City Charter Change Petition

[Danielle Masters]

In some cases, there isn't enough time to have the public hearings that are necessary to air citizens' concerns and hold a council meeting on the same night. I think citizens are shortchanged in many circumstances.

I don't know if there is a mechanism in place to call public hearings that require council to attend. Should there be? What would trigger that?

It's unfortunate that often times when special meetings are held council participation is next to nil. We do have a few council people that hold and/or come to many community meetings but we also have some that don't show their faces outside of regular council meetings. We need council people that listen their constituents. Unfortunately since we don't have that now the only place that citizens can voice their concerns to be heard by all of council is at council meetings. Honestly I don't need to attend anymore meetings than I already do and for the pay council receives I don't think they need to add more meetings to their schedules. I would simply like for citizens to be able to voice their concerns and be heard and given the respect they deserve which is not happening now.

[Danielle Masters]

One more thing that might help this issue is different council people. I really believe that the council members that ignore their constituents need to be replaced. I hope that in this next election we are able to elect representatives that will listen to the citizens and ACT! Just my two cents.

[Bryan Schwegler]

One more thing that might help this issue is different council people. I really believe that the council members that ignore their constituents need to be replaced. I hope that in this next election we are able to elect representatives that will listen to the citizens and ACT! Just my two cents.

I agree. I think entrenched political leadership is bad for everyone. We see it Congress, we saw it at the state level, and to be honest, Lakewood is no different.

Everyone burns out and some times we need fresh thinking, a new perspective.

This is especially so true when the situation arises that you mention...they forget to respect the people they serve.

[Lynn Farris]

DL, you are right and so are Bryan and Danielle.

Sometimes for special issues, we should have special meetings and for those of us that are lucky enough to have good council members (Kevin Butler is mine and he is great - so is Ryan and Mary Louise often attends too.) that will attend and listen.

But would the skatepark have been built if many people hadn't shown up at city hall to lend their support? If it had been a quiet little meeting - would enough pressure had been brought to bear? I don't know - but luckily that was before they changed comments until the end of the meeting. It is possible that some of the skaters wouldn't have been allowed to stay out that late.

But I was thinking back to the hundreds of problems I have heard. For example, I remember a night a few years ago, where one man came about the sewers backing up on his street, another told them about being cited for not having trash lids which the trash collectors lost - and he was unemployed and he couldn't buy just a trash lid - but needed to buy a whole new trash can because the stores didn't sell just lids - and it was that or food for his family (Nancy Roth - offered a deal to get him a new trash can.) Another person had problems with stray cats in her yard. All problems that were important to those people. (I remember these 3 well because Don had woven all 3 into a story about the cats knocking the trash lids into the sewer causing the sewer problems - while we were waiting for something else.) These are the people that don't want to learn the intricacies of municipal government - they just want their sewer working, not to be in trouble about their trash lids and not to have stray cats in their yard. They don't want to wait hours - to have their problems addressed. They are the ones that don't have the luxury to wait around all night.

Please let council help these people by allowing the open comments at the begining of the night instead of making them wait until 11:00 or 12:00.

[Lynn Farris]

Bryan and Danielle,

You bring up some interesting points. We did look at them during the Charter Review - and there were not enough votes to change it. But should the council and mayor be term limited?

I'd be curious to see what everyone thinks.

[Danielle Masters]

But should the council and mayor be term limited?

Yes, I think they should be.

[stephen davis]

Steve-- Just a reminder, there is NO RECORD of this issue ever being discussed by any other charter commission except the most recent one.

Ryan,

Just a reminder, YOU WERE NOT THERE. I was at EVERY meeting of both of the recent charter reviews. While there may not be record of every comment made during the 6+ months of 3 long meetings per week during the Citizens' Governance Task Force charter review, I assure you that the section that you specifically cite was well covered. That whole section got extra attention, especially because there so was much discussion about what employment a mayor might hold outside of his/her elected position. The decision to let the school employee issue stand was not an oversight.

I will continue to encourage everyone to think carefully about this and consider how you would feel if your rights were restricted in this way. It's easy to feel unrestricted if you have never had the desire to make change and the understanding that public policy is an effective way to do it.. So try to think of it from the perspective of those of us who have stepped up to do so.

Don't mix issues. This issue is not about teachers, or the abrogation of their rights. I'm sure that most teachers that know me, including my daughter, know that I have complete respect for their occupation.

School employees are also not allowed to sit on the school board that employs them. That is state law. Unfair? Restriction of rights? No. The reasons are obvious.

You have made this YOUR issue. You would appear to have the most to gain if this issue passes, and you still seek employment in the Lakewood Schools. You knew the rules when you chose to forgo working for Lakewood Schools by becoming a councilperson. Obviously, that was your first choice. Now you want to change the rules.

Again, because I am opposed to politicizing our school board, I must also oppose Issue 11. I don't want my schools to be in a position of having to decide to hire, or not hire, a local politician/elected official. I think that most rational people could imagine some unhealthy outcomes from that pressure.

Steve

[Dr. Larry Keller]

Ryan and All:

I served with Steve and Lynn on the Charter Review Commission. We did discuss the issue and decided not to change the provision. Steve has a broader experience with the issue and I can only comment on the Charter Review Commission.

I agree with Steve that I don't want to see the schools politicized. The current Charter provision does help to do that. This was my reason for not proposing changes to the Charter.

[Dr. Larry Keller]

All:

I just read my previous message after posting and it seems that I may have stated my conclusion wrongly. The current Charter provision helps to keep city politics out of the schools. This is what I intended but not sure it was so expressed.

Wonderful to edit yourself.

[stephen davis]

Dr. Larry Keller not only served on the most recent Lakewood Charter Commission, but served as a facilitator/consultant for the Charter Commission ten years prior.

He is a wealth of knowledge on city government.



Larry,

Thanks for jumping in on this issue.

Steve

[stephen davis]

There are a few threads running simultaneously with regard to the proposed Lakewood City Charter Amendment – Issue 11.

Here are links to the most active threads for your review.


http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... 72&start=0


http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... sc&start=0


http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... 77&start=0


I am voting AGAINST Issue 11 tomorrow. You should all read and decide.


At the very least, Vote FOR 4.