Friday, August 29, 2008
Nice News from the Fort
Great story in The News Tribune about a field trip by locally based soldiers to Lakewood's oldest museum. The president of the museum group, Gideon Pete, has done a wonderful job helping to open the place up for visitors.
That said, all of us who volunteer at Fort Steilacoom are happily waiting for the results of the study mention in the post below to look at perhaps the state or national parks system taking over the buildings and opening them up more for schoolchildren, etc...
If you've not been to Fort Steilacoom, or you have been and would like to see local history jump to life, consider stopping by during Living History Day on Sept. 13 when lots of re-enactors will be around.
Forward this post
That said, all of us who volunteer at Fort Steilacoom are happily waiting for the results of the study mention in the post below to look at perhaps the state or national parks system taking over the buildings and opening them up more for schoolchildren, etc...
If you've not been to Fort Steilacoom, or you have been and would like to see local history jump to life, consider stopping by during Living History Day on Sept. 13 when lots of re-enactors will be around.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Good News for Local History
It's taken 12 years to get to this point, but there are great things going on in terms of coming up with a plan to preserve and interpret some of of the most important ground in Washington. The most important thing is to come up with a plan ... and a caretaker .. who can host schoolchildren here in Lakewood so they can hear the stories of the Native Americans, especially Chief Leschi, the pioneers, and even the first patients of Western State Hospital. There's a nice summary in today's News Tribune.Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Protecting Business
Most of the fine articles that are printed in the Tacoma-based Business Examiner are only available online if you pay a fee.
Considering that newspapers are doing so poorly as a business, I guess I have no right to quarrel with the paper's efforts to get some money. But the pay-per-article fee does mean I can't link to some really good stories, such as a report earlier this summer about construction at Pierce College.
So it's a treat that a story about new Police Chief Bret Farrar's initiative against industrial crime is available online. Check it out.
Forward this post
Considering that newspapers are doing so poorly as a business, I guess I have no right to quarrel with the paper's efforts to get some money. But the pay-per-article fee does mean I can't link to some really good stories, such as a report earlier this summer about construction at Pierce College.
So it's a treat that a story about new Police Chief Bret Farrar's initiative against industrial crime is available online. Check it out.
Monday, August 18, 2008
A Well-Timed and Always Appropriate Message
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
When to Engage, When Not to Engage
Because of summer business and travel, I am woefully behind on .. well, a lot. I'm going to take a day off from work (if the boss agrees :) lock myself in a back room and just answer emails and deal with an amazing number of great issues brought up by citizens.
But more immediately I owe my newsletter subscribers a report on something that came up in the last issue. I had sort of meant this as an aside, but it sure got a lot of reaction in the boiler that we call Lakewood politics.
What follows are my comments in the newsletter:
Many of you will be aware, of course, that a lot of angry emails have been sent out about some of the latest political issues in town. I debated answering some of these emails. But ... you know, the longer I am in Lakewood politics, the more I think that such back and forth is not productive.
I think it just takes away time I could spend working proactively on your behalf on things like museums, public safety and economic development. Here's my latest thinking:
If you come from the Lakewood CARES perspective, you think the city of Lakewood is an unholy mess run by the corrupt and profane. You are simply not going to believe whatever I say. You just won't, because my responses won't fit your compass point which says that the city is always trying to put something past you.
And if you don't come from that point of view, you know that life in Lakewood is actually pretty good, and a lot of folks generating email in Lakewood are fueled by anger, spite and anger. And so you read all those emails in the context they come from anyway. But maybe I'm wrong .. if my readers who keep things in perspective tell me that you want to see some responses to the stuff out there, hey, I'm here. Let me know.
Well, of course I should have realized Lakewood CARES would respond! More on that in a second. But here's a selection from the more positive folks that are my usual readers:
Thanks for the email; I, for one, would like to hear more from you and others to counter the negative responses my mailbox is always getting from CARES and (a well known letter writer who often launches strange personal attacks). They are things in Lakewood that I would like to see addressed (particularly the education system and the casinos). However, overall I am pleased with the city and feel good about living here and raising my family here.
I've been a fan of yours for years. You are absolutely right on target when you recommend not responding to the angry, ill-mannered e-mails you receive. Too many people too lazy to do their own investigation choose to believe rabble-rousers whose goal is lining their own pockets or worse. My observations are that we were very fortunate to have the city leadership we had from our very beginning as a city, which set the traditions of the city firmly on a reality base. In time, of course, everything gets corrupted and must be re-thought, but at least we have the traditions to fall back on for guidance.
Good for you Walter! I am so sick and tired of those idiots! Thank you for speaking up.
I like the fact that you and other elected officials list ideas, educate yourself and citizens of the issues, and decide where we are going. Not everyone will ever be 100% happy. I feel the City of Lakewood is going in the right direction and I look forward to more decisions being made on our(citizens) behalf. Thanks you for being in an elected position, stepping up, and making tough decisions.
My opinion regarding negative press.......... you're doing it right ..... it will go away with time ........ it's just part of the process and I think you give it dignity and credibility if you retort!
Now as I said .. CARES had a whole different perspective. From John Arbeeny:
If you have learned nothing about Lakewood CARES, you should know that this council's action/inaction may have awaken a sleeping giant and the next council election is only a year away. The current initiative campaign to ban gambling is only the first shot in this struggle and we the people are nothing if not persistent.
Apparently you still need to lead off with a boogie man in order to stampede readers into your way of thinking in the absence of any substance to your arguments. What exactly do you stand for Walter, or do you just wait until the wind blows to figure it out?
How appropriate that you have been nick-named, whether you know it or not......Walter Nearly.
John forgets he has told me that nickname before. I don't blame him repeatedly for telling me because I am sure he thinks the nickname is clever.
I've said before there are times I really admire John, and I do here. I mean that, because he's generally more open than the rest of his political allies. He's being honest. And he is being honest that Lakewood's current political battle du jour is about far more than minicasinos .. The current initiative campaign to ban gambling is only the first shot in this struggle ... it's the same old blather about trying to take over the council for God-knows-what.
CARES had three seats on a seven-member council for awhile, including John. Nobody could ever figure out what they wanted because it always seems to involve doing the opposite of whatever the other incumbents want to do because whatever anyone else wants to do must be bad.
When they will disagree with whatever is said .. what's the point of saying?
Anyway .. I dunno. I could respond point by point to all the negative stuff in the emails of the last several months but .. I still have my gut telling me it's best to reply not with acknowledgment of balderdash but the promotion of good. I could be wrong. But that's where I want to come from now. So .. let's move on. I could stay and write responses, or I could post this and head off to the marking committee of a nonprofit group trying to build community in Lakewood. The choice is pretty clear. I'm grabbing my notepad and going off to the meeting ...
Forward this post
But more immediately I owe my newsletter subscribers a report on something that came up in the last issue. I had sort of meant this as an aside, but it sure got a lot of reaction in the boiler that we call Lakewood politics.
What follows are my comments in the newsletter:
Many of you will be aware, of course, that a lot of angry emails have been sent out about some of the latest political issues in town. I debated answering some of these emails. But ... you know, the longer I am in Lakewood politics, the more I think that such back and forth is not productive.
I think it just takes away time I could spend working proactively on your behalf on things like museums, public safety and economic development. Here's my latest thinking:
If you come from the Lakewood CARES perspective, you think the city of Lakewood is an unholy mess run by the corrupt and profane. You are simply not going to believe whatever I say. You just won't, because my responses won't fit your compass point which says that the city is always trying to put something past you.
And if you don't come from that point of view, you know that life in Lakewood is actually pretty good, and a lot of folks generating email in Lakewood are fueled by anger, spite and anger. And so you read all those emails in the context they come from anyway. But maybe I'm wrong .. if my readers who keep things in perspective tell me that you want to see some responses to the stuff out there, hey, I'm here. Let me know.
Well, of course I should have realized Lakewood CARES would respond! More on that in a second. But here's a selection from the more positive folks that are my usual readers:
Thanks for the email; I, for one, would like to hear more from you and others to counter the negative responses my mailbox is always getting from CARES and (a well known letter writer who often launches strange personal attacks). They are things in Lakewood that I would like to see addressed (particularly the education system and the casinos). However, overall I am pleased with the city and feel good about living here and raising my family here.
I've been a fan of yours for years. You are absolutely right on target when you recommend not responding to the angry, ill-mannered e-mails you receive. Too many people too lazy to do their own investigation choose to believe rabble-rousers whose goal is lining their own pockets or worse. My observations are that we were very fortunate to have the city leadership we had from our very beginning as a city, which set the traditions of the city firmly on a reality base. In time, of course, everything gets corrupted and must be re-thought, but at least we have the traditions to fall back on for guidance.
Good for you Walter! I am so sick and tired of those idiots! Thank you for speaking up.
I like the fact that you and other elected officials list ideas, educate yourself and citizens of the issues, and decide where we are going. Not everyone will ever be 100% happy. I feel the City of Lakewood is going in the right direction and I look forward to more decisions being made on our(citizens) behalf. Thanks you for being in an elected position, stepping up, and making tough decisions.
My opinion regarding negative press.......... you're doing it right ..... it will go away with time ........ it's just part of the process and I think you give it dignity and credibility if you retort!
Now as I said .. CARES had a whole different perspective. From John Arbeeny:
If you have learned nothing about Lakewood CARES, you should know that this council's action/inaction may have awaken a sleeping giant and the next council election is only a year away. The current initiative campaign to ban gambling is only the first shot in this struggle and we the people are nothing if not persistent.
Apparently you still need to lead off with a boogie man in order to stampede readers into your way of thinking in the absence of any substance to your arguments. What exactly do you stand for Walter, or do you just wait until the wind blows to figure it out?
How appropriate that you have been nick-named, whether you know it or not......Walter Nearly.
John forgets he has told me that nickname before. I don't blame him repeatedly for telling me because I am sure he thinks the nickname is clever.
I've said before there are times I really admire John, and I do here. I mean that, because he's generally more open than the rest of his political allies. He's being honest. And he is being honest that Lakewood's current political battle du jour is about far more than minicasinos .. The current initiative campaign to ban gambling is only the first shot in this struggle ... it's the same old blather about trying to take over the council for God-knows-what.
CARES had three seats on a seven-member council for awhile, including John. Nobody could ever figure out what they wanted because it always seems to involve doing the opposite of whatever the other incumbents want to do because whatever anyone else wants to do must be bad.
When they will disagree with whatever is said .. what's the point of saying?
Anyway .. I dunno. I could respond point by point to all the negative stuff in the emails of the last several months but .. I still have my gut telling me it's best to reply not with acknowledgment of balderdash but the promotion of good. I could be wrong. But that's where I want to come from now. So .. let's move on. I could stay and write responses, or I could post this and head off to the marking committee of a nonprofit group trying to build community in Lakewood. The choice is pretty clear. I'm grabbing my notepad and going off to the meeting ...
News From the Schools
I had the pleasure of giving the council report yesterday to the Clover Park School District board of directors. I was able to stay for much of their meeting before skedaddling to the council meeting a bit later in the evening. Bits and pieces from the schools:
- Aug. 25 is a sale of surplus computers. The first dibs go to students in the district. This is a pretty neat deal for students; read more here.
- The district has already reached tentative contracts with two of its four employee unions, including the teachers. This is good news, as chair Carole Jacobs said, as it's always nice to begin the school year not wondering when the school year will begin!
- A state audit which has not yet been made public has found the district has had excessive travel expenses. New Superintendent Debbie LeBeau was open about it and said the district has already changed its policy. You will no doubt hear more about this in The News Tribune and maybe other media depending on how big a splash the state makes of its audit. It sounds like the state audited more than one district, so who knows how prominently Clover Park will stand out.
- The district has agreed to start an International Baccalaureate Program at Harrison Prep (formerly known as the K-12 school) Lakewood Rotary has been offering to help fund the program as a way to help stop a reported exodus of talented students from the district and also offer a great form of education. Many months ago, there was some concern whether the district would agree to the program, so it was great to hear that it is signed, sealed and approved. OK, I'm a Lion, but hats off to Rotary on this one.
Forward this post
- Aug. 25 is a sale of surplus computers. The first dibs go to students in the district. This is a pretty neat deal for students; read more here.
- The district has already reached tentative contracts with two of its four employee unions, including the teachers. This is good news, as chair Carole Jacobs said, as it's always nice to begin the school year not wondering when the school year will begin!
- A state audit which has not yet been made public has found the district has had excessive travel expenses. New Superintendent Debbie LeBeau was open about it and said the district has already changed its policy. You will no doubt hear more about this in The News Tribune and maybe other media depending on how big a splash the state makes of its audit. It sounds like the state audited more than one district, so who knows how prominently Clover Park will stand out.
- The district has agreed to start an International Baccalaureate Program at Harrison Prep (formerly known as the K-12 school) Lakewood Rotary has been offering to help fund the program as a way to help stop a reported exodus of talented students from the district and also offer a great form of education. Many months ago, there was some concern whether the district would agree to the program, so it was great to hear that it is signed, sealed and approved. OK, I'm a Lion, but hats off to Rotary on this one.
