Hafer Neighborhood Association

Neighbor Association Meeting of April 2, 2002

Apr 05, 2002

The first meeting of the neighborhood association was held on Tuesday, April 2, at Memorial High School. There was a good turnout, and we got a good start on getting the association organized.

Betty Jean Blue and Ronnie Williams of the Edmond Neighborhood Alliance attended also, and spoke about the re-zoning of 9th and Bryant. This issue is still alive, and we will have to be vigilant to ensure that we will respond at least as forcefully as we did this last time.

Many issues were discussed in regard to getting the association organized. The first issue was what name should we give to ourselves. The boundaries of the association we are proposing to form are from 9th Street to 15th Street and from Bryant to East Drive. This encompasses several different developments: (Oaks Lawn 3rd, Devonshire, Brentwood, and Briarwood). The best name would cover all of these different developments. At the meeting, it was suggested to call us the Pine Oak Neighborhood Association, because Pine Oak Drive goes through the neighborhood. Another suggested after the meeting was the Hafer Neighborhood Association, because this would be more inclusive of the Devonshire and Briarwood developments and because of our proximity to Hafer Park. If you have an idea for a name, please suggest it.

The next issue was developing a statement of purpose, a mission statement. Again, your input would be very helpful. The mission statement should be short, 1 or 2 sentences, positive, specific enough to provide a clear direction, but broad enough to cover situations that have not been anticipated.

The structure of the organization was discussed, whether it should be formal, where there will be elected officers and by-laws, or informal where a group of volunteers would work to keep the neighborhood informed about events of concern. The point was made that an officer of a formal organization can speak with much more authority than someone who is not. Another point was made that an informal organization will have a much more difficult time getting something done, because no one will know whose job it is. Therefore, it was decided to have a formal organization. A committee was put together to prepare by-laws that will detail the organization and how it will work.

Several people volunteered to be block captains. It will be the job of the block captain to gather contact information for their assigned area and to disseminate information when needed.

Finally, it was decided to set up regular meetings at least until the organization is up and running. Meetings will held the second Tuesday of every month. The next meeting will be May 14th, again at Memorial High School. At this meeting, the by-laws will be presented and the election of officers will be discussed. Hope to see you there!