Neary-Sighted

We talked a couple months ago about how a young man wants to beautify the pioneer cemetery on Washington Boulevard as an Eagle Scount project. The cemetery is the place where Steve Dunkelberger and I took the last photo in the Lakewood history book; we thought the site symbolized how the memory of Lakewood history is at risk.

The Scout, Leavitt Castro of Troop 410 BSA, has set up an account for donations: the Old Settlers Cemetery Eagle Project, account number 123697, at Sound Credit Union. The address of the closest branch is 7717 Bridgeport Way, though Leavitt says you can make donations at any of the branches.

Let's help this young man out. The cemetery gets some minimal care but there's no cemetery district or anything like that to manage it; it relies on the kindness of citizens, of which Leavitt is a gem.
Forward this post

Starting last year, the Lakewood City Council has commissioned five-year financial projections for our city budget. The idea is to look at how potential changes in the various forms of tax revenues affect the budget. No economist knows the future, but we need to plan long-term based on something. The results are in and scary. The report was delivered Monday night by Choi Halladay, an assistant city manager and finance director. It was sort of a kickoff to the budgeting process that starts in late summer.

The news is grim. Even assuming the recovery starts this year, we'd be looking at a $600,000 deficit in 2010; and if the recovery doesn't continue but falls within certain likely expectations, there could be a deficit of $800,000. The deficit for 2011 would be $1 million to $1.33 million. That projection of course assumes similar spending patterns, which is a complex and separate discussion I'll save for another day. There are many variables, not only in terms of what we spend but how quickly we can spur economic redevelopment in Tillicum and Woodbrook and generate jobs and payroll.

In terms of the budget, I'm prepared to make the tough decisions and vote. That's why I ran for office. But if you remember me even as a newspaper editor, you know I stand for better and clearer communication about government. In fact, I fret about it. I'm more worried about whether the public understands how dire the situation is. I'm more worried about whether people understand what's going on in local government.

I can't even begin to tell you how many conversations I've had this year, even during a major recession, where the most well-intended and caring people say, "I know money's tight but you can still spend more money on _____fill in favorite and almost always truly needy cause here___"

We've somehow got to get ourselves reoriented and real, not only to help make the best decisions about what to cut, but also to maintain public confidence in public finances. I suggested to the mayor this afternoon that council members should be going to the citizen advisory groups and briefing them. Lots of times these groups like to suggest how money should be spent; this year more than ever, it will be about how and when we should cut. The coming budget deliberations are not going to be about saving the sacred cows, but deciding which ones should be ground into hamburger.

If you've got the time, you can read the financial projections that start at page 15 at this link.
Forward this post

Yesterday was the filing deadline to run for election to the Lakewood City Council. So now we know who's running.

What this first means to you is that it's not that long before you are going to see signs in yards. However, there's a good chance you won't see as many as usual (or for as many candidates).

And of course, more importantly, this also means some of the people listed in this posting will serve on the council that decides what sort of services the city provides and how your tax dollars are spent.

As has been long rumored, three of the seven council members are retiring: Ron Cronk, Pad Finnigan, and Helen McGovern. The only incumbent to run again, Mayor Doug Richardson, does not have an opponent.

Yep. You read that right. That's sure a change for Lakewood. My guess is that it speaks to Doug's qualities as one of the two members of the original Lakewood council who are still serving with us (the other being Claudia Thomas, of course). And ... dare we say it ... does it speak to a relative satisfaction with city government?

I'm sure Doug will still be out and about because that is the kind of candidate and council member that he is. On a personal level, I'm happy for him that his election will clearly be less personally stressful.

The bigger surprise is that normally, even Mother Theresa would get an opponent in Lakewood. The fact Doug didn't says a lot of things, probably better said when I'm not starting on a head cold. Right now, let's just call it pretty interesting.

So this is how the election shapes up now for the other three. The candidates are:

Position 1, currently held by Ron Cronk: Mary Moss and Darrel Shiley.

Position 2, currently held by Pad Finnigan: Mike Brandstetter, Connie Coleman-Lacadie, and Levi Wilhelmsen. I believe this will be the only race with a primary, hence expect to see some signs.

Position 3, currently held by Helen McGovern: Sam Ross and Jason Whalen.

What's interesting about all of these people is that while they have different philosophies of government, I would define them all as very positive people.

Some of them have been very critical of individual things the current council has done, which is of course good and the sign of critical thinking and a healthy democracy. But I know all but one of them reasonably well, and even from what I've heard about the other person, I'd be honored to sit on a council with any of them. This list of good-hearted people bodes very well for Lakewood.


OH HEY .... One more thing. I've signed up for Facebook to try to find another way to share news with people. You can sign up for my page without having to 'friend' me, which can be awkward if we don't know each other personally. So check out the page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walter-Neary-Lakewood-WA-City-Council-Walters-Lakewood-Journal/105879106413?ref=nf
Forward this post