Neary-Sighted

1st Take on the Lakewood City Budget for Next Year

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:21:00 +0000

My regular readers, both of you, know that my postings tend to pick up around budget time. The budget is hugely important because it creates priorities and pays, with your tax dollars, for city services.

Thanks to careful management, we're not looking at some of the train wrecks in Lakewood that you see in some other cities with their budgets. I'm not sure we're going to have the hyperactive excitement, some of which was stirred by me, that you've seen in past years, as we work on this budget for 2010.

That said, I'm also still making my way through the draft preliminary budget. Rather than keep you in suspense, I thought I would share our city manager's cover letter. It represents a lot of the highlights. I'd normally prefer to digest it and highlight it, but there's just not time and I want to get this to you soon.

Believe me, we will talk more. Questions and feedback welcome. What follows is text from our city manager, Andrew Neiditz. Look for more as we go through several Monday nights of budget hearings. Nothing is settled yet.

And now ... the cover letter:

I (Andrew Neiditz, Lakewood city manager) am pleased to submit a preliminary budget for 2010 that is consistent with the priorities set by the Council, creates further staffing efficiencies, and carefully balances the needs of the City and the capabilities of our financial position.

The fiscal constraints associated with a slowing economy have resulted in budget growth that is essentially flat: the proposed General Fund of $37.1 million is 5 % lower than 2009, due in part to the one-time transfer in 2009 of $2.55 million to the Police station project.

General Fund staffing is reduced overall by 4 FTE, over and above the 13 FTE reduction in 2009. The General Fund would have been further reduced by $480,000 if not for the Department of Justice police grant funds. The overall General Fund reserve, or ending fund balance, is $3.22 million, which is 9.5 % of operating expenses.

The proposed total City budget for 2010 is $86.7 million, which is 6.17 % lower than 2009.

The budget establishes a continued emphasis on economic development activities, including the administration of the OEA (Office of Economic Adjustment) grant of the U. S. Defense Department to study growth impacts associated with our two military bases.
Among the highlights of the 2010 preliminary budget are:

• Establishment of a Community Safety & Resources Team (CSRT) to support the six districts of the City, to include 3 code enforcement officers, 3 neighborhood community service officers (CSO’s), an assistant city attorney, and administrative support. This new initiative is a realignment of current code enforcement and neighborhood mobilization programs; this new interdisciplinary team will be based in City Hall, reporting to a Police lieutenant, and will have direct support from the city manager and the directors of the other operating departments. Its primary mission will be community outreach and mobilization, code enforcement, and emergency management. There will be no net increase in FTE staff positions, but a realignment of positions to increase resources and response capabilities.

• Merger of the City Clerk’s office into the Legal Department in order to increase efficiencies in contract administration, agenda management, public records requests, and other administrative support functions. This will involve a reduction of 2 FTE staff positions, and a reduction of $109,000.

• Transition of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program into Economic Development in order to better reflect the priorities of the City Council for these funds.

• Transition of Human Services into a new department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services to create synergy between senior services, human services, and youth support programs.

• To increase court security and enhance jail alternative programs, a new court compliance officer position is proposed in the Municipal Court budget, to offset police overtime funding and court transport services previously contracted with Pierce County. This is a budget reduction of about $30,000.

• The addition of two streets maintenance tech positions in Public Works to offset more costly Pierce County contract hours; this is a budget savings of about $400,000 over contract costs.

• Implementation of the Tillicum Neighborhood Plan and Woodbrook Business Park Plan.

• Funding for the Tillicum/Woodbrook sewer extension project of $5.9 million for 2010.

• Funding for road improvements, including $5,320,000 for Pacific Highway/Ponders realignment (Gravelly Lake Drive to Bridgeport), $2,360,000 for Bridgeport Way reconstruction (Steilacoom Blvd to 83rd), and $1,440,000 safety improvements for Steilacoom Blvd (Farwest to 87th), federal funding of $500,000 for traffic signal synchronization, and $400,000 for the Lakewood Station Connection Study (pedestrian bridge project).----

Ok, Walter again: So there's a lot to be said on many of these subjects. One thing I will shout out is that I am thrilled at the changes proposed for the block grant program. I've been speaking out for years now that Lakewood has not been spending this money like a lot of other cities spend it. So I think these changes bode well.

Obviously more needs to be said. Thanks for reading this far :) More later.

Supporting the Troops and Their Families

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:10:00 +0000

How about everyone in Lakewood buy and wear one of these pins?

As you may know, Lakewood has an official and special relationship with the 4-2 Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis. The Dragoon Raiders Soldier and Family Fund is selling pins to help support soldiers, spouses and children during deployment. These are available by mail order, though I'm betting some businesspeople in Lakewood will volunteer to sell them as this program grows. This is a great way to show support for our troops and their families.

Click here for the link to order these pins.

Google arrives

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:42:00 +0000

I can't wait to see how Google's Sidewiki contributes to dialogue on websites like this one.

in reference to: http://www.walterneary.net/blogger.html (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Long-Awaited Lakewood History Video

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:46:00 +0000

I feel like that movie where Steve Martin comes out shouting "The phone book is here! The phone book is here!" But while I have that much enthusiasm, the subject matter is more important.

The city of Lakewood's Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board has produced a video about Lakewood history. It also highlights the buildings that are produced by landmarks legislation. The challenge lately is that very few owners are willing to agree that their buildings should be unchanged under landmarks protection. Several enlightened people have allowed that protection, and their buildings are discussed in the video. Give it a look!

Crime in Lakewood: Gang Activity and Violence are on the increase

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Some of you will recall the post below asking if anyone had questions or concerns about crime in town based on recent statistics report. The report came to my attention because the Lakewood City Council was supposed to have a discussion in front of the City Council about crime trends, and we didn't.

Frankly, I didn't hear from a lot of folks. Crime doesn't seem to be much of an issue. This tells me crime may be a simmering but not front-burner issue for the kind of people who read this blog or follow me on Facebook.

The numbers, though, tell a somewhat different story. I'm going to humbly suggest to my colleagues on the Lakewood City Council that we keep crime and crime prevention at the front of our minds as we enter the planning process for the 2010 budget.

Absent a discussion in front of the council, I did some number-crunching myself.And the numbers about gangs are worth knowing.

Based on current trends, we're set to have more gang arrests this year than we have in any of the last five years in Lakewood. If trends continue, there will be 116 people arrested for gang-related activity, versus 113 arrested in 2006.

In April, May and June of this year, there were 35 people arrested for gang-related activity, the second highest number of any three months in five years (there were 62 arrested in October, November and December of 2006)

Year to year, that means 116 people would be arrested this year, versus 77 last year, an increase of 50 percent.

In terms of overall crime, other numbers are distressing. Violent crime for the first six months of 2009 is up 27 percent from the same period last year. Apparently a lot of that increase is due to the horrible crime of domestic violence, and I'll see if we can get some numbers released about the trends in that crime over the last five years.

There is good news! Property crime is down 17 percent from the previous year. So that's good.

And let me stress, these numbers are no reflection on the police department and the volunteers of the town who seek to prevent and stop crime. There may be a national tend afoot, and if someone more familiar with police and crime stats wants to weigh in, that would be welcome. It's all possible that police are doing a better or different job in how they categorize gang crime.

One reason I was hoping we'd have a discussion in front of the council is to get some context. Lakewood's violent crime rate in 2008 was higher than it was in places like Puyallup and Federal Way, for example, and the council really needs to talk about this when we're formulating our budget (The good news for my loyal readers, both of you, is that there will be more numbers to come as I look at crime trends in other cities)

My main point in this exercise was to show that crime is an important issue in Lakewood, not just intuitively, but by the numbers.

The Grand Potential, and the Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:46:00 +0000

My loyal readers, both of you, will recall that a bit ago we reported on the grand potential of Woodbrook and a joint meeting between the Lakewood council and the Port of Tacoma.

The News Trib has a nice report before the meeting and another one after the meeting.

You might glance at least at the report after the meeting. Brent Champaco, the reporter, captures the essence of the meeting. There was a lot of discussion about traffic issues, potential zoning, etc... But the bottom line is that if someone developed that place as one massively master-planned parcel (as in DuPont), someone would have to buy it and displace 500 households.

I am known for epic blog postings, but this one is really pretty simple. Presumably, there are only two public entities that could take over this land. One is the port, which while it has the name Tacoma has jurisdiction over developing industrial land throughout Pierce County. But the port folks who spoke on the topic said that they have absolutely no interest in evicting 500 households.

That leaves the city. But Lakewood is a libertarian place. We would rather pull out our fingernails than perform eminent domain for some venture. We ain't University Place, and I love the folks there but I'd never use government funds to buy my downtown. If Lakewood wanted to do that, we woulda bought/seized the Colonial Center long ago. That ain't our way. We believe in private enterprise and limited government. Even if we had the will to evict all those folks because we somehow thought it would make the world a better place by creating a zillion jobs, we wouldn't because it's not the Lakewood way.

In practical terms, that means Woodbrook is almost certain to develop piecemeal and slowly. There was some discussion about whether there is a payoff to putting in up to $10 million of road improvements to seed private investment. The area needs thicker roads (to handle trucks) and different circulation to be most effective, among other things. I would think that at least a percentage of those road improvements are still very much on the table. We'd need more analysis to make sure there's a payoff for that expenditure in terms of jobs and other economic benefit. Then there'd be the question of where we'd find funding during an awful budget year. Maybe grants? Grants are pretty much the reason you've seen all the road construction activity this summer. For sure, this subject is still live and kicking.

Lakewood's Twitter Complaint

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:41:00 +0000

I originally titled this Lakewood's First Twitter Complaint, but I've been talking to Lakewood folks before. Maybe what this should be called is 'An Instructive Lakewood Twitter Complaint." Because this really shows the potential of digital communication to make government better.

So we begin a couple mornings ago when I was getting ready to go to a conference, and saw this on Twitter. And then you can see my reply.

\
So of course I sent a note to the city manager, who forwarded it to the public works director, who replied ...

Walter, while the sidewalks on both sides of GLD are under construction it’s limited to those areas where ADA standards weren’t met such as at curb returns at intersections and certain driveways. Further while they are under construction the contractor is required to maintain pedestrian access for which in most areas where the sidewalk was removed a compacted crushed rock path is provided. Where such a path can’t be provided then he can divert with proper signage pedestrians to the other side of the street. We are rechecking as I write this to assure pedestrian access being properly maintained throughout the project limits. Not much else can be said other then if a citizen has or sees a problem then they should contact us directly. Can’t fix what we’re unaware of and our inspectors can be everywhere at once so citizen’s eyes are helpful.

Well, duh, they needed to know where and when. I should have thought of that sooner. So this is the next exchange:

I then reported this to the city staff, and the public works director asked the construction inspector to speak to the contractor. This is what was reported back to me:

Don, thank you for forwarding the message about the sidewalks and pedestrian traffic. I have talked with the contractor about the work on the sidewalks, and we addressed the issue by widening our tapers in the areas that are getting improved, so that they will remain open during the construction. They also removed the sidewalk closed signs once the approaches were redone, as well as adjusting signs as needed, such as business open ,sidewalk closed etc. As for the comment about the contractor forcing a man out into the street and not holding traffic for him, what I have seen is that the flaggers have been doing a very good job at watching for people and helping them across areas in the work zone as well as doing there best to keep the traffic moving efficiently. On Friday the contractor will be continuing with the roadway excavation and saw cutting , they will also be falling back and making sure all the ramps and temporary crushed surfaces are smooth and accessible for the weekend. Let me know if there are any other concerns that I can help with

One might wish for a more aggressive response, but it does seem like the concern was heard loud and clear. Score one for Twitter. My lesson, of course, was next time to ask right away for the specifics of the complaint.

A final note: by sheer coincidence, the day before this event, I met Frank Eliason, who works for the same company I do, Comcast. Frank is nationally regarded for using Twitter to provide customer service. So it was rather symmetrical, the very next day, to reflect the same approach in government.

Give Me Your Thoughts on Crime Statistics and on Crime, Please

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Update on 8/20: I got some feedback people thought I was being critical of the report I posted below, and I feel bad. That wasn't my intent. This is what I posted just now at The Suburban Times:

In the light of day, I’ve thought of a simpler way to ask this question: What’s going on with crime, or what do you think might be going on with crime, that the Lakewood council should know about as we determine spending priorities? I can look through the statistics report and see if the relevant information is there, or if the council should ask for it. The feedback I’m getting is that my question about the statistics report might distract people from that major question: What’s going on with crime, or what do you think might be going on with crime, that the Lakewood council should know about as we determine spending priorities? *end of update, original post follows:*

Today we visit crime statistics in Lakewood, but not the way I had expected.

I've said a couple times at meetings that our council needs to learn and discuss the state of crime in Lakewood before we enter the budget process. Criminal justice accounts for the bulk of spending by Lakewood city government. Protection against crime is Job One for government. And indeed, the agenda for last night said we would discuss crime statistics.

So I was dismayed when we didn't get any crime statistics, but instead got a very informed report about how gangs are bad. Courageous leaders that we all are, I think every council member in attendance agreed by nodding or speech, yep, we think gangs are bad. But what we didn't have was a discussion about what kind of gang problem - and other crime problems - we have in town.

The city manager and council members pointed me to the monthly crime reports that I get but you (my readers) probably don't. So fair enough. Here's the report.

Lakewood Washington crime statistics June 2009

View more presentations from walterneary.

If your eyesight is like mine, you might have to press "full screen" to be able to see the numbers. You can then go back and forth between slides with arrow keys.

The suspicious in me wonders if the reason we didn't have the public discussion is that violent crime is up 27 percent. That's troubling. But I don't think that's the case. I think folks genuinely thought additional numbers were not important. Are they right? What do you think?

So here are my questions:

1. Does this tell you what you need to know about crime in Lakewood?
2. If yes, tell me what these statistics mean to you. What do you think the Lakewood City Council should be mindful of as we enter the budget process?
3. If you do want to know more, what do you want to know? Or, to put it another way, what other statistics would be helpful as our council discusses the 2010 budget?

Thank you in advance. Of course I will share the results.

The Road to Public Participation

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:05:00 +0000

"The Road to Public Participation." Hmmm. What I will do for a pun. The title might be, "Hey, want to give the city advice about roads and other aspects of transportation?"

Hmmm. Maybe I just should not write a title this morning.

Roads are important, as are other aspects of transportation including biking and walking. There are several openings on the city of Lakewood's transportation advisory board. You might consider applying to join this advisory group.

Members of the advisory committee have a very real say in how transportation dollars are spent. The individuals on the Lakewood commission are very engaged, and also a bit unusual ... the transportation advisory board is the only advisory group that I can think of right now that has recommended the city raise taxes. They want more money to spend on roads. You may or may not agree with raising taxes, but it's certainly a distinctive approach during a recession. So please consider coming aboard and adding your voice, or at least applying (and if we end up getting too many applications, maybe we can save your application or help you find another volunteer opportunity)

Please think about it. You can find the application form either as a PDF or a Word doc. Please let me know if you have any questions about the transportation committee or other volunteer opportunities to weigh in on public policy and spending.

The Grand Potential of Woodbrook

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Last Monday's council meeting was a little funny, because several of us council members sounded like kids who had just came out of the Harry Potter movie. There was really only one thing some of us wanted to talk about.

The 127-page goodie showed up last Friday in our council packets, like an early Christmas present.

The Woodbrook Business Park Development Report

That won't mean much to folks outside Lakewood, and it may not mean much within Lakewood. If you don't know the potential of these 117 acres next to Interstate 5, then you should consider reading the document. This area has the potential to become a huge economic driver .... as opposed to, and yeah, its most recent note in history the place where AdrAnne Jackson was found.

There are good people living there - a majority of them living in poverty there - modeling the life of good citizens for their children. We need to remember and care for these people too as redevelopment of the area progresses. The astonishing potential for jobs in this area is ... well, astonishing. But it is also going to take a ton of work, cooperation, work, sensible public policy, work wise private investment and work.

It is also going to take a lot of work.

The document was prepared by six commercial consultants listed on page 3. But the big delight on page 3, are some names you don't usually see on city of Lakewood documents: the names of the commissioners of the Port of Tacoma. This economic powerhouse has interests that far transcend just us in Lakewood. The Port, which is charged with managing overall industrial interests throughout Pierce County, paid for the report because the port recognizes the investment potential of this area. Our council will have a joint study session with the commissioners on Aug. 24. I'm counting the days.

Like the Tillicum project described below, Woodbrook is a big darn deal and potential game-changer for Lakewood.

It's also going to be a lot of work.

What the report says, in essence, is don't get overconfident because you've got 117 acres next to a highway. Someone can easily go start a business in DuPont, where no one is living and where you can build from scratch. Woodbrook has a massive presence of historical land uses and especially housing: there are real people living there. The roads and other infrastructure need work. There are very detailed and potentially controversial and costly things we as a community can invest in that might create a lot of jobs in Woodbrook, or few jobs there, or maybe even no jobs there.

The report makes some tough recommendations; it says, for example, that it's going to be tough to develop that area industrially if Woodbrook Middle School stays where it is.

A lot of different citizen advisory groups and others are going to be going through this report and talking about the contents and especially about the area itself. This is going to be a long conversation. Look at the PDF you will find at the link above, then you'll be at the front of the dialogue.

It's going to be a lot of work.

Parks Pay

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:14:00 +0000

My loyal readers, both of you, will recall that before serving on the city council I chaired the Lakewood Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board. As such, I gave a speech about historic preservation to anyone who would either have me to their meeting or who could not away from me fast enough.

One thing we covered in that speech was the economics of historic preservation. Yes, old buildings look nice. And yes, history is a great thing to know. Yeah, you can learn from what our predecessors said and did. But cities have to make hard choices about what to get involved with. For a city, historic preservation makes sense when it develops the economy. And my talk thus focused on how history and historic presevation building drive jobs, tourism, and so forth.

This becomes relevant as we roar past summer into the season when we set the Lakewood budget for 2010. Talk about a Fall that's coming. With the economy down hard, the council will have to decide what to fund. Members of our parks commmission are circulating an interesting newspaper story that illuminates something I'd not thought much about: that just like historic preservation, parks and recreation have a real economic impact.

The story is out of New York, so of course the numbers are crazed. But if you read through it, you see implications for any community. And thre's a link to a broader study that connects economic development and parks in several ways:

•Property value
•Tourism
•Direct use
•Health
•Community cohesion
•Clean water
•Clean air

It's worth reading and remembering this material as we enter the rough budget seas ahead.

Gambling update

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Interesting vote last night of the Lakewood council. For a couple years now, the Lakewood council has been regularly passing what's effectively an emergency moratorium on any proposals to put new minicasinos into Lakewood.

Recently, there's been discussion that this could be stretching the definition of an emergency moratorium a bit far. So last night, we had a proposal on the table that would let the moratorium expire. In its place would be a rule that existing minicasinos would be grandfathered in, but no new casinos could apply.

There's a lot of argument about whether any of this is effective. State law appears to prohibit cities from regulating casinos. It's a bit bizarre ... imagine a state law that said a city could either allow a gas station to open anywhere in a city, or there are no gas stations at all. That's the way minicasinos seem to be regulated in the state. The law seems to say, and this is just odd, that a city cannot regulate casinos though it can ban them entirely. A number of cities have responded to this legislative oddity by passing measures to assert regulation of minicasinos, one model being the ordinance in front of us last night.

However, council memebers Ron Cronk, Pad Finnigan, Helen McGovern and Don Anderson said they didn't want to pass a measure that may not be effective under state law. So the replacement measure failed last night. I supported the measure. I got no problem with the legal right of minicasinos to operate, but at the existing number. Just as we don't want Lakewood to be the only place where you could find a gas station in the area, you don't want Lakewood to be the main place to find minicasinos.

That raises the question of what's next. The people who voted against the regulations can make the same argument about the moratorium that the council has been renewing for quite some time. So will the council majority let the moratorium expire in several weeks? We'll have to see.

Cleaning up an Eyesore

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:57:00 +0000

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.

Budget Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:14:00 +0000

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.

The Next Lakewood City Council

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:57:00 +0000

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

Return of a Potent Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:49:00 +0000

It's so moving to see the young people of Clover Park High out in the bright morning sun. They are laying out the neat rows that become a powerful memorial to those who died in service to our country and to freedom. I live just a couple doors down from the school and this weekend will watch many people wander among the names, and/or hunt for a specific name. The Clover Park Memorial will surely get more visitors this year, as it should. Other scenes from last year's event, such as the one at right, can by seen by clicking here.

Lakewood Seeks Youth Council members

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:42:00 +0000

One of the cool things in Lakewood is a youth council, a group of high school-age youth who model the city council in providing recommendations about public policy and perform community service.

We've received some applications, and the first round of interviews has been held. The founder of the program, City Councilwoman Claudia Thomas, says they are great youth who want to give back. The program has two purposes: give the city a pipeline to what youth are thinking and feeling, and help the youth channel their energies toward public service.

The odd thing this year is that they are ALL from Lakes High School. (and they are mostly girls, which is apparently a bit normal year to year)

Well, Lakes is a great school and the largest. But we got others that Lakewood youth attend. The most obvious is Clover Park High School, but in previous years we've had youth from Bellarmine Prep, the A.I. School, Harrison Prep, Charles Wright, and home schools. We've also had youth from Steilacoom High School because part of the Oakbrook neighborhood is within the Steilacoom district.

So ... well ... help! Know of any youth who might be interested? The letter that we sent to schools follows. Sorry for the length, but I figured it would be easier than something you'd have to download.

POSITION: Youth Councilmember to the Lakewood City Council

DATE OPEN: Monday, March 30, 2009
DATE CLOSED: Friday, June 19, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.

TERM: September 2009 through July 2010

BASIC FUNCTION: Under the direction of a designated City Councilmember, convey to the City Council issues having city wide impact to youth; research, collect, analyze and compile data and information for inclusion in reports; maintain records and files related to youth issues and youth programs.

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES: Convey to the Mayor and City Council, through oral and/or written presentations at City Council meetings, issues impacting youths that may have city wide impact; assist other students to become involved in their communities; prepare a variety of correspondence, reports and other materials. Maintain records of all communications between Youth Councilmembers and City Council; provide summary status reports relating to issues presented to Council and resolutions, if any. Organize and coordinate youth forums and activities; communicate with youth throughout Lakewood as well as to citizens, community groups, Human Services Collaboration members and outside organizations. Interact with principals and students of designated public and private schools in person and on the phone. Participate on a variety of City committees, study groups and task forces; attend a variety of meetings as assigned. Perform related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Any combination equivalent to: an entering High School student in good academic standing, including a good attendance record. Past leadership experience and/or involvement in school or community organizations and/or events desired. Must attend a school in Lakewood or reside in Lakewood.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
ENVIRONMENT: Business and school environment. Able to attend Lakewood City Council meetings on the first Monday evening of each month at 7:00 p.m. and Youth Council meetings on the first and third Monday evenings of each month at 6:00 p.m.

PHYSICAL ABILITIES: Hearing and speaking to exchange information.

TO APPLY: Submit a letter of interest stating a) why you want to be considered and b) any past/present/future involvement in your school (i.e. clubs, student government, etc.) or community to: City Manager’s Office, Attn: Deanne Wegmann, Executive Assistant, Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St SW, Lakewood, WA 98499-5027 by 5:00 p.m. on the closing date. Please include your contact information on the letter.

Lakewood 101

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Lakewood city government is bringing back the popular "Lakewood 101" class, a shorter version of "Lakewood University." Citizens can get firsthand information about the important issues of the day with detailed handouts and clear explanations. These courses have been popular because there's time to talk specifics as well as the context of important subjects. I've yet to meet anyone who didn't rave about these classes because the classes offer all the specific information you ever wanted, without filters.

Previous sessions included an introduction to several aspects of public policy and ran over a couple of evenings. The latest version of Lakewood 101 demands less time, but should still be very informative. This year’s focus will be on public safety and economic development. Because of that specialized focus, and because it's been awhile since the last classes, previous Lakewood University students are welcome to attend and should certainly benefit.

It's all on one evening, 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3. The class will be at the new police station, 9401 Lakewood Drive SW.

RSVPS are requested at 589-2489 or citymanager@cityoflakewood.us. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with refreshments.

A Very Good War

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Hundreds of children from throughout Puget Sound found fun and education in Lakewood over the weekend during the return of the Civil War Re-Enactment.

The news media was really kind to this event. I am floored by the wonderful video that KING TV photojournalist Ron Sanford put together. Check it out on the KING website.

There were some other great reports in The News Tribune, such as a blog posting in advance of the event by Brent Champaco and an article by John Gillie. Funds raised covered expenses (insurance, portable toilets, etc...)

We had been a bit concerned that Mother's Day might put a damper on attendance, but attendance was great on Sunday. There were a lot of happy-looking moms! Good weather and our lovely Lakewood setting had to help.

I was a bit surprised and embarrassed about how many Lakewood residents grumbled to me and my fellow ticket-takers about paying for admission. There were hundreds of re-enactors who traveled on their own dime to be there and perform. It would never occur to me to demand the Lakewood Playhouse or the movie theaters give me free admission because I live in Lakewood. But I guess this event seemed different to people because the event was staged in a park. I hope people realized the money covered expenses as well as the restoration of Lakewood's wonderful pre-Civil War treasure, Fort Steilacoom.

Starlite, Star Not so Bright

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Interesting window in the ongoing battle against property crime today from the Lakewood city manager's report ... Quoting the article ...

In September 2007, the Police Department’s Proactive Property Crimes Unit (PROAC) started an investigation into a subject that was paying boosters to steal DVDs from area retailers so that she could resell them at the Starlite Swap Meet. The subject was eventually identified and located. Several boosters were arrested during the past year who confirmed they were stealing DVDs for this subject but would not cooperate further with the investigation.

In March 2009, PROAC was able to identify a person that was willing to sell DVDs to the suspect, presenting them as stolen. The 150 plus DVDs needed for this operation were provided to us by Target Stores Investigation Division, who also assisted with video surveillance during the controlled exchanges. The PROAC unit secured a court order for body wires and audio surveillance was conducted as well.

The suspect was recorded ordering DVDs, telling them what stores to avoid and reminding the boosters to not get caught.

The investigation netted 3 search warrants, a residence, a vehicle and the swap meet location. The search warrants brought the recovery of over 1,500 DVDs still in the factory wrappers, and the suspect was arrested at the swap meet. This investigation revealed that the subject had cost area retailers between $800,000 to $1,200,000 in product loss and lost sales. The investigation is continuing into other subjects engaged in the same criminal activity based out of other retail locations in Lakewood.

The arrested subject was charged with Organized Retail Theft, Possession of Stolen Property and Trafficking in Stolen Property. The Prosecutor’s Office is also exploring the charge of Leading Organized Crime.

$800,000 to $1.2 MILLION? That's real money that belongs to business owners and companies for investment and payroll. It's good the priority in town is the battle against violent crime, but this goes to show crimes against businesses and property do real damage too.

Symptoms

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Among my fondest memories of working at the University of Washington were the opportunities to represent the UW School of Public Health and to meet a couple times the science writer Laurie Garrett.

Anyone who has read "The Coming Plague," and everyone should, must have extra interest and awareness as the nation finds itself in the middle of swine flu furor. I do know firsthand there are some wonderful people working in the field of public health. They're sure not motivated by money. What I mostly remember is that the School of Public Health never got anywhere near the dollars that doctors get when they do research on cancer, heart disease or surgery. People like to give money to fight diseases, not to help the folks who try to prevent disease. And yet it is the army of folks in the field of Public Health who we are all relying on now.

How suddenly that was so. This morning, my son and I were joking about whether his school would close because of swine flu panic. And then a few hours later, a friend posted on Facebook that she knew one of the children at Lakes High School now being tested for that condition. She said the youth were in an intensive care unit and at least one of them had been to Mexico. The story she told on Facebook has since been amplified by the local paper. And I felt that odd little rush ... like that little rush I felt the day driving into the Federal Way Park and Ride when the radio said someone had crashed a plane into the World Trade Center.

Lord knows, I know not to panic. I worked too often with folks in public health to expect this is anything but a scare, a warning, and isolated set of incidents. No reason to think it's the plague. That's panic. That's just silly.

And yet.

This is the school where some of my son's oldest and dearest friends go to school. This is close to home. Panic? No. Worry? Yes.

What do we do? Pray.

Update at 7:30 p.m. .... Whew

Tacoma, WA - May 01, 2009 -
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department received news late this afternoon
from the state Department of Health that the two hospitalized students from
Lakes High School suspected of possibly having Human Swine Influenza have
been confirmed as negative for swine flu. The third student showing milder
symptoms, tested negative by rapid influenza testing and was not hospitalized.
The samples were tested through two different measures and both tests
indicated that swine flu was not present in these cases.

Director of Health for Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Dr.
Anthony Chen said, "This is the best possible outcome. Superintendent
Debbie LeBeau was very wise and prudent in her decision to close Lakes
High School until the results of the test were clear."

A Brighter Future

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Yesterday was a turning point for Tillicum. It's a bit hard to explain Tillicum to those who don't know it. It's a part of Lakewood cut off from the rest of the city except by I-5. It is bordered by military bases, beautiful American Lake, and a country club.

But it's a poor, poor place with old buildings and a poverty rate that's 60 percentage points higher than the state average. The crime rate's been real low lately, but if you ask a real estate investor from Seattle what he or she thinks about Tillicum, you're going to hear old stories about crimes.

You would think urbanized land next to military bases and an Interstate, and within the shadow of Tacoma and within range of Portland and Seattle, would be a thriving place. The lack of any sewer system has kept building size and investment down.

Yesterday, the Lakewood City Council voted to hire a contractor for $9 million - $3 million less than estimates - to bring sewers to Tillicum. This will be huge. It will create an atmosphere where we can get things like newer housing and hotels and restaurants. The contractor is Northwest Cascade, a local company.

So that was step one. Step two was introduction of a plan that would allow Tillicum to unfold in some sort of sensible way that balances the interests of private property owners with certain public needs. We want businesses that bring employment. We want to get rid of whatever trashy housing remains; and yet not displace people who've lived there for years and can't normally afford to live in an area that is going to be, for lack of a better term, gentrified.

The plan was just provided in draft form last year. There are going to be scads and scads of public meetings in Tillicum, so nothing is settled. It's based loosely on a wonderful private collaboration awhile back led by BCRA architects that envisioned a vibrant, lovely, thriving area. (The cover of it is pictured above)

We're a long ways from approving anything in the plan like flexible parking and design standards. We have some time because it's going to take a couple years to get the sewers in and make private investment worthwhile. Let's hope people collaborate on a great vision and plan for the community, agreeing to disagree on some things and moving on. The potential is enormous.

You can download the draft ... draft ... did I say draft ... Tillicum plan here. It's a 13M file; the city is selling CD copies for $1.

Lakewood Museum Update

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:58:00 +0000

The Lakewood Historical Society may very well shut its temporary museum to focus on developing its permanent home, members agreed last week.

There was a very productive summit called last week.

It only attracted 20 people, which is disturbing, but not at all surprising. I was pleased to see Mayor Doug Richardson there, along with the two people who co-chaired the cityhood campaign many years ago, Andi Gernon and former Mayor Bill Harrison.

The turnout was not surprising, especially when you consider that it was clear the 'program' was going to be about whether to keep the temporary museum going. A Lakewood museum is only probably going to attract a large following when it can develop exhibits and programs related to two of the most exciting parts of Lakewood history, a raceway and an airfield. Right now, you have to care about what's basically a history of a suburb ... and not everyone does.

That said, everyone who comes into the 1,300-square-foot museum is astonished at the large amount of information ranging from pioneer times to the story of Chief Leschi, the old maps, furniture, etc...

However, the society just can't keep up the rent. So members agreed to soldier up for as much as six months, trying to find a free or much less expensive space. That might happen, either by alliance with some other nonprofit group, or finding some kind landlord who wants space occupied at an attractive rent in a recession. If it doesn't happen, then items will likely be put into storage and small exhibits posted in some of the businesses around town.

As a co-founder of the museum, I welcome this as something we simply must do. When we started 2.5 years ago, we hoped that creating an active schools program and building connections with the many small museums in the area would bring in more people. Well, despite a couple people working incredibly hard, it hasn't. So it goes. We look forward to a new home. We can all agree it's going to be an amazing place to interpret our rich history for future generations.

Increasing the Collection of Traffic Fines ... and Getting Feedback in the New Media Age

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:40:00 +0000

There's been a lot of buzz about how electronic media will allow elected officials and citizens to exchange ideas. So I tried a little experiment, and posted some news on Facebook and on Twitter.

The news was that the city of Lakewood's collection of traffic fines is up 40 percent for the first three months of 2009 compared with the first three months of 2008, for total of about $200,000 more. I have to say, I didn't get a lot of feedback, but what I got was very high quality.

This is what I posted, because I was interested in what people thought: Lakewood WA traffic cameras collecting 200K more so far in 09, up 40%. Keeping drivers safe or fining people too much?

One person on Twitter, a former co-worker, wrote: or just creepy Big Brother technology that should rile small "l" libertarian minds like yours?

Another person offered two thoughts:

Assuming accident rates are down 20% in camera zones, how does that compare to non-camera zones? w/out those numbers, can't tell.

I responded that there was indeed a reduction and then the other person responded: Thx. If trying to decide if cameras improve safety, prob should get stats on camera v. non-camera areas. 20% citywide is good news.

and meanwhile, another person who've I've never met in the flesh asked for more info. I gave her some News Tribune stories about the subject of traffic fines and traffic cameras. She responded Cool, just curious. Wenatchee is in process of installing red-light cameras.

So that was Twitter.

Meantime, here was the reaction on Facebook. Four very thoughtful reactions:

It depends, if it's you running the red lights. It is frustrating when the light turns green and you have to wait for 4-5 more cars as they keep going through.

It is obviously not high enough. People are still running the lights. It is a major cause of traffic death here in Florida where the red light means next 3 cars.

My theory: Weak budgets and hungry cops. At a minimum, I suspect there is pressure from the top to enforce hard, it seems to be that way everywhere these days.

Keep up the GOOD work. TOO many people speed every day and there is NO reason to drive fast. We are not driving the Indy 500 here - Speed KILLS!

I have to tell you ... I was very impressed with the points of view.

BUT

and there's a BUT

Not a single one of these folks lives in Lakewood.

So ... great views. Great Internet exchanges. Zip interaction with Lakewood.

I think in part it's because Lakewood folks are not on the Internet as much as they will be in, say, a few months or a year. Or .... it might just be I'm not in the right places. So now I am posting this on my Lakewood blog ... will be interested to see if I get more reaction ...

A Great Boy Scout Project

noreply@blogger.com (Walter) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Great news from The Sub Times about an Eagle Scout project that would beautiful a true and prominent eyesore, the old cemetery on Washington. Please consider getting in touch with the young man and showing your support.