Citizens for a Neighbor-First Traverse City - formerly Citizens For a Better Traverse City Parkway - is a citizen-led initiative working to shift power from those with competing priorities to citizens with one priority - improving the lives of their neighbors here in Northern Michigan's capital.
A neighbor-first Traverse City doesn’t mean a neighbor-only Traverse City.
It does mean that the wants/needs of the people who live (or will someday live) in the capital of Northern Michigan matter more - a lot more - than the wants/needs of:
- private nonprofits
- tourists
- people who live in the suburbs
We will accomplish this by banding together to build/deploy/share our power for City policy change.
After what happened with the Parkway, some policies worth changing could include:
- giving private nonprofits access to more City information than residents
- using private nonprofits as proxies for City resident voice
- providing private nonprofits opportunities to lobby City decision-makers before City residents
- requiring affiliation to a private nonprofit to serve on certain City committees (ie. Active Transportation Committee)
- appointing non-City residents to City committees (ie. DDA, Active Transportation, Green Team)
Is it time to think and act differently on behalf of the people of Traverse City?
What if we put the health and well-being of those who live in Traverse City - those of all ages and abilities - at the center of our decision-making?
Let's not settle for just a little better - let's push for lots better.
We deserve it.
Send questions to ty.schmidt.tcmi@gmail.com
