Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Low Tide on the Lakes
For those of you tracking the lakes issue I posted about yesterday, here's an update.
What can I say? It must be an election year.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the whole mini-casino initiative is that it and other examples of the usual self-destructive behavior in Lakewood public policy locked us up last year. Now that we are in an election year, it seems unlikely the council will make any decision about the lakes until 2010.
Does that matter? I wonder deep down sometimes. It seems to me we owe people a decision about lake access, but even I wonder if there are higher priorities. Only one person spoke up at the hearing last night for viewing platforms by the lakes. Maybe no one cares all that much. Should we be doing something to expand parks access in poorer parts of town as opposed to where most of the street ends are?
Deep down, my core tells me we should do something to expand public stewardship of public lakes, even if it's simply creating some small viewing platforms that close at dusk. So part of me wants to chase this issue, like a dog following a stick someone throws into a lake.
And yet, I am humbled by the reality of Lakewood civics. The "record" teaches us Lakewood has an impressive history of spending vast amounts of time on exactly the wrong things. There are so many examples. When the city should have spent hours talking about storm response, about economic development and creating jobs, about Clover Park schools, about the dramatic changes planned for Tillicum ... instead for example we have spent hours hashing and rehashing and rehashing again the human services budget which is only a small percentage of our overall contribution to the community. A story last month in the daily paper only hints at the percentage of time we've spent on this topic when a majority of council members rubber-stamped spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home repair program. Gimme a break. This council is an example in how NOT to allocate time. Can we even be trusted with something as important as the legacy of Lakewood's lakes?
Is the fight over lake access the right we want right now? I dunno. I'm sure the council will discuss the matter again before the election. I'm glad it's not my decision alone, and I look forward to tours of the street ends. Maybe we will meet citizens there who get me excited again about the possibilities.
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What can I say? It must be an election year.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the whole mini-casino initiative is that it and other examples of the usual self-destructive behavior in Lakewood public policy locked us up last year. Now that we are in an election year, it seems unlikely the council will make any decision about the lakes until 2010.
Does that matter? I wonder deep down sometimes. It seems to me we owe people a decision about lake access, but even I wonder if there are higher priorities. Only one person spoke up at the hearing last night for viewing platforms by the lakes. Maybe no one cares all that much. Should we be doing something to expand parks access in poorer parts of town as opposed to where most of the street ends are?
Deep down, my core tells me we should do something to expand public stewardship of public lakes, even if it's simply creating some small viewing platforms that close at dusk. So part of me wants to chase this issue, like a dog following a stick someone throws into a lake.
And yet, I am humbled by the reality of Lakewood civics. The "record" teaches us Lakewood has an impressive history of spending vast amounts of time on exactly the wrong things. There are so many examples. When the city should have spent hours talking about storm response, about economic development and creating jobs, about Clover Park schools, about the dramatic changes planned for Tillicum ... instead for example we have spent hours hashing and rehashing and rehashing again the human services budget which is only a small percentage of our overall contribution to the community. A story last month in the daily paper only hints at the percentage of time we've spent on this topic when a majority of council members rubber-stamped spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home repair program. Gimme a break. This council is an example in how NOT to allocate time. Can we even be trusted with something as important as the legacy of Lakewood's lakes?
Is the fight over lake access the right we want right now? I dunno. I'm sure the council will discuss the matter again before the election. I'm glad it's not my decision alone, and I look forward to tours of the street ends. Maybe we will meet citizens there who get me excited again about the possibilities.
