Chew On Some Pizza, Valley Issues

Here’s an offer you can really sink your teeth into.

Invite a few of your friends over to talk about the Spokane Valley and we’ll provide you and your gang with a free pizza.

All you have to do is promise to talk while you eat, then tell us what you said.

Once you’ve polished off all the free pizza, we’ll follow up with articles in the Valley Voice reporting what you and others have to say about several important Valley issues.

This food-for-thoughts exchange is part of the Valley Pizza Papers project. It’s patterned after a successful program pioneered by The Spokesman-Review. Back in 1993, more than 1,000 people ate pizza and talked about local government and explosive growth. Afterward, the newspaper published a special report that won national acclaim as a model for civic journalism.

Now, we’d like you and a few of your friends to chew on these topics:

Spokane County’s proposed Valley government services center.

Local government and, specifically, how it does - or doesn’t - serve your needs.

How your neighborhood and the Valley as a whole have changed in recent years.

The biggest benefits and worst frustrations of Valley life today.

Everyone is welcome to participate. You might invite your neighbors, co-workers or relatives. Your club, business association, church group or neighborhood organization might plan its next meeting around a Valley Pizza Papers discussion.

Each Pizza Papers host will get an information packet, a list of the questions we’d like your party to discuss and, of course, a $15 pizza coupon.

Within 30 days of receiving your Pizza Papers package, we’d like you to hold your party and get back to us with what you and your gang have to say about these issues.

When it comes to throwing a Pizza Papers party, where, when and who to invite is, of course, up to you.

But we can offer some basic guidelines and suggestions.

First, we hope you’ll keep the gatherings relatively small - say, six or eight people - so that everyone’s ideas can be fully heard.

Second, remember that what we’re looking for is dialogue, not debate. We don’t expect your group to speak in a single voice or to be of a single mind.

Third, simply relax, open up and express yourself.

A study a few years back by the Kettering Foundation found that the most important factor a person uses in deciding whether to get involved in an issue is the simple test of whether that person thinks he or she can actually make a difference.

Getting involved in the Valley Pizza Papers is one way you can have your opinions heard and make a difference.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HAVE A PARTY The pizza’s on us If you’ll agree to host a Valley Pizza Papers party and share your discussion with us, it’s easy to place your order for a free pizza. Here’s how: Stop by The Spokesman-Review’s Valley office, 13208 E. Sprague, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Or write: Valley Pizza Papers, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2170. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: mikes@spokesman.com. If you are not able to stop by our office to pick up your Pizza Papers package (including the $15 pizza coupon) in person, please be sure to provide your full name, mailing address and phone number so that we can verify your interest and send the package to you.