I am a long-time resident of South DeKalb. I watched them build my house on Downs Crossing in 1986. My children grew up here and attended Redan High School. I’m a retired public servant. I am invested. Now, a new community organization, Connecting Neighbors and Neighborhoods, is budding based on conversations at a neighborhood coffee. I am learning a lot about my neighborhood and neighbors as I listen.
My To-Do List for the upcoming meeting includes mundane things like packing registration forms, name tags, and candidate information concerning the upcoming local election, buying refreshments, making coffee, and carting the items to the Stonecrest Library for tomorrow night, 6 pm. I know people will be hungry because some of them will come from work. I want them to be able to concentrate on the Police Athletic League (PAL) Youth Program speaker, Lieutenant Fred Walker. He will be speaking about the athletic and arts program for children and teens this summer offered by DeKalb County Police Department. Idleness can breed crime.
I hope to book a speaker in July to address another big concern expressed by the people on NextDoor.com and at our previous meetings about the juvenile justice system and how citizens can be involved in the restorative justice process with our youth.
A dear friend is coming from the West End of Atlanta on MARTA to help me play break-the-ice games InterPlay style–curious?–and build trust and respect before we discuss the candidates in the second half of the meeting. Without trust and respect we can’t move forward, a reminder from a wise woman Ms. Taylor on NextDoor.com.
Many thanks to the Beverly Mitchell, my next-door neighbor, who helped me get the word out, put out flyers in mailboxes, and dropped them at surrounding library branches.
I’m excited to hear what you want to say about the candidates to help inform others. If you aren’t with us at Stonecrest Library, I expect you’re paying it forward somewhere else.
Our next meeting TBA will be in July at the Redan Recreational Center on Phillips Road.