About the ENA

What is the Eastside Neighborhood Association?

We are a group of local citizens working to make the eastside of Olympia, Washington a better place to live. We advocate for the concerns of the eastside with local government and organize neighborhood events. The ENA is managed by our volunteer Board of Directors, listed below.

The Boundaries of the Eastside Neighborhood

Olympia’s Eastside neighborhood is directly east of downtown Olympia, bounded by Fourth Avenue, Interstate 5, Eastside Street Southeast, and Chambers Street Southeast.

Our neighborhood contains single-family homes, duplexes, small apartment buildings, and the Fourth/State commercial strip. Houses in the neighborhood date from the turn of the 20th century through the current day.

You can be involved!

Come to our monthly potlucks and annual picnic and meet your neighbors while sharing great food. Help produce & distribute the newsletter. Join our announcement and discussion email lists. Fund neighborhood activities by becoming a paying member. Or share your ideas for improving our neighborhood; volunteers are always welcome!

What we do:

• Encourage residents of the neighborhood to work together to improve, maintain, and protect a quality neighborhood
• Preserve the neighborhood’s character
• Preserve open space in the neighborhood
• Provide safe pedestrian, bicycle and auto traffic for residents of the neighborhood
• Maintain efforts to keep our neighborhood safe for children and free of crime
• Support diverse cultural activities and a vital business community in downtown Olympia
• Support adjacent neighborhood associations

Bylaws

The ENA Bylaws (PDF) detail how the association is run.

Board of Directors

The positions of President, Vice-President and Secretary are vacant as of January 2012.

ENA Board members have two year terms and officer positions (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) are appointed each year. Board members are elected in alternating years at the February General Meeting and officers are appointed at the February board meeting.

Name	Position / Responsibility	Term Expires
President	VACANT
Vice-President	VACANT
Secretary	VACANT
Chad Akins		2013
Yvonne Fish		2012
Jenni Fleming	Treasurer	2013
Ruth Middlebrook		2012
Darleen Mulhy		2013
Elaine Nelson		2013
Karen Rogers		2013
Sam Schroeder		2012
Kerry Smith		2012
Nancy Thompson		2013
Kate Wulf		2013

Ongoing activities

• Host neighborhood-wide meetings to address important neighborhood issues
• Regularly distribute newsletter to over 1,100 households in the neighborhood
• Host an annual neighborhood picnic in Lions Park
• Hold public board meetings
• Support local nonprofit organizations and businesses in the neighborhood
• Respond to notification from the city about planning developments; work with developers, city planners and the affected neighbors to maintain zoning that retains the residential quality of the neighborhood
• Work with the city on traffic, zoning, development, parking and other issues
• Help maintain the appearance of the neighborhood by encouraging enforcement of city code, and by organizing cleanups as necessary through the Neighborly Assistance Program
• Meet and coordinate with other neighborhood associations in the city and county

Past accomplishments

• Functions as one of the most active neighborhood associations in Olympia
• Revitalized Lions Park
• Developed Madison View Park
• Annual neighborhood cleanup
• Addition of sidewalks to many streets
• Down-zoning of property to maintain family home setting
• Proposed and helped pass the neighborhood recognition ordinance, which gives neighborhoods early notice of projects which may affect them
• Keeps neighbors informed of current issues through presentations by city officials and others
• Helps preserve and provide regular support to Madison Elementary School
• Winner of national award for neighborhood improvement

About the Eastside Neighborhood

(We’re looking for more history tidbits!)

Originally separated from downtown Olympia by the waters of a tidal slough, this district was first known as “Swantown” after Scottish immigrant John Swan who settled here in 1850. Early east side development consisted mainly of small household farms and orchards. More homes and business followed, especially after electric streetcars began running up Fourth Avenue in 1892. By 1911 the Swantown Slough had been filled, connecting the east side directly to downtown.

Lions Park History
In 1942 the land was brush and debris. Lions Club president Ray Lindskog envisioned a playground for neighborhood youngsters; his idea was embraced by the Club Board and accepted by the city. Lions Club members cleared the land and installed the equipment.

The current park shelter was built in 1960, and the current playground equipment was installed in 1984. The city is currently (June 2010) developing a plan for revitalizing the park with a new shelter, playground equipment, and walking paths.