It’s been just over six months since a group of determined (and slightly angry) citizens got together to brainstorm about how to fix Sweet Home’s commercial district, which had just been labeled by two downtown revitalization experts as “blighted” and lacking momentum, leadership, vision, focus and the capacity to do what is needed to turn the downtown around. After reaching these conclusions on a walk through town on a particularly dark, dank day, the experts took their act elsewhere.
What came out of that was a resolve to improve our downtown and commercial district. We held two group brainstorming meetings with facilitator John Morgan of Keizer and what came out of that was SHARE, the Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort, a group of concerned citizens who formed four committees to plan and implement revitalization of Sweet Home’s downtown.
That’s when the real work started. Anyone who’s ever been involved in a grass-roots, largely volunteer-based, effort knows that it takes a while to get organized and to figure out what works and what doesn’t. In SHARE’s case, organizers are facing a big challenge with many facets that have to be planned for and prioritized.
The good news is that the process is moving along. The not-so-good news for some, who were eager to make things happen right away, is that the process has taken time.
Over the summer, the Steering Committee (of which I’m a participant), which has responsibility for oversight of the revitalization effort and coordinating the efforts of the Finance Committee, Planning Committee and the Programming and Marketing Committee, has worked to come up with a list of priorities for SHARE and job descriptions for the various committees.
All of this has taken time, particularly since a lot of it has happened during the summer, when there have been many interruptions and delays. Right now the Steering Committee is working on the big picture as it charts a course for this effort.
Members are sorting through many possibilities as they determine the best way to start working to turn things around. The various committees have to determine what needs to be done first, how it’s going to be paid for, who’s going to lead the charge, and create a schedule for when projects should be completed.
It should start coming together soon. But in the meantime, there is something we all can do.
With winter coming on, the Programming and Marketing Committee (which is responsible for a lot of the hands-on activities that will be happening in the revitalization effort) will hold a cleanup day this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. There will be food and door prizes, so it’s not going to be just work.
It’s a chance to make even a small difference in Sweet Home.