Welcome to Citizen Corps!
We're a casual gathering of citizens interested in finding ways to make London better. Thinking, talking, doing. A collaborative, non-partisan, citizen led initiative.
We're just getting started. The group is being nudged out the door by Shawn Adamsson but all Londoners are encouraged to take ownership. Hit the mail link below to get involved.
What do you think of the new logo that the city has had commissioned for the World’s Figure Skating Championships? Multiple news sources are indicating that the intent is to have this evolve into a community brand in the long term. Should the City be responsible for branding the community? Should the community be involved? Or does it matter at all?
From time to time an issue may come up at council that you’re really going to care about. Make no mistake, letters to your Councillor can have a huge impact. So how do you make the most out of your time and effort?
Here are a few of tips:
1. If you want to ensure your letter is read by people at City Hall always keep it respectful and on point. Remember, councillors have precious little time so try to make your point in a single page. Use facts and sources where possible (social media is a fantastic way to find material to back you up). A combative or confrontational email may not get read and (even worse) might even discredit your cause (I usually have someone read my letters before sending them off).
2. If the issue is going before council always copy the City Clerk (Cathy Saunders - csaunder@london.ca) on your correspondence and ask to have your letter attached to the council or committee agenda. This will ensure that your letter is available to all councillors (and the general public) and goes on the public record when the agenda is published (usually 2 or 3 business days before the next council session).
3. Copy the Joe Fontana (jfontana@london.ca) on all correspondence. While your ward councillor technically has responsibility to represent all citizens of London, the mayor is really everyone’s representative so copy him to ensure that your voice is heard at the top.
4. Post your letter publicly and let people know so it can be shared. There are a bunch of ways to do this: a public Facebook post on your wall, a post on the CitizenCorps page, blog, Pastebin, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. Or you can just email it to adamsson@citizencorps.ca and we’ll post it for you.
Be a leader and show people that you care enough to speak out and get involved. Your energy may inspire others to speak up too. You would be amazed at how well this works.
Not sure what ward you’re in? Try this handy tool - http://www.hackthevote.ca/ward-map/
Below you’ll find email addresses for our mayor and all of our councillors:
Mayor - Joe Fontana - jfontana@london.ca
Ward 1 - Bud Polhill - bpolhill@london.ca
Ward 2 - Bill Armstrong - barmstro@london.ca
Ward 3 - Joe Swan - jswan@london.ca
Ward 4 - Stephen Orser - sorser@london.ca
Ward 5 - Joni Baechler - jbaechle@london.ca
Ward 6 - Nancy Branscombe - nbransco@london.ca
Ward 7 - Matt Brown - mbrown@london.ca
Ward 8 - Paul Hubert - phubert@london.ca
Ward 9 - Dale Henderson - dhenders@london.ca
Ward 10 - Paul Van Meerbergen - pvanmeer@london.ca
Ward 11 - Denise Brown - dbrown@london.ca
Ward 12 - Harold Usher - husher@london.ca
Ward 13 - Judy Braynt - jbryant@london.ca
Ward 14 - Sandy White - sawhite@london.ca
Check out Pints & Politics - The July Edition
Check out Pints & Politics - June Edition. Register here: http://junepints.eventbrite.ca
Londoners will take part in a year-long conversation about how we will plan for our future roads, neighbourhoods, workplaces, community facilities, parks, and transportation.
Check out ReThinkLondon.ca
The Investment & Economic Prosperity Committee (IEPC) is developing a 10-year plan that will move London’s economy forward faster and ensure long term prosperity for our community.
Check out London’s Prosperity Plan
Nonprofit organizations facilitate social change through education, outreach, advocacy and mobilizing. How do we engage more people in this process? How do we create effective messages that help shift public opinion and policy? What obstacles lie in our way, and what role does our aging democratic structure play?
Lots of great lessons in here for community & political advocacy.
What would you do if you had a million bucks to make your neighborhood better? Turn the vacant building up the street into a healthy corner store with cross-cultural appeal? Fund 24-hour bus service? Paint giant flowers on the asphalt in every intersection?
What if there was a tool that made it easy for you share your idea with neighbors, community groups, city planners — people who could pitch in to make it a reality?
London will be having this discussion soo as Smart Moves 2030 - Transportation Master Plan is presented for public feedback.
“We love public transit and are frustrated with the delays, slow travel times, and lack of funding.” Sound familiar? Even our best North American cities struggle with better public transit options. Riders in many cities are banding together to support their local transit and push it forward. Do you think something like this can work in London?
