Janice Rombeck, editor and publisher of NeighborWebSJ, is firing on all cylinders. Under her guidance, the site continues to form partnerships, add to its ranks of volunteers, and break news about San Jose.
Extending Outreach
The site, which initially focused on blighted and low-income areas defined by the City of San Jose’s Strong Neighborhood Initiative, is now extending coverage beyond those initial neighborhoods as the program continues to broaden its focus. But Rombeck aims to keep the site a vibrant information provider despite a looming budget crisis that threatens to imperil the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.
To that end, Rombeck has joined the Bay Area Publishers Partnership, a new advertising cooperative, and strengthened connections with CreaTV, American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and a faith-based neighborhood activist group.
Rombeck also put the website in the spotlight at the Neighborhood Leadership Institute, a daylong training and networking event for nearly 100 San Jose leaders in November 2010.
NWSJ Team Growth
The core of Rombeck’s team continues to provide valuable assistance. Some highlights:
- Volunteer Natalie DeLeon added Facebook and Twitter to the site’s marketing tool and expanded an email distribution list from 115 to 504.
- Leader Davide Vieira researched a story on burned out streetlights and built a Google Map to accompany the story.
- Longtime neighborhood leader Lisa Jensen is helping organize NWSJ’s outreach efforts to neighborhoods and City Hall.
- Neighborhood Commissioner Mauricio Astacio is helping create a page on the commissioners and the issues they are currently tackling.
Developing News
The extra hands have led to major coverage victories, says Rombeck. “NWSJ was the first to write about San Jose’s projected $90 million budget deficit and its impact on neighborhoods as well as the return of a popular city grant program for neighborhoods,” she said.
Another recent post shed light on a streetlight shutoff program that got little attention in 2008 but is raising safety concerns now. NeighborWebSJ’s embedded Google Map shows viewers where the 900 lights are located, and how residents can report other streetlights that are out.
This Google Map was included in NeighborWebSJ’s coverage of streetlights shut down in San Jose.
“News stories will continue to inform residents about the looming budget crisis in San Jose, including the threat to services at community centers in low-income neighborhoods,” says Rombeck. Her focus will remain on driving traffic to the website and strengthening resident involvement.
