Kenmore City Hall was filled with citizens who participated in a workshop by community engagement expert Peter Kageyama, author of For the Love of Cities and Love Where You Live, on April 7.
“I was thrilled to see the turnout and the enthusiasm in the room,” Deputy Mayor Allan Van Ness said. “You could tell that these people really love their city.”
The three-hour workshop was aimed at empowering citizens with knowledge and tools to be part of positive change in Kenmore. Kageyama discussed the concept of “falling in love with your city” and “doing small things with outsized impacts.” These small things are what Kageyama called “Love Notes” and likened them to a personalized hand-written note to go with a bouquet of flowers.
“Boy, were my expectations of a dry, boring meeting blown away last night,” said Kenmore resident Alene Fisher, who attended the workshop. “The speaker’s ability to focus on concrete ways to improve Kenmore was exceptional.”
After a presentation by Kageyama, participants were asked to come to the microphone, say what they love about Kenmore, and post it on the wall. Each table of participants then designed a hypothetical T-shirt that reflected what they love about Kenmore.
As the final activity of the evening, Kageyama challenged participants to develop a “love note” proposal for a $500 grant, funded by local businesses and individuals. Each table of participants developed and submitted their proposals. Examples include the construction of an over-sized heron nest, a “mid-winter splash” event, a street fair, pop-up balloons throughout the city, and an online radio station for Kenmore. After each proposal was presented, all of the participants voted on their favorite project. Mayor David Baker presented the $500 grant to top vote getting idea, which was to paint murals on the silo structures at CalPortland on 175th Street in Kenmore.
The city will highlight ideas generated from participants at the workshop on their Facebook page over the next couple of weeks, www.facebook.com/kenmorewa.
