2016 ONE-PS Annual Retreat

On Saturday, January 30th, the Organized Neighborhoods of Palm

Springs, better known as ONE-PS, held its annual Retreat. Representatives
of the 40 neighborhood comprising the organization met to review the past
year, discuss current activities and participate in discussion groups on
issues of concern citywide and within the local neighborhood organizations.
I was pleased to represent the Los Compadres Neighborhood Organization
(LCNO) at the Retreat.
Celebrating A Banner Year
2015 was a year of change, growth and first time events for our
organization. Foremost, we officially changed our name from Palm Springs
Neighborhood Involvement Committee (PSNIC) to the more descriptive and
user-friendly Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs (ONE-PS). A new
logo and Mission Statement were adopted. Four new neighborhoods
organized and joined ONE-PS with at least three more neighborhoods
currently organizing. The 10th Anniversary of ONE-PS was commemorated
at the Annual Picnic with an all-time high of 1,000 Palm Springs residents
attending. The ONE-PS Mayor and City Council Candidate Forum, held in
conjunction with the PS Chamber of Commerce and KMIR-TV, was for the
first time televised live. A Modernism Fall Preview House Tour was
organized by ONE-PS becoming its premiere fund raising event. ONE-PS
neighborhood representatives Rob Moon and Geoff Kors were elected
Mayor and City Council Member respectively.
Current and Ongoing Activities
ONE-PS Committees along with special Work Groups and Task Forces
work to update the operations of our organization and strive to improve the
quality of life in our City. The Governance Committee instituted new
Transparency and Open-meeting rules. The Code Enforcement and Public
Works Committee actively works with city staff to have input into street
repair priorities and projects. A PB&T Subcommittee was formed to
identify traffic and pedestrian dangers areas to be corrected through
funding from the Measure J Commission. The Vacation Rental Work Group
is monitoring the enforcement of the Citys new Ordinance for its
effectiveness and possible improvement. The Vacation Rental Work Group
the previous year review the issue and made recommendations that became
the basis for the current Ordinance. ONE-PS representatives were
consulted on the revision of the Citys website and a Task Force has been
formed to develop a ONE-PS website.ONE-PS is represented on the Citys
Homeless Task Force.

Discussion Groups
Retreat participants were assigned to discussion group tables each
with its own set of questions to discuss and subsequently report to the
Retreat for further comment. Two themescommunication and
volunteerismwere recurring topics in both the questions and reports.
Communication
Two-way communication between the local neighborhoods and the
City is at the very heart of the purpose of ONE-PS. Local neighborhood
representatives bring the concerns and needs of their residents to ONE-PS.
At monthly ONE-PS meetings, City officials from the police, fire and other
departments including the City Manager, David Ready, report on the City
plans and activities.
There is a need for ONE-PS to build relationships with civic groups,
organizations and businesses throughout the City. A power-point
presentation, What is ONE-PS was shown to the Retreat. It is intended to
be the basic tool of a Speakers Bureau for outreach purposes.
Aspects of communication within neighborhood organizations were
also discussed. Several points were emphasized:

Though email, Facebook and other technologies are important

communication tools, person to person conversation remains the most
effective.

Both individual neighborhoods and ONE-PS are foregoing the

newsletter (whether print or email) in favor of websites. Information
can be posted more quickly and frequently than quarterly newsletters.

While Nextdoor.com provides a good communication avenue, many

find the numerous postings annoying. A workshop for representatives
was suggested to demonstrate how one can personalize their
Nextdoor.com site to modify the type of postings received.

Volunteerism
Retreat participants were asked why they volunteered for leadership
roles in their local neighborhoods and ONE-PS involvement. A number of
positive responses included: wanting to meet their neighbors; desire to
know more about local government; and, to build stronger neighborhoods
for social reasons as well as mutual concerns including emergency
preparedness, crime prevention and to deal collectively with community
issues such as business and housing developments, traffic, street repair and
vacation rentals.

Most Retreat participants continue to volunteer for the same reasons

though many were experiencing degrees of burn-out. To recruit new
volunteers, an Information Form was distributed for prospective volunteers
to list their interests, experience and talents. This form could serve as a
guide to personally ask a prospective volunteer to for a task or project. As
in with all communication, the most effective ask is a direct, one-on-one
conversation.
As the day ended, Retreat participants were reminded that in all its
activities, communication and volunteer efforts, the underlying purpose and
motto of ONE-PS is: To make strangers into neighbors and neighbors
into friends.