Civic Associations Seek Alliance


by on Jun 5th, 2008

As GerritsenBeach.net noted earlier this week, several neighborhood civic associations in southern Brooklyn are planning to form an alliance. It is tentatively titled the South Brooklyn Civic Alliance, and is being established on the principle that “there’s strength in numbers.” Apparently, the alliance will help the groups coordinate their efforts and more effectively lobby members of the community boards and local politicians.

The whole plan is currently very… abstract. Ed Jaworski, the Vice President of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic (one of the organizers of the alliance), notes, “The initial idea is for this to simply be an informal opportunity for a small number of civics to get together, get to know something about each other, and see if we share any common concerns.” There have been no discussions about governance or structure of the group, and, so far, there has been no explanation as to why the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association was not invited to be a member (Manhattan Beach Community Group has been).

At the most recent Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach civic meeting, leaders expressed their eagerness to adopt strategies from other groups, including the formation of a safety committee and an education committee, to more effectively convey residents’ concerns and needs to safety officials and school administrators.

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  • MBNA

    Ned,

    good observation in noting how the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association was not invited to join or as to why phone calls to Mr Jaworski have not been returned looking for an expalnation.

    could it be that they are not obliged to follow a democratic process as all Americans do, are they concerned that a younger, fresher perspective on how neighborhoods and communties should function is something they can’t accept.

    our country was brought together primarliy by unifying it’s forces in order to create a stronger position, but fear and segregating people will only lead to chaos.

    the MBNA will be around for many years to come, we are young and have time to wait for that call.

    Ed?

  • http://www.sbpbcivic.org SBPBCivic

    There’s no agenda – Madison Marine & Marine Park (both of whom worked amazingly hard to put this alliance together!) didn’t have contact information for your new group, and didn’t know who to ask for it when the meeting was first arranged.

    Same thing happened to Brighton Beach, and other civic associations – there was no intent to keep people away, this group is all about inclusion.

    The next meeting is in the middle of September, we’ll make sure you’re invited if you send us an email through our site with a contact to reply.

    You’ll find that many of us have differing views on how to handle the challenges facing Brooklyn communities, and all views are respected. After all, we’re all, at out cores, volunteers doing what we believe is best for our communities.

    Enjoy the summer, and see you in September!

  • MBNA

    Ned,

    good observation in noting how the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association was not invited to join or as to why phone calls to Mr Jaworski have not been returned looking for an expalnation.

    could it be that they are not obliged to follow a democratic process as all Americans do, are they concerned that a younger, fresher perspective on how neighborhoods and communties should function is something they can’t accept.

    our country was brought together primarliy by unifying it’s forces in order to create a stronger position, but fear and segregating people will only lead to chaos.

    the MBNA will be around for many years to come, we are young and have time to wait for that call.

    Ed?

  • http://www.sbpbcivic.org/ SBPBCivic

    There’s no agenda – Madison Marine & Marine Park (both of whom worked amazingly hard to put this alliance together!) didn’t have contact information for your new group, and didn’t know who to ask for it when the meeting was first arranged.

    Same thing happened to Brighton Beach, and other civic associations – there was no intent to keep people away, this group is all about inclusion.

    The next meeting is in the middle of September, we’ll make sure you’re invited if you send us an email through our site with a contact to reply.

    You’ll find that many of us have differing views on how to handle the challenges facing Brooklyn communities, and all views are respected. After all, we’re all, at out cores, volunteers doing what we believe is best for our communities.

    Enjoy the summer, and see you in September!