Over the past year we’ve heard a lot about bailouts and recovery packages. We’ve seen leaders throw lifelines to help pull us out of this financial storm. We’ve watched neighbors lose homes, jobs and hope. Businesses and dreams hang on a thread. The bubble has burst, and we face the harsh realities of this global economic meltdown.

The City of Surprise has not been sitting on the sidelines. The work of the AdHoc Foreclosure Committee and the Surprise City Council has resulted in the Foreclosed and Abandoned Property Action Plan, Surprise Neighborhood Stabilization Plan, and the Home Preservation Forum. We continue to work to keep people in their homes and cultivate economic growth.

As a community we must bind together like links in a chain of service and compassion. Our community pride is a big part of getting us back on the right track. One of the best tool to energize our neighborhoods is the Neighborhood Watch Program.

Neighborhood Watch builds safety and security. But it does much more. Forging friendships, building traditions and sustaining homeownership are another common result, and we need all of those characteristics during these difficult days. A great way to organize a Neighborhood Watch is through the Surprise Block Party Trailer, where you get all the tools you need to organize a neighborhood event and get people talking to each other.

The Surprise Police Department says people who organize Neighborhood Watch programs see significantly less crime in their neighborhoods. Low crime rates are a major factor in building pride in Surprise and attracting new jobs to our city.

So let’s not wait. I invite you to join me and your neighbors April 18 at 9 a.m. at Surprise Stadium for our 2nd annual citywide Surprise Community Pride Day. Yes, we will be pulling weeds and sprucing up our city, but we will also build social connections and a community spirit that will lead to much greater things.

After all, building our community really starts with you and me. As leaders in Washington argue the importance of services and programs, we must forge ahead. The little things we do to build pride in our homes and on our streets will reverberate throughout the city, our own brand of economic stimulus.

For more info on the Block Party Trailer, Neighborhood Watch, Pride Day, or if you wish to get engaged in other ways, go to the City website at www.surpriseaz.com Share your ideas and questions. Help support our great city.

John Williams, Surprise City Council, District 3
623-222-1323 or john.williams@surpriseaz.com.

Planning Schedule for Pride Day:
Planning Meeting #1: Saturday March 7th, 8AM – Over Coffee
Planning Meeting #2: Thursday March 19th 6PM – Toshii’s Roast
Final Planning Meeting: Saturday April 4th Noon – Buffalo Wild Wings