This evening in Elk Grove. Population = 179,000. Two residents showed up. SacRT needs to come up with another community engagement strategy.

I didn’t know about Breakthrough Sacramento until Patricia from SABA and I were asked to attend a cohort meeting to talk about advocating for active transportation. On their website, it says they provide “a year-round, tuition-free, college preparatory program for academically-motivated, ethnically diverse students from under-resourced schools in the Sacramento area.”

Another community engagement evening in

Again, sparsely attended. Two blind residents provided valuable input.

This resident (the only other attendee) is a frequent user of bus and light rail. Every word was recorded.

I have been working on curriculum for 4 bicycle safety lessons for all 5th and 4th graders and 2 pedestrian safety lessons for 3rd and 2nd graders at Greer Elementary. This Safe Routes to School grant was funded by CalTrans –> County of Sacramento –> SABA. We just received our official start date for the program so I began ordering supplies: helmets for about 220 kids (15 large brown boxes worth), jerseys and many other supplies, and hiring League Cycling Instructors. My living room was beginning to fill up.

All the helmets needed to be unpacked with packaging removed and discarded, then helmets repacked and box labeled.

aka Sacramento Regional Transit Safe Routes to Transit. So .. Sac RT which operates the 3 light rail lines and all bus routes in Sacramento County got a grant to study the safety of people getting to its transit stops. SABA is a community engagement partner which means Deb and/or I need to attend a variety of public workshops in strategic locations. Tonight, Rancho Cordova.

There were high expectations for some of the 85,000 residents of Rancho Cordova to attend and provide feedback. It was well advertised. Ready to engage and get input, there were 8 “staff” people from 5 different agencies and a reporter from Channel 13. Unfortunately, only TWO members of the public attended: one city employee and Dan (being interviewed) who does not live in Rancho but frequently uses bus and light rail.

This community engagement was not a success. Just six more events like this to attend. I’m sure the next one will yield better results. Right?

Every other Tuesday morning and sometime we go to lunch afterwards. This week, Mojo’s.

Friday morning breakfast meeting of many non-profit organizations who work within the San Juan Unified School District.

Always a challenge for schools: how to get families to participate, get involved, and share their opinion. SJUSD has developed a framework for Family and Community Engagement.

In the afternoon I prepared some materials for an event – Sammi’s Circuit – at Greer Elementary. Thank you online resources for being able to easily translate my simple questions into four languages – Spanish, Dari, Pashto and Farsi.

However, there was a miscommunication about arrival time. BarbaraL and I arrived to see everyone (except maybe the guy on the phone) focused on Sammi’s motivational introduction before the activities began. Oh well.

Liz from Breathe has been having difficulty getting in touch with staff at Greer Elementary so we can get started with the Sacramento County Safe Routes to School grant. This morning, we just showed up and waited until the VP could see us. It worked.

A friend from the American River Bike Patrol arranged for me to meet the director of the City of Sacramento Youth, Parks, and Community Engagement Department. Remember the Alhambra Theater? Now a Safeway grocery store.

Great place to meet for coffee:

Later in the morning, I picked up Pamela, Volunteer Coordinator for SABA, and we went to

for the Cordova Community Council monthly lunch.

Mayor Garrett Gatewood entered with Rancho Cordova High School cheerleaders singing and dancing to a Motown song. His speech was entertaining.