So, keep the evening of May 6th open on your calendar – and plan on attending an event hosted by the city which could be of vast importance to us all. From a letter I received from the city:

I’m writing to invite you to an event I think will be of great interest to you. On Wednesday, May 6 at the ARC, 1701 West Ash, the City of Columbia will hold our second “Keys to the City” event that will have a special focus on neighborhood issues including a Neighborhood Congress.

The schedule (not entirely finalized yet – should be posted to the city’s website sometime after April 20) will include “Office Hours” to meet with City Council Members, an “Information Fair” with city staff there to answer your questions, and then ending the evening with the “Neighborhood Congress”:

A Neighborhood Congress will be led by the city’s Planning Department to discuss neighborhood participation in city planning. This session will include dialogue on a number of issues, including the development process, public improvement projects, traffic management, code enforcement and public safety.

This is the part where I think that simple numbers will have the greatest impact, and hope that we can get the best attendance possible to help guide the city’s thinking in ways which are beneficial to our neighborhood. Furthermore, finding out first-hand what the city council and staff are thinking will help to provide us with advance notice of things we should be paying attention to. If at all possible, please try to attend.

Cheers!

Jim Downey