New NLNA Board Members Elected
With the annual meeting of the North Loop Neighborhood Association held virtually this year because of the pandemic, we still had more than 120 people voting and they re-elected all three incumbents who put their names in the running this year: David Crary, Bri Sharkey-Smith and Dana Swindler. In addition, three newcomers, Zachary Brunnert, Dima Rozenblat and Mollie Scozzari will be joining the board.
Conducting the meeting online gave us new ways to get helpful feedback from neighbors on where our volunteers should focus their efforts in 2021–either through direct action or through lobbying the officials or agencies that can affect these initiatives.
In our interactive polls, we asked “What do you think should be our neighborhood association’s priorities in 2021?” With the option to choose up to four responses, the issues getting the most votes were: Neighborhood safety 56%, parks 41% and pedestrian safety 41%. Neighbor-to-neighbor engagement was selected by 34% of voters and walkability by 29%.
In another question, we asked, “What is your favorite part of living, working and/or playing in the North Loop neighborhood?” And again, multiple answers were allowed. Top vote-getter was Walkability 73%, followed by Great bars & restaurants 63%, The river 37% and Architectural feel 29%.
We appreciate all who volunteered to serve with our volunteer projects such as Service Saturdays, dog park, litter cleanup and community events. We’ll be back in touch with you as we start to plan those events in 2021.
And thanks again to all the nominees who gave us such a strong slate of candidates to choose from. We appreciate your commitment to the neighborhood.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop resident