About the Cooper Point Association
The Cooper Point Association was founded by community members in 1972.
on this page: Membership
Goals
C.P.A. Membership
by Ed Cael, from our April 2005 newsletter
In collaboration with groups like the Capital
Land Trust, Fire District #9 Citizens Steering Committee, Washington Trout,
APHETI, the Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Presidents and the League of
Women Voters, your Cooper Point Association remains actively committed to
effecting policy in Thurston County, proper compliance with zoning
ordinances and the preservation of our unique lifestyle on the Cooper Point
peninsula.
Advocating for these and other issues requires
the participation of many citizen volunteers well beyond the yearly
membership dues. While we welcome your financial contribution, it is your
participation in the Cooper Point Association that matters the most and
makes us the proactive force that you want us to be.
Attend any CPA monthly board meeting (held on
the first Thursday of each month), communicate online at www.cooperpoint.org,
contact any board members listed in our newsletters with your views and
volunteer for one of the many issues we pursue as your advocates.
The April 2005 newsletter will reach 2,700
households on Cooper Point. We began with 1,800 just a few short years ago!
The board of the CPA trusts that most residents will find our efforts to
enhance neighborhoods on the Cooper Point peninsula worth rolling up our
collective sleeves to keep this a special place to live.
C.P.A. Goals
by Chuck McKinney, from our April 2005 newsletter
In early November 2004 the Cooper Point
Association board members gathered to consider the past and future
directions of the CPA. The Board employed a method called ‘Appreciative
Inquiry’, or AI. The AI method centers on interviewing members of a group
with affirmative topics. The Board chose the following topics:
* Looking at your entire experience living on
Cooper Point,
recall a time when you felt most
involved in the community,
most alive as a citizen or excited
about your involvement.
* What do you value most about living on Cooper Point?
* What is the core feature that gives life to the
Cooper Point Association?
* Describe your vision of the future of the Cooper
Point Association organization.
Through the interview process the Board
discovered what each member appreciated most about the Association and the
Point. In the afternoon session we began to dream and image about what the
Association might be. We drafted four key elements that the Board believes
represents the Association.
1. Communication/Partnerships: information
clearinghouse, central gathering point, use web site and newsletter to
communicate, develop and maintain partnerships with land advocacy groups.
2. Environmental Protection: protect the Green
Cove drainage basin, maintain water quality, protect wetlands.
3. Development: define acceptable growth on
Cooper Point, review specific projects.
4. Land Use Planning Advocacy: transportation,
parks and recreation, County and City comprehensive plans.
The Board’s next step is to use this foundation work to design an
Association for the twenty-first century around our positive core values.
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