Block Co-Captain

A few months ago, when the neighbor I had recruited some four or so years ago decided he didn't want to be Block Captain any more, I told the neighborhood I would volunteer for the job again if someone would assist me (since there were some aspects, mainly attending meetings, that I really didn't want to do). Eventually, one of them offered and he and I have been co-captaining the block since then.

I spent a lot of time this week on duties related to that because after I sent out a message a few days ago to inform people that it was official: two of our area intersections on Connecticut were two of the most dangerous in the City, and to please be careful, one neighbor asked if we could do something more specifically about one of them, Connecticut and Nebraska. Since I had heard that the City had just received a big grant to try to increase the number of children walking and biking to school, I wrote a letter asking how we could get a piece of that pie to increase safety there. Not two days later, one of our neighbors got hit at that intersection while crossing on foot and her hip was so badly damaged it is not repairable. She has to have it replaced.

So this morning I wrote to our neighborhood ANC Commissioner about how to get some immediate attention to that particular intersection, offering suggestions which another neighbor had come up with in consultation with the children's crossing guard (Ms Right!) down there. I haven't heard anything yet, but I did realize that all of this is pretty dramatically cutting into my painting time! Yet it is the right thing to do, and I know I am the person to do it, so I don't mind. But I think I have to try to find some painting time this week-end. It always gets shunted to the bottom of the list.