McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA)

Is Mercy a good East Sacramento neighbor?

Oct 13, 2005

The following is the opinion of the co-chairpersons of MENA?’s land use committee and may or may not reflect the opinions of individual board members or the membership as a whole.

By Nancy Cornelius and Ron Maertz

Having lived in East Sacramento for many years, we know and love our neighborhood. We appreciate the trees, the walkable landscape, the parks and the sense of community. We are also aware of what makes a good neighbor and we try to be a good neighbor to others. In our minds, a good neighbor is someone who respects others, listens to their request for change, maintains their property, does not take advantage of others, respects the streetscapes and considers compatibility when making additions to the community. A good neighbor typically wants the same thing as most people who live in East Sacramento: less cars and confusion, less noise and air pollution, more respect for walking, biking and a slower, safer pace for our children, for our elderly and for all of us. A good neighbor maintains his property and tries to be truly responsive to what other neighbors desire to improve the community. Most of all, a good neighbor pays attention and really listens to the needs and desires of immediate neighbors and the entire community. Hopefully, a good neighbor does not build a building completely out of proportion to what is in the neighborhood without thinking ahead, ?“What will this create and who will this impact??” Anyone who wants to build in a treasured neighborhood like East Sacramento should be asking himself or herself - will this be a problem for my immediate neighbors and for the community in which I live or operate?

Is Mercy Hospital a good neighbor when they are thinking of building a very large building that will generate more cars, more confusion and more pollution? Have they really listened to their neighbors? Have they set up a meeting with an unbiased facilitator and really listened to all the feedback and community concerns? Perhaps it is time for Mercy, the neighboring associations and anyone concerned to come together for a facilitated and mediated meeting where everyone gets to speak and everyone is listened to. Part of this process would be setting up goals and objectives and addressing ?“Can everyone live with this??” Before we accept what Mercy builds, we need to come together and seek solutions. We personally don?’t want to say later ?“We wish we had done something about how this is impacting our neighborhood.?”

Nancy Cornelius has lived in East Sacramento for 30 years and works as a Career Counselor and Mediator. Ron Maertz is an Air Quality and Transportation Program Manager for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District and has lived and enjoyed East Sacramento for over 10 years.