Nov

19

Announcing Great City Membership Drive and Mustache Challenge

Filed Under 'Tis the Season 

We are excited to invite you to become an inaugural member of Great City.

What is Great City?

Over the past 4 years, Great City has risen from a small, scrappy non-profit to one of the leading proponents for urban sustainability in Seattle (but we’re still scrappy!). At our core, we believe that livable, equitable, and economically vibrant urban areas are the key to preserving our region’s open space and meeting our environmental goals. To do this we have:

  • Helped pass legislation such as the Complete Streets Ordinance and the recent cottage housing proposal;
  • Successfully placed and passed a renewed Parks Levy on the ballot in 2008; and
  • Provided technical assistance to over 20 neighborhood groups looking to start improvement projects in their communities.

Add to that numerous brown bags, testimony on a wide range of legislation, and our Land Use White Paper and you have the beginnings of a Great City. But we can’t do any of this without you.

Why Membership

By joining Great City, you send a clear message to your friends and our local decision makers that you want Seattle to be a model of social, economic and environmental sustainability. But membership also means that you are joining a group of like-minded citizens who are exhausted by tired battles and instead want to take positive steps forward to ensure Seattle’s future today.

What’s In It For Me?

There are 5 levels of membership. All members will be invited to special, “members only” events throughout the year. A good example is our recent pre-talk reception with David Owen at Town Hall.

Members at the $100 level will be able to choose from a Great City shopping tote or Great City “YIMBY” t-shirt. At the $250 level, you will receive two of either (or one of both). Monthly installments are available.

To spice things up, Great City’s Executive Director, Joshua Curtis, has issued a challenge to Cascade Land Conservancy’s President, Gene Duvernoy.

The Challenge

As Great City has continued to evolve and succeed, we’ve realized there is one thing we don’t have: a leader with a legendary mustache. As many of you know, Great City owes much to the Cascade Land Conservancy. The Conservancy helped us as we got started as our fiscal sponsor and currently they are an important partner in our work. Gene Duvernoy, President of this fine organization, has been a tireless advocate for regional conservation and community building for the past 30 years. He’s brilliant, strategic and an inspired speaker. He also has perhaps the most robust mustache in Seattle’s environmental community.

So in keeping with our “scrappy” image, Joshua Curtis has challenged Gene to a 3 month mustache competition. While Great City recognizes that this is an uphill battle, we feel our Executive Director has a fighting chance to grow something that approaches the legendary Duvernoy brush. Says Joshua, “Gene’s mustache has been an inspiration to us all. But I think I can take him.” Bold words, or sheer delusion? Join Great City and you will have a chance to vote for the winner and will be invited to an event in late-February to celebrate him.

The Defendant: Gene Duvernoy
The Defender: Gene Duvernoy
The Challenger: Joshua Curtis
The Challenger: Joshua Curtis

Great City and Cascade Land Conservancy

Great City has always had a close relationship with Cascade Land Conservancy. In 2005, Michael McGinn took his idea for Great City to the Conservancy, which agreed to take the group on as a program of The Cascade Agenda. This 100-year vision and immediate action plan recognizes that to protect our rural and working landscapes we must make our cities great places. Cascade Land Conservancy welcomed Great City as a natural partner to help make Seattle a great place to live, work and raise our families. While Great City now is its own 501(c)(3) non-profit, we continue to work and partner with the Conservancy.

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