The Southern Oregon 'Summer' Awakening

As many of you know, SOSA had a meeting with the Medford Parks and Recreation Commission last month on the 20th. This meeting was to determine whether or not SOSA would need to appear before the Medford City Council to receive approval for this event. The event as it was designed at the time of this meeting included sleeping for attendees who wanted to take advantage of an event feature such as this, likely those with the inability to afford a hotel for the event. According to city park rules, anyone requesting to sleep in the park for an event must gain the approval of city council.

Camping: Camping is not allowed in any park area unless approved by City Council. 

 While speaking to the council I explained to them the purpose of having camping available, to accommodate those who want to attend all 3 days, yet live out of town and cannot afford to rent a hotel for the duration of the event. The Commission understood this but pointed out money factor. When camping in a park for 3 days it isn't like a maintained camp ground. The ground in the park will be trodden and compressed by hundreds of feet, tents, and equipment. As a community we all pay for the park, making it our civic duty to either pay for the repairs or to simply keep the park in good repair. Thus camping is on the table for whether or not it is brought up the next time SOSA comes before the city.

Money is going to be the most difficult aspect of this event as SOSA sells itself. It is a great community event which provides opportunities for both community volunteers, officials, and residents to learn a grow together.  Therefore it would be wise for SOSA to spend the next month and a half seeking donations, endorsements, and volunteers. We will also need to have a more thoroughly documented financial plan for the Commission to peruse. This is because we need to prove we can afford the Special Use Fees and/or insurance for our event.

2. Special Use Events (requiring site plans): Used for car shows, events using booths, etc. These require additional documentation. Please outline your event to us in a letter format, which you can email, mail, fax, or drop off to us. We can provide you an outline of a park area if you need to map out placement of booths, etc. 

Now check out the fees I've included below:

FEES1. General Public Use Permit: 2hr/$28, under 50 attendees; amplification is an additional $16/hr.2. Special Use Permits - events requiring site plans, $55/2 hr under 50 attendees; amplification is additional $16/hr.The following applies to both General Use and Special Use Permits:  Additional fees for 51-100 attendees $16.50/2hr, 101-150 attendees $24.50/2hr and 151 or more attendees $33/2hr.

As you can see, we will fall under the Special Use Permits. With plans to have more than 150 people, we will be paying $55.00+$33.00=$88.00/hr or less for this event. I say less because we will do our best to negotiate with the city on this price. Being a community event which will offer services to the community, it is safe to say the city should be willing to reduce these fees to assist us in making this event a reality.

Our city fee's budget will include the following:

1. Special Use Permits: $4752.00 for 54 hours of use sans negotiation. (Noon Friday - 6 PM Sunday)
2. Insurance or Deposit: Unknown Cost as of Today
3. Noise Permit: $144.00 if only used 3 hours per day. $576.00 if used for 36 hours.

Amplification: No person shall use any device to amplify sound in any park unless a valid permit has been issued by the Parks and Recreation Director.Maximum amount of time that amplified sound is allowed during an event is 3 hours. This may be waived if the event is part of a City sponsored or partnership event.No person shall use sound producing or reproducing equipment between the hours of 10pm and 8am on public property or on public rights-of-way. 

As a result of this meeting, SOSA has been changed from the Southern Oregon Spring Awakening to the Southern Oregon Summer Awakening, keeping its original acronym. This might tell you we have pushed back the date for the event to some time in August. The mission for the next month and half will now be to inspire local organizations to participate, fund, sponsor, and/or donate to this event. We must gather their support, garner their attention, and direct it to the benefit of the community in the form of a civic engagement and community resource exposé.

Sincerely,

Nick Patterson
Lead SOSA Organizer

Additional Information: http://www.ci.medford.or.us/page.asp?navid=193

March 8th Meeting: Contact Organization For Endorsement

March 8^th SOSA Agenda

1.       Recap

a.       Approach to Parks and Rec

b.      Reply

c.       Meeting Set for the 20^th @ 5:30 @ Santo Community Center

2.       What We Must Do Before The Presentation

a.       Gain the conditional endorsement of at least 5 organizations, would be best to get 10 or more to conditionally endorse this event. A letter from the organization, even if a paragraph, will greatly help legitimize our claim of endorsement.

                                                               i.      Brainstormed Organizations

1.       Police - N

2.       NAMI – RS

3.       RVUUF (Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship) – RS

4.       Peace House – BD

5.       JWJ – BD

6.       La Clinica – N

7.       CPJ – IH through contact by BL

8.       Maslow – Ask J

9.       Occupy GP - N

10.   KSKQ - N

11.   Occupy Klamath Falls – DD

12.   Fire Department – N

13.   Josephine Sheriff - G

14.   Sheriff’s Association -

15.   Sheriff’s Posse – N

16.   Immense Possibilities (Jeff Golden) – B

17.   Oregon Action – Contact

18.   JC Dems – Jer

19.   JC Republicans – AM

20.   Jeff – Bates Former Assistant – Running For County Commissioner (Talk to him about speaking in a debate)

21.   Access – DD

22.   Central Labor Council – BD and N

23.   Oregon Strong Voice – BD and N

24.   Wake-Up America – GF

25.   Ben and Jerry’s – N

26.   Howard Owens – BD

27.   Thrive - BD

28.   NSWA - N

29.   Timber Associations – GF

30.   Job Council – Ask R to request this endorsement

31.   Habitat for Humanity – Ask RD to request this endorsement

32.   Sherm’s Food For Less – N

33.   Project REconomy – N

34.   SOU LGBTQ Community – N

35.   Student Governments – N

36.   UNETE - BD

b.      Prepare a presentation which will inspire the decisions makers.

                                                               i.      Gather stats on healthcare and those who can utilize the La Clinica bus

                                                             ii.      Gather articles highlighting the recent attacks on labor across the country

                                                            iii.      Gather information on local unions and determine their assessment of the labor situation in Oregon and abroad.

                                                           iv.      Gather foreclosure data from Nancie Koerber

                                                             v.      Other ideas?

1.       This event covers civil rights, money out of politics, and other items, but in approaching the city, need we mention anything political? Maybe endorsements from Occupy, the local Tea Party, Jackson County Democrats, and Jackson County Republicans would suffice in regards to mentioning political parties.

c.       Prepare a power point to present with

d.      Prepare a hand out so decision makers can follow along

SOSA’s Current Situation & the Next 3 Weeks

[UPDATE]: SOSA Meeting Date changed to the 8th of March at 5:30 in the Medford Library (Adams Room). We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you!
________________________________________________________________________


The Southern Oregon Spring Awakening is still in full swing. On February 21^st an initial proposal was sent to the city requesting the use of Hawthorne Park over the weekends of either May 11-13 or May 18-20.

The next week a meeting was held in which the attending SOSA team discussed some logistical items as well as some theme items. When I speak of theme I am referring to the message this event should be sending to the community. What will people take from this? What will draw people to this event? What should we be teaching the community? Why is SOSA a necessary event?

It was decided to incorporate multiple messages including foreclosures, labor issues, healthcare, economic inequality, civil rights, homelessness, and some political components. All of these issues will be communicated through presentations, guest speakers, art, music, and booths. This all brings about a theme of “We have issues in our community so let’s work together in making our region a better place to live.”

Another great thing garnered from this meeting was a simple pair of questions. How do we get the youth to realize their future is slipping away with each day they live in apathy? How do we inspire the youth to become involved and active in their community? On the last day of SOSA there will be a General Assembly to generate and implement ideas for involving the youth in their community, their state, and their country. We live in times where we must be the vanguard to our freedom and the youth will be a massive portion of the demographic in coming years and they must be awakened to their potential. How appropriate that our event be named the Southern Oregon Spring Awakening!

The city’s response took a few days but on February 29^th it arrived. Parks Superintendent Charlie Elliot responded with a few key points of information. First he spoke about the sleeping situation. As Medford City Code doesn’t allow sleeping in the parks, SOSA would be required to go before City Council to gain approval for sleeping in the park.

Now, Bicycle Oregon has been allowed to sleep overnight in one of Medford’s parks. I was sure to mention this so the city would know I was aware of the precedence set by Bicycle Oregon. In his response, Mr. Elliot informed me the permit which Bicycle Oregon obtained was roughly $3,000.

The next key point was a request to present the SOSA proposal at the Parks and Rec Commission Meeting on March 20^th @ 5:30 PM. This will be a 1-2 person job in which the SOSA team has the opportunity to inspire the decision makers. If we can inspire them, rather than simply communicate our idea, it will be much easier to get this through the city.

I have responded to their invitation and confirmed SOSA’s presence at the meeting. I will prepare a power point or flip-pad presentation to visually assist our talking points. When in this meeting the fellow presenter and I must convey the proper necessity of this event. The community will benefit greatly both tangibly (healthcare and foreclosures) and intangibly (knowledge) from this event and the decision makers must understand this.

We will discuss the issues of sleeping, among other topics, at a meeting on the 8th of March at 5:30 in the Medford Library (Adams Room) to see if we can find a work around instead of being forced to appear before city council. We will need to contact a few big names in the community to get their backing. They will be endorsing the event on the condition we obtain permission from the city for use of the park for SOSA.  Specific organizations we will speak with this about will be persons from the Labor Council, La Clinica, Oregon Action, and others.

Dialogue With Parks and Rec

Emails are ordered from newest to oldest, top to bottom respectively.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Patterson:

 

We will add the request for consideration of your event proposal to the Parks and Recreation Commission Agenda under item 40. New and Continued Business.

 

Yes, it is acceptable to bring people with you to the meeting, it is open to the public.

 

There will be a computer available for power point presentations.

 

Feel free to contact me if you have additional questions.

 

Thanks

Dobey

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

03/01/12

Mr. Elliot;

Thank you for reviewing my request. I will be there on the 20^th at 5:30 pm to present my request at the Parks and Recs Commission Meeting. I have a few questions in response to your letter:

1     It’s possible I will want to bring 1-2 people with me to assist in presenting this proposal, are they invited?

2     Will I have the ability to present using PowerPoint or should I bring physical presentation material?

3     Leading up to the presentation, will I be able to correspond with you should I have questions regarding the process?

I truly appreciate the time you’re putting in to this and look forward to working with you in making this event a reality for the community.

Thank you,

Nick Patterson

SOSA Lead Organizer

Nwp918@live.com

541-840-1794

_________________________________________________________________________________

02/29/12
Mr. Patterson;

I have reviewed your request for the event you are proposing to hold at Hawthorne Park in May. The City of Medford Park rules do not allow for overnight camping and an exemption from this rule would require City Council to approval.

We are requesting that you attend our Parks and Recreation Commission meeting at the Santo Community Center on Tuesday March 20th at 5:30 pm to present your request at which time the Parks Commission can make a recommendation to forward on to City Council.

Please confirm your attendance to the Parks Commission meeting to me by Tuesday March 13.

Your event will require a special event permit which you can obtain from Heidi Hill in our City Managers Office at 541-774-2000. The City Managers Office has been notified of your request.

In regards to your questions about electrical output, we have capacity in 3 power panels located in the park, but would want to review your vendor layout to determine your needs. Additionally your vendors would need to supply their own cords. You would also be responsible to rent additional port-a-potties to support the event, as well as garbage disposal and general cleanup of the Facility.

The Parks Department does not have any equipment for rent or loan and regards to tents and canopies our rules do not allow for staking down so water ballast or cement blocks would need to be used.

Additionally a Park use fee would be required. In the case of Cycle Oregon you mention at was around $3,000.

Thank You
_________________________________________________________________________________

02/21/12
Greetings Ms. Shinn,

I have attached a letter ("Letter to Parks and Recreation (Logistics)") in which the Southern Oregon Spring Awakening Planning Group requests the use of Hawthorne Park on either the weekend of May 11,12,13 or May 18,19,20. The "Spring Awakening Document City" document will give decision makers further insight in to the nature of this event.

We eagerly await a response from you and your department so we may commence with the next stage in planning the Southern Oregon Spring Awakening. We look forward to working with you and your department in bringing this event to life, providing a refreshed sense of community to the Southern Oregon region.

Sincerely,

Nick P. and the SOSA Team

The Document

To view the Spring Awakening's Document in its current form follow this link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63806363/Village%20Action/Spring%20Awakening%20Document%20%28Public%29.docx

Approaching the City

Yesterday I went to the Parks and Recreation Department at the Santo Center on Columbus after Gary did some preliminary research into who to approach. I entered with a sense of dread, thinking this meeting and the work thereafter would be a damper on my day. However, I learned the city cares not about our message and only about logistics...my kind of people.

The next step is to write a detailed report of the event in regards to the logistics of SOSA. The report will detail what we need in order to host SOSA at Hawthorne Park. This includes electricity, space, layout, sound amplification, and a few other minor aspects.