Recently I published several articles highly critical of the City of Lakewood’s proposed Rental Registration and Inspection Safety Program.
Some think I am critical of City Council and city staff. I am not. I am focussed entirely on exposing why the Rental Registration and Inspection Safety Program is a harmful and unfair idea.
I am not going to discuss the rental inspection idea in any further detail today.
Instead I wish to spotlight City Council and city staff in a positive manner.
First, City Council was not obligated to hold a public hearing(s) regarding the Rental Registration and Safety Inspection Program. Nonetheless, they took the high road and volunteered to host one or more public meeting(s). We should commend City Council for making this effort to promote open communication with Lakewood citizens.
We have about 60,000 citizens in the City of Lakewood. Only 20 or so citizens attended the July 5, 2016, hearing. Low citizen involvement means City Council might have to make their decision in a vacuum. While City Council can make every effort to make themselves available, they cannot be held responsible for a low level of citizen involvement.
I commend City Council for doing their part including doing more than they were required to do.
Secondly, during my process of attempting to stimulate interest, dialogue and concept analysis, I received a written communication from city staff member, Ms. Heidi Wachter, City Attorney.
With Ms. Wachter’s permission, I am sharing her communication with the citizens of Lakewood because I believe this short communication speaks volumes regarding City Council and city staff’s positive effort to work with a constructive intelligent process.
Ms. Wachter’s quote:
“Thank you for your participation in the process. The Council has set additional time to discuss this at the Study Session on July 25. If an ordinance is proposed for a vote it looks like that will happen on August 1 (although it could be bumped again for further consideration and discussion or never brought forward at all). The Council appreciates the time people are taking to provide insight into different perspectives on this and are taking it all into account as they study the issue. We are currently going through everything to make sure we have provided information as requested and will continue to take input throughout the process.
Thanks again for your thoughts on this.
End of Ms. Wachter’s quote.
There are two main points included in Ms. Wachter’s email to me.
- City Council and city staff decided to take additional time to explore the pros and cons of their proposal and to give more time for citizen input.
- City Council and city staff elected to stave off their decision date of July 18, 2016, to provide more time for research and citizen input. City Council does not appear to making a rush to judgement. The new projected dates are included in Ms. Wachter’s email quoted above.
Although admittedly my articles are frank and blunt regarding the proposed Rental Registration and Safety Inspection Program, do not be misled into thinking I do not appreciate our City Council and city staff. We have some excellent people doing what some might consider a thankless job. I, for one, appreciate them and I am happy for their service.
With that being said, know that they are waiting, right now, to hear from Lakewood citizens regarding the Rental Registration & Safety Inspection Program proposal. If you do not speak up now, you will have little right to complain later.
Do your part so City Council can equip itself to make the best possible decision on this matter.
If you wish to contact City Council, click my link “City Council” to be directed to their email addresses.
Seventeen-thousand, two-hundred and twenty-eight words (17,228). And that’s just from my perspective with my pen including the comments that ensued on nine different articles regarding the RIP.
But no posting on the City’s Website dedicated to this issue since June 27.
No posting there of the link to the audio/video recording of the July 5 Public Hearing.
And if you hadn’t written this latest, would we know July 18 is not, after all, when a vote will be taken?
Would we know “the Council has set additional time to discuss this at the Study Session on July 25”?
Would we know “if an ordinance is proposed for a vote it looks like that will happen on August 1 (although it could be bumped again for further consideration and discussion or never brought forward at all)”?
Would we know “the Council appreciates the time people are taking to provide insight into different perspectives on this and are taking it all into account as they study the issue”?
Is it difficult for a City Councilmember to express such appreciation themselves?
They evidently are not sworn to silence when taking exception to what at least one member believed to be a “juvenile article”.
This publication – and the articles you’ve written Joe and responses you received would likely push the total words expressed in thoughtful rebuttal, and yes grievance and anger, to nearly 50,000 words on the RIP.
But not word one authored by an elected representative providing anything at all to engage their citizens in healthy debate much less indicate where they stand.
If a city councilmember comes to a neighborhood meeting those there can ask their position. On a good night, there are maybe 35 in attendance.
If citizens come to a meeting of the council they can hear, hopefully through the very garbled P.A. system, what it is they might be saying.
But when there exists a venue such as this online newsletter, with every opportunity to reach far in excess what could be had by looking down from the dais: nothing.
Obviously a single city councilmember cannot speak for the group but that does not mean they cannot speak for themselves does it?
Six-thousand readers and 20,000 hits daily, I believe and nothing on a par of what you just shared via the city attorney.
Perhaps the Lakewood city council should hold off until after National Night Out where they could go to the various neighborhood events, especially at an apartment complex should there be one, and enlighten those who might not otherwise know what RIP is and how it could effect them, both positively and negatively? Here in UP, our house will be hosting our neighborhood’s National Night Out as we’ve done over the pat few years….if something like RIP were being considered here we’d certainly would be asking lots of questions of the councilperson atteding
our event.
Good idea!
Joseph Boyle