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City Noted for 60 Years of Neighborhood Advocacy

WASHINGTON CROSSING, PA, USA, October 16, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The history and contributions of Palm Springs’ innovative neighborhoods initiative is the subject of a national podcast released today. Four local residents involved with Palm Springs neighborhoods are interviewed for the 33-minute video segment that was originally part of the weekly Philadelphia-based podcast, Your Valuable Home, hosted by Ron Melk and Kevin Kennedy.

Melk says he chose Palm Springs because of the novel way in which its neighborhoods initiative is so successfully implemented. “In most cities, neighborhood organizations are managed as arms of city government,” says Melk. “They’re funded by their city and administered by its staff. Palm Springs is different in that all its neighborhood organizations are self-governed and self-funded. They’re independent of the city but work closely with it for mutual benefit.”

No one knows that better than Denise Goolsby. Goolsby is the Office of Neighborhoods Manager for the City of Palm Springs and is its liaison to 52 neighborhood organizations. “Our first neighborhood organized in 1967, but the momentum really picked up in the late 1990s when several groups came together as the city’s first multi-neighborhood association,” says Goolsby. “At that point, the need arose for city government to determine the best way to productively interact with both its growing number of organized neighborhoods and also its larger neighborhood collective. City Council passed an ordinance establishing standards to be met by individual organizations if their officers were to be acknowledged as official representatives of their areas. That ordinance also allowed for formal recognition of the larger group that has regularly brought the organizations together since 1998.”

Kathy Cohn picks up the story from there. For seven years, Cohn has been Chair or Vice Chair of ONE-PS (Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs)—the city-wide group of neighborhood representatives elected by each of their constituencies. Cohn lives in the Sunrise Park neighborhood and has been its organization’s Vice Chair and representative to ONE-PS since 2014. She emphasizes that “Although its name has changed over the years, the mission of ONE-PS has remained consistent: To provide Palm Springs residents a channel for two-way communication with city government and local service organizations.”

Megan Rodriguez is one of those Palm Springs residents. She’s also Vice President of the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association and a member of the ONE-PS Communications Committee. Rodriguez notes that, “When my neighborhood became a ONE–PS member in 2008, one of its goals was to inform the community of the many important and influential contributions to the city of its long-established Black community. Since that time, we’ve created bridges and developed resources that benefit our neighborhood and make us more visible and integral to the city.”

All the guests for the podcast were brought together by its fourth participant, Eric Chiel. Chiel is the founding past-Chairperson of the Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization and is a former Board member and Communications Officer for ONE-PS. He summarizes the significance of Palm Springs being selected for this podcast: “Our city was singled out because it uniquely exemplifies how to get the broadest benefit from neighborhood organizations—for residents, for local government, and for service organizations. Our self-funded and self-directed neighborhood programs enhance the quality of life for residents and contribute to the City’s appeal, recognition, and stature as a destination.”

This video podcast can be streamed at Palm Springs Neighborhoods Initiative tinyurl.com/NeighborhoodsInitiative.

Eric Chiel may be reached at Eric@WorldStageLIVE.org.

Ron Melk
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