In the interest of furthering discussion, i think trying to label or characterize others is counterproductive. Have you ever read Robert Fulghum? 'Everything i needed to know i learned in elementary school.' Very entertaining.
As far as 'wither and die'. I'm pretty sure i talked about that elsewhere. The reality is that the neighborhood association is slowly growing in participation. From as best i could tell, 'me' in 2002 when i got the first tree grant, and Tom Hornsby, the Chair. It has taken the last two years to create the 'block delegate' system. Its unique in Tempe and is getting alot of attention in other neighborhoods. It was developed because of the limitations i noticed of the email list I was developing the prior two years, and the limitation of the standard 4 mailers the city would pay for, and i used adn abused to get about 100 free trees.
Since then, there have been a couple of contentious issues that have gotten the attention of a wider audience in the neighborhood. (i will address those in a seperate forum in the near future) Human nature is what it is. Maybe it has to do with FOX News, whatever. But those issues may also deserve more attention, so more people show up. Retention after specific issues is more to the point. The neighborhood is pursueing a Grant, the yard sale was a good start (the most recent, not the rained out), there is a proposal for an Arts Festival; some people are working at that, etc. This does not mean that there are not more things we can be doing. We need more ideas adn people to develop them!
And concerning businesses and code issues. Just like 'Block Watch', the neighborhoods are being asked to interface with businesses. It would be best, and i tried, to talk to the business/property owners first. This was unproductive. After a few unanswered messages, the alternative was to contact the City Code enforcement. The way it works, it's always more complicated when you get government involvement, not necessarily worse. There are just more rules, departments, procedures that have to be followed. It would have been much easier to ask that they keep their trash area clean, and they reply, yeah, its a mess, and a health hazard, we will keep it clean. i dont think the property manager was doing anything unusual, he was doing what was best for his business, in his own estimation anyway.
I'm also a little confused by what 'old timers' means. (other than more 'characterizations' that discourage discussion ) If by that you mean age, then we have a mix of residents in this neighborhood from 2 to 92. If you mean by 'residency', then we have a mix of residents from original homeowners to college students each semester. If you mean by length of service on the Board, well the first election in a few years was two years ago.
One thing that i think about is by activism in the neighborhood. And if that is what you mean, then i'm a newbie, end of 2001, but not active till late 2002. But others have been active for 15 years or more. People such as Joe and Kirby have donated hundreds and even thousands of hours to community service in Tempe, to the neighborhood and serving on City Boards and Commissions. I'm a light weight in perspective, having only served on the Arts Commish in '99 and on the Aviation Commission in '06. (planes flying over our heads got me interested in that) If you really want to talk about 'old timers' then you are talking about people like them and others, in which case it is a badge of honor.
So of course my next question is obvious. You gotta ask yourself one question. What have i been doing with the associattion since i moved in?
