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B. Support Neighborhood Involvement by empowering all Neighborhood Associations. 5. Support Neighborhood Associations in problem-solving. People who belong to a Neighborhood Association share a common location and many common values (e.g., safety). Yet participants may differ in their views of a particular topic. A neighborhood association is less formal than Council public hearings and can use more participatory ways to work through complicated issues. Associations should provide forums for people to work out their differences. People should not feel more isolated when their views are not in the majority. To help Neighborhood Associations become places where group problem-solving methods are used to work through issues, neighborhood leaders and boards would get training-arid coaching on the techniques. 6. Increase communications from Neighborhood Associations. A portion of Neighborhood Services' budget is set aside for Neighborhood Associations' use for public information about upcoming meetings and events and neighborhood issues (e.g., newsletters, postcards, flyers, signs, banners). The current level of spending authority funds at least three mailed newsletters and one mailed post card to each address within the neighborhood. The City Council has said that a Neighborhood Association should have 4 General Meetings per year as a condition of being an active neighborhood. Funding for 4 or more newsletters should also be provided so the neighborhoods are informed about all meetings and neighborhood issues.. When possible, newsletters or postcards are posted on the City's website for the association. A service enhancement would be to let people request to have the newsletter e-mailed to them, either in lieu of getting it via the Post. Office or being added to the distribution list if they are anon-resident property owner or interested in another neighborhood's news. If enough people choose to get their newsletters via e-mail, the neighborhood association could distribute more issues/year: 7. Hold annual forums for Neighborhood Associations and elected officials. Once a year, the City would host a forum at which Neighborhood Association board members, City Councilors and the Mayor, and City program managers could meet together to work on a selected topic. This would help build relationships among these groups and let people get beyond the labels of "activist", "politician" and "bureaucrat". S. Affirm Council policy on Neighborhood Associations. The. Neighborhood Organization Recognition Policy (NORP) was adopted in the mid- 1970's. Over time, the program has evolved and- subsequent Councils have adopted new policies. These changes are not in the NORP. Questions remain: why do Neighborhood Associations exist? Who do they represent? What decisions do/should they make? How do we know associations are open and democratic? What is the role of the Neighborhood Leaders Council? Updating the NORP and the model charter would confirm expectations and working agreements between the Neighborhood Associations, Council, and the City organization. 9. Divide the huge neighborhood associations into ..smaller ones. The current Council policy on neighborhood boundaries recommends associations have not less than 300 addresses nor more than 8% of the total City addresses (in FY06, 8% _ 5664). Two neighborhood associations, Cal Young and Active Bethel Citizens, are