Break with the City

[Parsec]

Our community has laying the foundation for a good working
relationship with our local city government for the past couple
years. Those connections are coming to fruition and by those
contacts, I am setting up a meetin with Sarah Hensley, Director of
Parks and Recreation here in Austin.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/downloads/sarahensleybio.pdf

We are going to be discussing volunteerism in the general sense and I
will be talking about some of the projects that BWB has done over the
years. We are also going to be talking about picking up some projects
from the city, as well.

Here is where you all come in.

This is it. What do we want to do? This is the meeting we have been
working so hard to get for the past two years. Now, what projects do
we want to take on?

This is our opportunity to have carte blanche access to public parks
and museums, to actually sort of go to work for the city directly.
They will come to recognize the BWB logo and wave at us. We could get
access to city infrastructure and limited funding (for tools and
supplies) as well.

In order to prep for this meeting, I have been reading the long range
Parks plan. To see what kinds of projects they are prioritizing.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/longrangeplan.htm

In the Needs Assessment portion, (p 159) there is a strong need for
cultural and arts, also picnicing, maybe we can do some sort of
permanent art installation?

Arts and Crafts are needed, too. We could host workshops on stuff.

Lots of trail work to be done, as well.
Take a look at number 6 on page 175. Rise of Culture (seen as a
mitigating factor on future allocation of resources): the
aforementioned survey also revealed a strong desire for culture and
art related experiences. These desired activities include both
outdoor and indoor functions, The survey indicated that people are
most willing to pay for the opportunity to experience cultural and art
functions. This rising interest in intellectual and aesthetic
activities may also reflect a maturing population.

Anyways, this is a good opportunity to affect some change and spread
some education.
Come further the discussion and join http://groups.google.com/group/austin-burners-without-borders
And/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BwBAnnounce/
Hmm. I should start a facebook.

Patrick