Do You Have Thoughts on 7-11?
In last week’s enews installment we included a letter from the Vernon Neighborhood Association concerning a 7-Eleven convenience store moving onto the corner of NE 15th and NE Killingsworth.
As part of this letter, there was included a survey for the community to fill out with regards to our feelings about said store moving into the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the link that was included didn’t work.
However, the Vernon Neighborhood Association has since fixed this glitch, and the survey is ready and waiting to be filled out if you haven’t done so already!
The Neighborhood Association really would love to hear what the community’s feelings are on this matter, whether you’re pro or con on the issue, and they’d also like to let you know what you can do if you have feelings that the store oughtn’t be in this neighborhood:
How you can take action:
(if you are opposed to the 7-Eleven)
- Please consider calling and/or emailing email hidden; JavaScript is required, who oversees the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, and email hidden; JavaScript is required, who oversees the Bureau of Development Services about your concerns
- You can contact the new owner of the property: MAJ Development (360) 823-5125
- If you have not already done so, please “Like” theVernon Neighborhood on Facebook so you can stay updated
- If you would like to go door-to-door and talk to your neighbors to collect signatures in opposition, contactemail hidden; JavaScript is required, who is heading our public outreach team
- Take this survey
You can find the results to the survey on Vernon Neighborhood Association’s Facebook page.
Additionally, if you would like to take more action, please note that the Vernon Neighborhood Association’s next monthly meeting will be on February 14th, at the Vernon School at NE 20th and Killingsworth at 7:00 pm. 7-Eleven is sending more representatives to speak to our body and hopefully address expressed concerns. Please come and bring as many supporters as you can.
Occupy the Co-op Board
by Russ, Board Director
“Maybe the co-op could get more involved in some very local food justice issues, maybe we could connect consumers directly with local farmers, maybe we could reduce our reliance on the large-scale wholesalers.
Maybe we could cut out most of the middleman markups and make wholesome food more available to people who are just getting by, while at the same time making the small, local farm a more viable enterprise.”
Maybe we could.
Perhaps this kind of thinking could help guide us through this moment at which our sales growth is pushing us out of our limited retail space, and we could redirect some of our energies into these alternative paths.
Do you have other ideas about where the Co-op might be heading and where we might direct our resources?
Two years from now, and five years from now, a lot of stuff will have happened. We will be in a different place. It might be a place you feel good about, or it might not.
The Co-op has over a thousand Member-Owners, and maybe three or four times as many regular customers. Only a handful of owners are actively engaged in trying to steer this thing.
If you get involved with one or more committees, or if you take a seat on the board, you can have a hand in shaping the directions the Co-op takes. Even if you just show up at one of these potlucks, you are almost certain to come away with something to think about.
There is another potluck this evening, Tuesday, January 31, at the home of Board Director Scott Sheldon, near the corner of NE 24th and Klickitat. Contact him via email hidden; JavaScript is required, or just drop by between 6:30 and 8:30. The address is 3226 NE 24th.
Again, if you are thinking about running for the board:
Unless you have put in at least five hours of volunteer time in the six months preceding the date you submit your petition, you will need to have attended at least one board meeting and one committee meeting in that interval.
The board meeting on February 7 is your last opportunity to meet that requirement. We hope to see you there. Committee meetings are posted to the front page of the ACG website. There are still a handful between now and February 8, when candidate petitions are to be submitted.
If instead you would like to pick up five hours of volunteer time through the Working Owner program to qualify, contact email hidden; JavaScript is required, our Owner Services Coordinator.
And finally:
In the runup to the Annual Membership Meeting on March 11 (mark your calendar!), we want to encourage owners to participate in lively discussions on the owners’ forumemail hidden; JavaScript is required/" target="_blank">googlegroup. The elections committee will be seeding the forum with timely threads, and we will be asking candidates, including incumbent directors, to launch threads of their own.
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