A meeting was held on May 6, 2015 at the WPPOA clubhouse for the purpose of starting a new community centered organization inside Sandy Oaks.
The event was organized by BJ Gillespie and Catherine Rendahl. The 2 obtained access to the WPPOA clubhouse from Jim Clement, who claims to be the WPPOA president and has keys to the building.
Clement also claims there is a rental fee for the clubhouse, which he personally collects, but the 2 ladies improvised and offered maintenance services in exchange for free access.
57 people attended the meeting, which was announced to the community by posting multiple signs at all the entrances to the City as well as the Waterwood subdivision.
Rendahl started the meeting by explaining how she had remembered there being a time when people in the Waterwood area would get together for functions. She said she wanted to build more community spirit.
“I remember a time when we had pot luck dinners” said Rendahl.
Many people nodded their heads in agreement as they listened.
Gillespie talked about people learning who their neighbors were. “It’s a whole lot harder to speed past when you know your neighbors” she said.
The direction of the meeting was largely run by Rendahl, who made it a point to allow members of the audience to engage and offer most of the dialogue. “What we want tonight are your ideas.”
As people in the group gave out ideas, she wrote them down on a poster board she had taped on the wall for all to see.
The more the poster board filled up the more people were willing to talk and share their ideas. The conversation stayed upbeat and positive.
Don Hormachea, who regularly attends City Council meetings that are held in the same clubhouse, said to the room “This is the first time in a long time that I’ve seen people in this clubhouse laughing.”
The only City Council members who attended were Mayor Jim Clement and Alderman Micki Ball.
Clement showed up to unlock the clubhouse door, but walked around outside and never came inside throughout the meeting. He later told an attendee “There’s a lot of people in there who don’t like me.”
Other organizations were discussed too, such as the Waterwood Park Propery Owner’s Association (WPPOA). One man said that ever since he moved to the area in 1998 he felt “bad vibes” about the POA. Rendahl stressed that they were not looking for the group to be a POA or part of the WPPOA.
On a table at the back of the meeting was a collection of information that Gillespie and Rendahl had put together. Included was a flier prepared with special contacts such as the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department. A second flyer had a list of activities people could vote on for the group to do in the future.
The organizers of the meeting were asked afterwards how they got so many people to show up.
“Signs, signs, signs. A simple but effective solution” said Rendahl.
Gellispie also said “It’s very easy to blame everything on apathy if you don’t inform people of what is going on. It’s much harder to accept responsibility for poor attendance and interest.
Rendahl said the thing she liked most about the meeting was the feeling of camaraderie she saw develop and Gillespie said it was the positive tone.
Both of the organizers said part of the next step will be creating a newsletter.
“But, most important is to keep in touch and keep this ball rolling.” said Rendahl.
Comments are closed.