Tuesday, June 26, 2007
SummerFEST, Summer Fun
Thousands of people had a lot of fun Saturday at SummerFEST in Fort Steilacoom Park. Attendance swayed up and down, thanks to a mid-afternoon storm. But at about 5, we saw some of the best weather of the summer: sunny and clear, with some puffy clouds for scenery and just enough bite to the air to remind you that we live in the Great Northwest.
You can check out The Suburban Times' collection of photographs,
though guys, I could have lived without the photo of the dog. The news article is here.
It's the people who make SummerFEST, and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of them at my campaign re-election booth. I had been a bit concerned that no one at a family event would want to spend any time with someone running for office, but I was quite wrong. Late in the afternoon, a teen volunteer in the Lakewood First Baptist booth next to me said, "You sure know a lot of people." Many of them I met for the first time, while many others were folks I'd not spoken with in years.
I came out of it with a pad full of ideas, and things to follow up on, or just contemplate. Such as ...
- A young father who was concerned about what he's concerned might be gang activity in apartments on the Steilacoom Boulevard side of Oakbrook.
- An older father who wanted to know if I knew that Lakewood police are ticketing people for parking their cars in the wrong direction on residential streets. For the record, I didn't, but I have sure asked about it. It's a little embarrassing when your campaign platform is to add police officers but someone says police have time to ticket cars parked in the opposite direction of traffic.
- Several folks who know or learned that I co-wrote the Lakewood history book, and offered some great potential sources for old photographs.
- The woman from China who slowly and in a language not native to her explained how difficult it is to understand English-speakers on the phone.
- A grandmother deeply concerned because a grandchild had been injured while riding the mini-train that was circling the park.
- Several folks who wanted to know more about the tax structure. One person Saturday wanted to know why Lakewood is assessing property at such high prices; and this gave me the opportunity to explain that city government does not do property assessments and that the city only gets about 15 percent of your property tax anyway.
- One or two folks who follow Lakewood politics and are intrigued by evidence that the Lakewood CARES collective is trying to rebrand itself. Yep, every community festival has to have gossip.
- Several folks who are confused by the council's recent decision on the Cabrini school zone. In repeatedly talking with people, I finally figured out a pithy way to capture the lack of logic in the council majority's decision: "We will install flashing lights on busy streets unless citizens actually ask for them, and then we will say no." A lot of people are having trouble with that one.
- The city staff who scrambled when the generator blew during a country music band's performance and right before the Comcast Outdoor Cinema. The inflatable screen began to deflate. Hundreds of people were watching and were probably a bit confused. But staff quickly set up an alternate generator, rigged up a new system for the cinema control tent, and the show went on as scheduled.
- And with all the various questions, criticisms and suggestions in mind, I could never count the number of people who said they were happy with what various aspects of city government have done for them (including organizing SummerFEST!) Lots and lots of money was raised for a variety of good causes, ranging from the Lakewood museum to agencies that provides clothes and school supplies for children.
The scenes go on and on. I told the council last night that the council ought to have a booth next year even though there's no election. Council members could take turns sitting there. Most people go to SummerFEST to check out the sights and sounds and cars and bands, not to talk public policy - but it was a great drop-in opportunity for those who did have questions.
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You can check out The Suburban Times' collection of photographs,
though guys, I could have lived without the photo of the dog. The news article is here.
It's the people who make SummerFEST, and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of them at my campaign re-election booth. I had been a bit concerned that no one at a family event would want to spend any time with someone running for office, but I was quite wrong. Late in the afternoon, a teen volunteer in the Lakewood First Baptist booth next to me said, "You sure know a lot of people." Many of them I met for the first time, while many others were folks I'd not spoken with in years.
I came out of it with a pad full of ideas, and things to follow up on, or just contemplate. Such as ...
- A young father who was concerned about what he's concerned might be gang activity in apartments on the Steilacoom Boulevard side of Oakbrook.
- An older father who wanted to know if I knew that Lakewood police are ticketing people for parking their cars in the wrong direction on residential streets. For the record, I didn't, but I have sure asked about it. It's a little embarrassing when your campaign platform is to add police officers but someone says police have time to ticket cars parked in the opposite direction of traffic.
- Several folks who know or learned that I co-wrote the Lakewood history book, and offered some great potential sources for old photographs.
- The woman from China who slowly and in a language not native to her explained how difficult it is to understand English-speakers on the phone.
- A grandmother deeply concerned because a grandchild had been injured while riding the mini-train that was circling the park.
- Several folks who wanted to know more about the tax structure. One person Saturday wanted to know why Lakewood is assessing property at such high prices; and this gave me the opportunity to explain that city government does not do property assessments and that the city only gets about 15 percent of your property tax anyway.
- One or two folks who follow Lakewood politics and are intrigued by evidence that the Lakewood CARES collective is trying to rebrand itself. Yep, every community festival has to have gossip.
- Several folks who are confused by the council's recent decision on the Cabrini school zone. In repeatedly talking with people, I finally figured out a pithy way to capture the lack of logic in the council majority's decision: "We will install flashing lights on busy streets unless citizens actually ask for them, and then we will say no." A lot of people are having trouble with that one.
- The city staff who scrambled when the generator blew during a country music band's performance and right before the Comcast Outdoor Cinema. The inflatable screen began to deflate. Hundreds of people were watching and were probably a bit confused. But staff quickly set up an alternate generator, rigged up a new system for the cinema control tent, and the show went on as scheduled.
- And with all the various questions, criticisms and suggestions in mind, I could never count the number of people who said they were happy with what various aspects of city government have done for them (including organizing SummerFEST!) Lots and lots of money was raised for a variety of good causes, ranging from the Lakewood museum to agencies that provides clothes and school supplies for children.
The scenes go on and on. I told the council last night that the council ought to have a booth next year even though there's no election. Council members could take turns sitting there. Most people go to SummerFEST to check out the sights and sounds and cars and bands, not to talk public policy - but it was a great drop-in opportunity for those who did have questions.
