Shelby County Gov't. and Citizen Groups Get Jump Start on Earth Day

Earth Day is officially April 22, but a Shelby County meeting got a jump on the event's 40th anniversary.

A wide spectrum of grassroots community leaders met with Shelby County Mayor Ford's Chief of Staff, Pam Marshall, on Friday, Apr. 16 in the Mayor's offices. A full room of citizen group and project leaders exchanged information and suggestions with County staff on issues ranging from community gardens, vacant lots, water quality, parks, trails, greenways, and neighborhood air quality to transparency and citizen access in county operations.

The meeting was extended as the quality and diversity of discussion intensified and a sense of unique productivity emerged from problem-solving with community activists not normally inclded in this level of policy dialogue. When the meeting finally adourned, both sides expressed satisfaction with initial action steps that came out of the discussions. The suggestion to hold follow-up meetings was enthusiastically applauded by all and the next meeting will be announced shortly.

Click HERE for Jackson Baker's coverage for the Flyer.