What will it take to propel our region beyond the present slump into a thriving vibrant future?

That was the question asked to the community on Tuesday. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation, Capitol Public Radio and The Sacramento Bee have joined forces to organize civil discussions at local coffee houses. A total of eight coffee houses facilitated the conversations Tuesday. Locations were determined by City Council district.

I attended the discussion at the Old Soul Coffee house in Oak Park. Each discussion had a mediator representing the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. To begin, the mediator set the ground rules, making sure all participants understood this event must remain friendly. Oak Park's discussion was mediated by Brian Fischer, Oak Park resident and President at Playpen Hub. It was explained that every person has a different viewpoint, and participants had to respect other's positions. This doesn't mean it's prohibited to disagree, just to proceed tastefully.

The discussion started off by going around in a circle, briefly describing background and home location. Most people were from Oak Park. One couple had purchased a house in the area one month ago, whereas an older gentleman had lived down the street from Old Soul for the last 60 years. There were three men running for the District 5 City Council seat in the crowd along with representatives from California State University, Sacramento, McGeorge School of Law, The Sacramento Bee and a group of architects.

Before getting the discussion underway, Fischer churned attendees' thoughts by presenting facts and model topics that might act as a rubric. "Sacramento has long been considered a government town," Fischer explained. "3 out of 10 jobs in Sacramento are governmental." Fischer proceeded to give figures of unemployment rates, house foreclosures, and so on. "1 out of every 98 home in Sacramento is in foreclosure," Fischer said. "That's more than 1%."

The conversation began and kept reverting back to a few focal topics: Community, education, green jobs, volunteering, public transit, funding and keeping things local.

Although contributors were split between consolidating our strengths to reinforce a stronger core of community and forward mobility aimed at new technology and greener ideas, both acknowledged a need of unity for any decision. As long as we first fix the problems occurring next door, a presence of community will surface. With the loss of so many jobs, a surprising number of individuals in attendance have begun to volunteer for shelters, along with other parts of the community. However, reverting to a simpler ideology, where you move into a friend's or relative's house because of bill troubles or gain an interest in returning to school or becoming an entrepreneur because of a lost job, doesn't fill holes in the economy. There will still be an abandoned house and a lost trade.

This Community Conversation series, if for no other reason, was meant to reveal people care about the problem. Through a collection of knowledge and experiences, maybe 35 people talking over a cup of joe can fill one hole in our local economy: multiply that by eight to represent the other discussions going in the surrounding area, and it's called "progress," a word seldom heard lately.

Tuesday was a trial run of the program. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation will be assessing the success of the event and making a schedule of upcoming conversations. More information can be found here.