact that it is very close to a service center for the unhoused across the street.

But the thread also surfaced many fears that the presence of homeless folks seem to raise. Some of these fears are based on assumptions about that population, primarily that they are criminals and sex offenders. For most of us with modest security, it is hard to understand their circumstances. This is an opportunity to learn more.

So RRCO endeavored to document some facts. It turns out that facts are hard to come by because the population is transient. There are two sources of data: the Point In Time count done every January, and the By Name count compiled by agencies that serve the unhoused population. Obviously these two methods are going to come up with different numbers, and many of the questions we have aren’t answered in the data.

To me the biggest take-away is that we have a very high rate of mental illness in Oregon that is not adequately resourced.

Here is our fact sheet. This will likely be revised as we learn more.