Regional Park Tree Planting October 18th

Calling all Creekside Neighbors,

As you may have noticed, there has been considerable activity going on at the Regional Park. Bike/Jogging paths have been installed and beautiful trees and landscaping have been added.

As a continuation of this great progress, Friends of the Park has just announced a tree planting in the North Natomas Regional Park on Saturday, Oct 18th from 8:30-12:30. They will plant over 50 trees with the help of the Sac Tree Foundation and support from Ray Tretheway's office. The effort will require over 100 volunteers. Please click on the flier below w/ all the pertinent information for the event day. Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors.

See you there!

Please contact Beth MahonyFriends of the Regional Park 204-8945 for more information.

Message from the President: Join us Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night is the Creekside Neighborhood Association meeting at the Homecoming apartments, upstairs in the community room at 7pm.

On the agenda:

I. update from Sac. PD - Officer Ave Lallemant
II. update from North Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership (Resource Center) - Angelique
III. Creekside October - Festival (Family Fair) discussion - Michelle Kille (Lewis)
IV. Presentation on Tsakopolous Development - Bryan Deblonk

Should be a lot of great information - see you all tomorrow night.

Angelique

Kevin Johnson's Summary of Creekside Meeting

Below is a message from Mayoral Candidate Kevin Johnson summarizing his thoughts of the information shared at the Creekside Neighborhood Association meeting held on June 18th.

Creekside Natomas Neighborhood Association Meeting

Meeting Summary

I had the pleasure of attending the Creekside Natomas Neighborhood Association meeting on June 18, 2008. It was very clear from the comments, that many of the residents feel Natomas has not realized the lofty goals that drove its original conception and development. They were frustrated because:

1) They felt the community had been planned through isolated decision making. The result has been a community that currently has a lack of safe walking and biking paths and too little planning and funding of the regional park. To correct those missteps, they thought an important role of the next Mayor of Sacramento is to help plan the continued growth of Natomas in a collaborative manner that considers how decisions will affect the community as a whole.

2) There are a number of vacant buildings, stripmalls, foreclosed homes and unkept lots and yards that do not show the pride and vibrancy of the neighborhood.

3) Low-income housing is not distributed throughout the community; instead, developers have placed these units in certain pockets. The residents felt that that created an isolated dynamic that was not positive for the community.

4) The lack of technological jobs in Natomas, explaining that many Natomas residents have technology backgrounds that arenʼt being utilized.

5) They feel that public safety is not prioritized. There’s a lack of a Fire station on the west side of I-5, a police substation and of more officers to respond to property crimes. Though they were appreciative of the work of Dan Hahn, they stated that they needed the officer force necessary to investigate all of the crimes that were committed.

6) There are not enough meaningful programs and services for youth.

My Response

When I asked residents why they decided to attend that nightʼs meeting they cited a strong commitment to the community and a specific interest in the growth of the neighborhood as it affects their family and friends. I understand the frustration Natomas residents feel about the disconnect from Sacramento, and I will help to foster the unrealized potential of this community by continuing these productive discussions and moving forward on critical actions. Natomas residents want the next Mayor of Sacramento to ensure that tax dollars will be appropriately spent on public safety, including police and fire protection. I will ensure that the community has access to their fair share of these important city resources.

A Message from the Creekside President:

Hey Guys - I know there is a lot going on right now with crime and the safety forum coming up on Monday night at 6:30 at Inderkum (I know lots of you are planning to attend - and that is fantastic).

Also, I think most, if not all of you, know that the new school (Hight) is now slated to be host to a community day school for about 20 middle school kids who have been expelled for whatever reasons from regular school.

If you don't already know about this please read the extensive article written on the web page www.natomasbuzz.com

The Buzz is a wonderful news source for Natomas - it is written by a journalist who lives in North Natomas. She does a really great job. I suggest you mark the page and check it every now and again to see what's up in our region. She is always way ahead of the Media News and the Bee for the goings on in Natomas.

You will see when you read that article that Sean Avalos (Creekside Leadership) is leading our community effort to have some input on this issue with the school district.

He has been able to set a meeting for Tuesday night, July 1st at 6:30 pm at Heron School. At that time we, as a neighborhood and community, need to share our concerns and get answers to our questions.

Please try to attend both meetings next week (Monday and Tuesday both at 6:30, Monday at Inderkum and Tuesday at Heron, Monday is for Public Safety and Tuesday is the school issue).

One last note - I know its a lot to deal with all at once - don't get discouraged. We are a resilient neighborhood and we will find our way through all of this and be better, stronger and closer when this is all behind us.

Also, I hope all of you in Creekside are planning to spend the 4th of July together on Naponee Ct at 6:30 (don't forget to bring your own picnic dinner and blankets or chairs and a treat to share... BBQs will be available). See you all in one week, when we can celebrate as a community all of our efforts.

Hang in there,
Angelique

Celebrate the 4th of July with Us!

Come celebrate the 4th of July with your neighbors! We will be meeting at 6:30pm on Naponee Ct. (at the end of Winamac Dr.) to have some fun.

What to bring:
1 - A picnic dinner for your family (BBQ grills will be available if you want to bring something to cook on those but you willneed to bring all your own stuff)

2 - Chairs and/or a blanket for your family

3 - A dessert to share (we will have a community dessert table)

4 - Whatever fireworks you would like to bring.

*We know the Governor is advising no fireworks this 4th of July and we do understand the fire hazards. The goal in Creekside is to bring the community together and safely do a small neighborhood fireworks show. We will have buckets and shovels at the ready.

We will also keep you posted; if it becomes just too dangerous we will cancel.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Creekside Neighborhood Yard Sale a Success!

The first annual Creekside Neighborhood Yard sale was a big hit. Organized by the Creekside North Platte Neighborhood Watch Group over a half dozen homes participated and lots of folks enjoyed mingling up and down the street - getting to know each other and finding treasures along the way.

It was pretty hot but the kids sold lemonade to keep everyone cool. All in all a great day and a wonderful event. These types of get-togethers create a real sense of community pride and bring us all closer together - excellent job North Platte Team!

Way to Go Sean and Casey!

Mayoral Candidate Kevin Johnson Visits Creekside

Mayoral Candidate Kevin Johnson Visits Creekside

Kevin Johnson requested an opportunity to meet the neighbors in Creekside. He attended the June meeting and held an open discussion with members of our community about the challenges and successes we have faced in North Natomas.
He shared with us his priorities which are: public safety, education and creating a business friendly city.

He did not come to the meeting with a lot of background about Natomas but he asked a lot of questions and seemed interested in learning.

Creekside Neighborhood Association is not endorsing a candidate but we would allow any candidate interested in speaking to our neighborhood the opportunity to do so. We have not been asked by any other candidates in the current mayoral race (at least not yet) for that opportunity.

Thank you to all who participated - Creekside, as always, was a wonderful example of what makes Natomas great... The people who live here and have tremendous passion about helping this region meet its potential.