Make Blake Mayor!
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Jordan
Nov 2, 2009, 1:38:16 AM11/2/09
to Salem Locavores
Make Blake Mayor!
I have been seeing this as a possibility since the seed was planted
ten years ago, when I was 23. Now at 33, the signs are telling me
that the vision and skills that I have as a problem solver, program
developer and team builder in this city and region, giving me what it
takes to get the job done better than anyone. My energy and
collective experience have prepared me in the areas of common sense,
vision, and place. With this, I see the direct and indirect forces
that mold this city. Knowing that in context to what is going on
around us, is pivotal. I know that all hands need to be on deck for
changes to be realized, and below you will find what I plan to do in
the process of taking incremental steps, more often, in that
direction.
I believe my ability to co-facilitate and engage the patchwork of our
community will get us to a deep prosperity with certainty, faster and
better than if we stay with the status quo. Within the food system,
as well as with our transportation grid, I will aim to partner with
the cities in the Willamette Valley to organize an art and appropriate
technology contest to see who can come up with the best design for
growing and processing food at one end, and on the other end, how to
create a transportation system that are people and resource friendly.
My vision is to weave the Willamette Valley with common threads of
creativity and justice in collaboration with community partners. The
bridge that we build will be broader than just the bridge itself. We
need to connect wholeheartedly with the river. I grew up downstream
from Salem, along the banks of the Willamette River and Willow Lake in
Keizer, Oregon. I also grew up next to the City of Salem Willow Lake
Wastewater Treatment Plant. That is why I see water as an important
aspect of social-ecological and community health. I will focus on
cleaning up the Willamette River, and will advocate for service
projects and partnerships to accomplish it.
It is a dream to create a walking/biking path along the Willamette,
from Salem to Corvallis. As mayor, I will help to catalyze this
vision by bringing people together to make things happen. I will do
this in the most creative and just way, which is what I do. From my
experience in working with the private, public, nonprofit, community,
faith and neighborhood sectors, I plan to develop a creative events
and workshop calendar that will be accessible on-line, as well as
displayed on kiosks (something I will work to bring back in slow
fashion to down town). This will help grow the learning community of
downtown, and I will work to expand these patterns in other hubs
throughout the city, including in the Central Salem NRSA (Neighborhood
Revitalization Strategy Area), where I live within.
This is an approved City of Salem community block development grant
project that is in the planning phase, and where I plan to co-
facilitate work-learn-grow programs. I will begin my WORK-LEARN-GROW
PLATFORM of peace-healing and forgiveness though horticulture therapy
projects, in connection with food gardening. I will promote this
throughout the entire Salem-Keizer area though the development of a
city farmer/community gardener program, with a goal to put a garden in
every school. I will implement this through a partnership with
Americorps and the National Service Agency. I will work to build up
my platform with a volunteer construction program that begins with
recycling building material. The program will process this resource
in a value added way, with a goal to put these assets in and around
the city/school/community gardens. I will work with Chemeketa
Community College to start micro-credit systems that empower
businesses to start-up and sell these goods and services (including
food) to the private and public. Things built would include chicken
coops, planter boxes, worm bins, garden sheds and appropriate living-
learning quarters for the Americorps and lead teachers, with the
intention to pass them off to homeless and at-risk youth, when they’ve
earned/learned it. Food grown would include salad fixins, root
crops, fruit, nuts, herbs, etc. Now that is health food!
From my platform I will focus on giving back, and will be all about
reciprocity. WE SHARE. WE GAIN. WE SUSTAIN. That is why I will
focus in on creating the structure for citywide online communication,
models of in-town/out-of-town bicycle transportation, as well as
events that bring us together by empowering the creative force of
artists and organizers that we have in this fine city. I see this
being built from the grassroots, to include the entire community in
our quest for healthy communities, self-reliance and sustainability.
Together, I hope we can come together to see the specs of creating a
deep prosperity. My philosophy is that we are a co-intelligent
citizenry; we just need the encouragement and guidance to live well.
Many of us are aware we have that wisdom right here and now. I plan
to see that our city is orchestrated and administered well. I will
provide opportunities for good and willing people to step up to the
plate every day, all year long. I will work with community to make
sure that the basic process of governance is working for the people.
I will request that we get all of the varying opinions, to work with
them and guild the building blocks together in learning communities
and citizen councils. I will support community radio and facilitate a
weekly address on it! Go KMUZ!!!
On this notion, I want to thank those in the community that are the
catalyst for bringing forth the conversation around a post carbon
world. I believe that we need to get together and weave strategies
that will put a damper on climate change. I propose that we as a city
get into action, and to do it in fashion. As a tradition, my family
used to spend Friday nights unplugged, with switches off, playing
games, eating and talking by fire and candle light. I would like to
bring this back as a community event, and to tie this with
neighborhood parks and a process of peace and healing.
As mayor of Salem, I will shake hands, and probably hug every single
one of our city employees, and hand sign a thank you to all city
volunteers. I will encourage you to take care of yourself and your
family. I will work with as a community to produce the best food on
earth. I will see that we get on the path where one day, everyone on
earth has a share. I will build consensus and promote a development
agenda that looks 40 years out. I will ask all Salemites to help me
take care of our youth, our seniors and our alter-abled. I will
reciprocate wisdom when it comes to designing programs that uplift the
dynamics of community health. I will practice common sense and
compromise when it is necessary to push something through. I will
listen and I will focus us toward a convergence of thoughtful action
and compassion. I will always tell the truth.
This is my story. I am a fourth generation farmer with a love for the
land, and a kinship to people. I take pride in community action and
see gardening as a catalyst to a health, self-reliance and
sustainability. I am a spiritual and systems thinker. I feel
strongly that are connections to each other and our planet are
important. I do my best to live this way, and to inspire others to do
the same. I have a strong family tree. My nuclear family fills me
with happiness. Love is in the center, and we share that with our
boys every day. My oldest son Irik has autism, and loves to run and
leap with the wind. His words are few, and in a social context, he
does things different. I feel he came to be because of the balance my
wife and I share in our 12 years of togetherness, as well as my
ability to be patient and caring. The future is ours to create!
I am an industrious and imaginative, and I push the boundaries with
vision and orchestrated action. I have farmed, worked in the family
nursery and landscape business, pumped gas, painted and wallpapered,
been in the Navy, worked in warehouses, read books to tape for the
blind and I have taken care of the elderly. I have gone to school and
excelled in math and science. I have taken senior level classes in
economics, resource development, and systems thinking dynamics. I
have had the opportunity to practice program development strategies
and evaluations over the last six years, and I have successfully
orchestrated food systems work at three regional food banks, in
Eugene, Hillsboro and Salem. I currently work at Marion Polk Food
Share. My job is to end hunger, and my current passion is to reduce
the city and regions’ contribution to global warming. I take both
very seriously, and that is why I seek vision bridging and leveraging
of resources to live in balance.
This, among many others things have brought me to where I am today,
and I have come up with overarching goals that will be our guide posts
for the first term of Jordan Blake, a mayor of our capitol city,
Salem, Oregon.
1. To think outside the box and see that there is a renaissance
brewing.
2. To make ends meet and balance wants with need.
3. To transform the climate of Salem society to a place where the
freshness of commerce is developed co-intelligently.
4. To bridge ideas and ground control so that it is in the hands of
the family.
5. To engage our international communities.
6. To focus on being resourceful.
7. To structure our assets for successful and cooperative ventures.
8. To be on top of business and venture out into the world.
9. To create a tradition of community, spiritual connection, and above
all else, grace.
10. To pray for the future of the earth and the civilization that we
naturally build.
11. To bring home the bacon.
12. To lay our laundry out to dry.
13. To share in the work of revitalizing the core.
14. To find strength from within.
15. To unify.
16. To honor choice.
17. To heal.
18. To take on the beast that is global warming.
19. To know that our time is just a drop in the bucket.
20. To capture the results.
21. To spread our wings.
22. To set our sights on the moon.
23. To forget no one.
24. To remember what our purpose is.
25. To create a sacred contract.
26. To sign up and participate as citizens of this great city of ours.
27. To bring on the fight for workers rights and immigration reform.
28. To thrive in our challenge to just be.
29. To follow through.
30. To release and let go.
31. To grow organic.
32. To live deep.
33. To be a catalyst.
I have been seeing this as a possibility since the seed was planted
ten years ago, when I was 23. Now at 33, the signs are telling me
that the vision and skills that I have as a problem solver, program
developer and team builder in this city and region, giving me what it
takes to get the job done better than anyone. My energy and
collective experience have prepared me in the areas of common sense,
vision, and place. With this, I see the direct and indirect forces
that mold this city. Knowing that in context to what is going on
around us, is pivotal. I know that all hands need to be on deck for
changes to be realized, and below you will find what I plan to do in
the process of taking incremental steps, more often, in that
direction.
I believe my ability to co-facilitate and engage the patchwork of our
community will get us to a deep prosperity with certainty, faster and
better than if we stay with the status quo. Within the food system,
as well as with our transportation grid, I will aim to partner with
the cities in the Willamette Valley to organize an art and appropriate
technology contest to see who can come up with the best design for
growing and processing food at one end, and on the other end, how to
create a transportation system that are people and resource friendly.
My vision is to weave the Willamette Valley with common threads of
creativity and justice in collaboration with community partners. The
bridge that we build will be broader than just the bridge itself. We
need to connect wholeheartedly with the river. I grew up downstream
from Salem, along the banks of the Willamette River and Willow Lake in
Keizer, Oregon. I also grew up next to the City of Salem Willow Lake
Wastewater Treatment Plant. That is why I see water as an important
aspect of social-ecological and community health. I will focus on
cleaning up the Willamette River, and will advocate for service
projects and partnerships to accomplish it.
It is a dream to create a walking/biking path along the Willamette,
from Salem to Corvallis. As mayor, I will help to catalyze this
vision by bringing people together to make things happen. I will do
this in the most creative and just way, which is what I do. From my
experience in working with the private, public, nonprofit, community,
faith and neighborhood sectors, I plan to develop a creative events
and workshop calendar that will be accessible on-line, as well as
displayed on kiosks (something I will work to bring back in slow
fashion to down town). This will help grow the learning community of
downtown, and I will work to expand these patterns in other hubs
throughout the city, including in the Central Salem NRSA (Neighborhood
Revitalization Strategy Area), where I live within.
This is an approved City of Salem community block development grant
project that is in the planning phase, and where I plan to co-
facilitate work-learn-grow programs. I will begin my WORK-LEARN-GROW
PLATFORM of peace-healing and forgiveness though horticulture therapy
projects, in connection with food gardening. I will promote this
throughout the entire Salem-Keizer area though the development of a
city farmer/community gardener program, with a goal to put a garden in
every school. I will implement this through a partnership with
Americorps and the National Service Agency. I will work to build up
my platform with a volunteer construction program that begins with
recycling building material. The program will process this resource
in a value added way, with a goal to put these assets in and around
the city/school/community gardens. I will work with Chemeketa
Community College to start micro-credit systems that empower
businesses to start-up and sell these goods and services (including
food) to the private and public. Things built would include chicken
coops, planter boxes, worm bins, garden sheds and appropriate living-
learning quarters for the Americorps and lead teachers, with the
intention to pass them off to homeless and at-risk youth, when they’ve
earned/learned it. Food grown would include salad fixins, root
crops, fruit, nuts, herbs, etc. Now that is health food!
From my platform I will focus on giving back, and will be all about
reciprocity. WE SHARE. WE GAIN. WE SUSTAIN. That is why I will
focus in on creating the structure for citywide online communication,
models of in-town/out-of-town bicycle transportation, as well as
events that bring us together by empowering the creative force of
artists and organizers that we have in this fine city. I see this
being built from the grassroots, to include the entire community in
our quest for healthy communities, self-reliance and sustainability.
Together, I hope we can come together to see the specs of creating a
deep prosperity. My philosophy is that we are a co-intelligent
citizenry; we just need the encouragement and guidance to live well.
Many of us are aware we have that wisdom right here and now. I plan
to see that our city is orchestrated and administered well. I will
provide opportunities for good and willing people to step up to the
plate every day, all year long. I will work with community to make
sure that the basic process of governance is working for the people.
I will request that we get all of the varying opinions, to work with
them and guild the building blocks together in learning communities
and citizen councils. I will support community radio and facilitate a
weekly address on it! Go KMUZ!!!
On this notion, I want to thank those in the community that are the
catalyst for bringing forth the conversation around a post carbon
world. I believe that we need to get together and weave strategies
that will put a damper on climate change. I propose that we as a city
get into action, and to do it in fashion. As a tradition, my family
used to spend Friday nights unplugged, with switches off, playing
games, eating and talking by fire and candle light. I would like to
bring this back as a community event, and to tie this with
neighborhood parks and a process of peace and healing.
As mayor of Salem, I will shake hands, and probably hug every single
one of our city employees, and hand sign a thank you to all city
volunteers. I will encourage you to take care of yourself and your
family. I will work with as a community to produce the best food on
earth. I will see that we get on the path where one day, everyone on
earth has a share. I will build consensus and promote a development
agenda that looks 40 years out. I will ask all Salemites to help me
take care of our youth, our seniors and our alter-abled. I will
reciprocate wisdom when it comes to designing programs that uplift the
dynamics of community health. I will practice common sense and
compromise when it is necessary to push something through. I will
listen and I will focus us toward a convergence of thoughtful action
and compassion. I will always tell the truth.
This is my story. I am a fourth generation farmer with a love for the
land, and a kinship to people. I take pride in community action and
see gardening as a catalyst to a health, self-reliance and
sustainability. I am a spiritual and systems thinker. I feel
strongly that are connections to each other and our planet are
important. I do my best to live this way, and to inspire others to do
the same. I have a strong family tree. My nuclear family fills me
with happiness. Love is in the center, and we share that with our
boys every day. My oldest son Irik has autism, and loves to run and
leap with the wind. His words are few, and in a social context, he
does things different. I feel he came to be because of the balance my
wife and I share in our 12 years of togetherness, as well as my
ability to be patient and caring. The future is ours to create!
I am an industrious and imaginative, and I push the boundaries with
vision and orchestrated action. I have farmed, worked in the family
nursery and landscape business, pumped gas, painted and wallpapered,
been in the Navy, worked in warehouses, read books to tape for the
blind and I have taken care of the elderly. I have gone to school and
excelled in math and science. I have taken senior level classes in
economics, resource development, and systems thinking dynamics. I
have had the opportunity to practice program development strategies
and evaluations over the last six years, and I have successfully
orchestrated food systems work at three regional food banks, in
Eugene, Hillsboro and Salem. I currently work at Marion Polk Food
Share. My job is to end hunger, and my current passion is to reduce
the city and regions’ contribution to global warming. I take both
very seriously, and that is why I seek vision bridging and leveraging
of resources to live in balance.
This, among many others things have brought me to where I am today,
and I have come up with overarching goals that will be our guide posts
for the first term of Jordan Blake, a mayor of our capitol city,
Salem, Oregon.
1. To think outside the box and see that there is a renaissance
brewing.
2. To make ends meet and balance wants with need.
3. To transform the climate of Salem society to a place where the
freshness of commerce is developed co-intelligently.
4. To bridge ideas and ground control so that it is in the hands of
the family.
5. To engage our international communities.
6. To focus on being resourceful.
7. To structure our assets for successful and cooperative ventures.
8. To be on top of business and venture out into the world.
9. To create a tradition of community, spiritual connection, and above
all else, grace.
10. To pray for the future of the earth and the civilization that we
naturally build.
11. To bring home the bacon.
12. To lay our laundry out to dry.
13. To share in the work of revitalizing the core.
14. To find strength from within.
15. To unify.
16. To honor choice.
17. To heal.
18. To take on the beast that is global warming.
19. To know that our time is just a drop in the bucket.
20. To capture the results.
21. To spread our wings.
22. To set our sights on the moon.
23. To forget no one.
24. To remember what our purpose is.
25. To create a sacred contract.
26. To sign up and participate as citizens of this great city of ours.
27. To bring on the fight for workers rights and immigration reform.
28. To thrive in our challenge to just be.
29. To follow through.
30. To release and let go.
31. To grow organic.
32. To live deep.
33. To be a catalyst.
Jordan Blake
Nov 2, 2009, 1:58:30 AM11/2/09
to Salem Locavores
"We're only truly secure when we can look out our kitchen window and see our food growing and our friends working nearby."
-Bill Mollison, co-founder of Permaculture
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