At recent NCC meetings we have discussed the need for NA members to become more aware of and involved with two important L.O. programs – school traffic safety and emergency preparedness.
The School Traffic Safety work group was started last year and is led by John Parke, Safety/Security Administrator for the LOSD. The purpose of the group is to bring together residents with city, police and school officials to identify, address and solve traffic safety issues around all the city schools. The group has been meeting monthly (currently on Zoom) and we have had participation from residents of nine neighborhoods with nearby schools. We want to expand participation in the group to residents from every neighborhood, and especially parents of school children whether they live near schools or their children are driven to school from other neigborhoods. We have been making progress addressing a variety of traffic safety issues affecting students and school-adjacent neighborhoods; including speeding, parking, e-bikes, and safe walking routes. Having the broadest possible respresentation will help ensure that we identify and address all the potential problems affecting our students and neighbors. Thank you for letting your NA members know about this group and requesting their participation.
The city’s emergency preparedness program, spearheaded in large part by Prep LO, has made significant progress training and equipping residents to be prepared for disasters. However, several NCC participants have noted that after setting up EP programs, training team members and obtaining emergency supplies that there is no ongoing communication with the city, fire department and Prep LO. The EP programs of the neighborhood programs appear to be languishing due to a lack of communication and coordination with the city and with other neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods have well-established programs with active, informed leaders while others are looking for leadershop and expertise to bolster their programs. To help fill this gap we are organzing an on-line “forum” where program leaders can ask questions, share ideas (best practices) and solve mutual problems. To set up this emergency prep forum we simply need the contact information for the current EP leaders in each neighborhood. We will contact them about joining the group which will intially be just by email communication but may also include on-line or in-person meetings in the future.
Please have your members contact me directly to join the EP forum, or if they would like to discuss this or the traffic safety program. Thank you for your help in establishing and expanding these important community safety programs.
Best regards,
Andy
Andrew Leonard
Bryant NA Co-chair
17445 Schalit Way, L.O.
Mobile: +1-503-522-1747
