We met last night at NCTV, just a few of us as many regulars were on vacation or were unavailable.
Our central concern is how to move a community network forward in Northampton. Currently actions by the city are on hold while we wait for feedback from the mayor, hopefully within the next few weeks. While we can’t read the mayor’s mind, we have asked Suzanne Beck (executive director of the Northampton Chamber of Commerce) to ask the mayor on the status of our initiative at their next monthly meeting. With the chamber on our side and the support of at least two city council members, providing the mayor will advance the next step of doing a residential and business survey, we expect this initiative will catch wind.
Regardless of whether the mayor approves our proposed surveys or not, we think demonstrating more grassroots support will help advance this cause. So this will be the focus of our next meeting. There are many approaches and we can do more than one:
- Organize a demonstration at Pulaski Park or City Hall in support of a community network
- More outreach to local interest groups
- Organize local TV or newspaper interviews
- Broader social media outreach
So please join us on September 6, 2018 at 7 PM at Northampton Community TV (behind Northampton High School). Please let us know you are coming on our meetup.com event page.