Staff with the City of Sequim and partnering agencies plan to bring together city residents to look at local issues at a hyper-local level.

Whether it’s issues of code enforcement and/or affordable housing, residents can participate in a community engagement event set for 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Guy Cole Convention Center.

The event serves as a kick-off to Service Fest in June 2018 where work parties partner with Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County volunteers and its RV Care-A-Vanners program on improvement projects pinpointed by residents.

To focus the event on specific needs of certain areas in the city, Sequim city councilors unanimously approved a new neighborhood map on July 24 that places the city into seven regions based on various factors such as physical barriers, the Urban Growth Area and more.

Assistant City Manager Joe Irvin said he worked with Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain on the map as a “way to align our services and recognize each region has its own needs.”

“We welcome neighbors to come in September and see what needs to be done,” he said. “No job is too small.”

Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush said the kick-off event will allow residents to discuss names for the regions, service project ideas for the regions and ways to make those neighborhoods better.

“It’s a good way for getting engagement and making it fun while creating a sense of place for each of these neighborhoods,” Irvin said.

This effort to bring neighbors together stems from a 2015 partnership with Habitat for Humanity to map Downtown Sequim for Neighborhood Revitalization projects and city councilors’ goal to holistically address needs such as infrastructure.

Bush said these early efforts led city staff to host Rally in the Alley events where large dumpsters are left for residents to throw away items. The June rally brought in more than 18 tons of trash, Bush said.

Two more rallies are scheduled before the end of the year, Irvin said, but where and when hasn’t been set.

While city councilors supported the new neighborhood region map, they did have some concerns about the regions.

Mayor Dennis Smith said the regions are all so diverse with schools and businesses that “they all have different objectives for what needs to be ‘revitalized.’”

Deputy Mayor Ted Miller also felt the scope may be too broad and felt 50 regions may have been more reasonable.

However, Councilor Bob Lake said he liked the idea of “making it broader and creating connections that wouldn’t be there any other way.”

No projects have been determined prior to the community engagement meeting, Bush said, but several kinds of connections between neighbors could occur there.

Bush said fire chiefs with Clallam County Fire District 3 are looking to form Community Emergency Response Teams within each region and the Sequim Police Department is looking to use the regions for patrolling.

In the 2018 city budget, Bush said city staff plan to propose funding for supplies to each region for CERT training.

Irvin said city staff also will propose $20,000 for Service Fest projects to work on next June.

Colleen Robinson, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County, said they’ll look to partner with service clubs and students along with Habitat’s volunteers on the projects to save on labor.

“We’re anticipating we won’t be able to finish everything,” Irvin said. “It’ll be a way we align projects and get them completed.”

National effort

Along with Service Fest, Robinson said Clallam County is one of 25 Habitat for Humanity chapters participating in a Quality of Life Framework study to measure neighborhood outcomes.

She said the initiative grew from Neighborhood Revitalization efforts to more surveying and tracking community’s quality of life.

“We know people who grow up in a Habitat home are breaking the cycle of poverty,” she said.

“We know that from 40 years of data so we want to start collecting that data (here).”

Bush said Sequim is likely one of the smaller communities participating and in bigger cities they are picking particular neighborhoods to study over a few years.

“They’re getting away from a one-size fits all approach,” he said.

Bush added that along with new data on neighborhoods, the area may be open to more grant opportunities for Neighborhood Revitalization.

For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County, visit www.habitatclallam.org or call 360-681-6780.

Contact the City of Sequim by visiting www.sequimwa.gov or calling 360-683-4139.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Seven new regions in the City of Sequim will be used by residents and city staff to pinpoint issues for code enforcement, affordable housing and other issues. A community engagement meeting on Sept. 9 at the Guy Cole Center in Carrie Blake Park will bring together residents to discuss issues in those areas. Map courtesy of the City of Sequim