September 2004
Last month, several people who presumably thought they were there for a presentation on Amway ended up by mistake at Burs restaurant. I spoke to members of Lakewood United as part of a series the LU board plans every month featuring a council member. Far be it from me to criticize the board for choosing to begin with the junior member of the council, because I got a free breakfast out of the deal (fyi, if your stomach is churning out of nervousness, it works to have three Burs link sausage and buttered brown toast)
I spoke about historic preservation, which is old news to many folks who read this site, as well as current city affairs. I told the audience about three things that make me optimistic about Lakewood, and three things that worry me. This is strictly from my individual perspective and in no way represents any grouping of the council. I bet every council member would give you a different list, and we as a group would negotiate another kind of list entirely.
So here goes. Let’s begin with the three happy things:
1. Lakewood is a very diverse community. Now, of all the three, this is the hardest to explain. But by this I mean we have a rich community of all creeds and colors and incomes – all educational backgrounds, and all sorts of attitudes. We have historic sites that date back 150 years, and we have ultra-modern buildings. I contrast this with many smaller communities that seem very dull in comparison.
I have a new appreciation for diversity as a result of my work at UW. I work with scientists who tell you that the more genetic variation there is in a population, the more likely the population is to survive and thrive in changing conditions. If everyone has the same genes, everyone may catch the same illness. That’;s how whole populations got wiped out when settlers came along with illnesses. But if people have different genes, some people will catch the illness and some will not. What we have in Lakewood is so much diversity that no one event or attitude or announcement can bring everyone down. We may have something bad happen within one subset of the community; there are other groups that help keep the community strong and thriving. We have a lot of cushion both for error and opportunity. This is the advantage of being a big city in a small city body.
But now, let’s get more concrete …
2. The opening of a door into the group Lakewood Cares. OK, quick background for those of you who do not breath Lakewood politics. Lakewood Cares is a group of highly motivated citizens who are critical of the way Lakewood has included citizens in decision-making, and many city decisions. The group is not always polite or genteel, and some other people in town call them the ‘anti-everythings’ and accuse them of deliberately misstating information to build political power.
Of course, the folks from Lakewood Cares fire back that it’s these other folks who are cutting the public out of the process and trying to hold on to power. Back and forth it goes. I will tell you as a personal note that I find the raw rhetoric and grass-roots nature of Lakewood Cares politics to be somewhat refreshing, even when aimed at me. In politics, at work and City Hall and even at home, some folks draw the knife and hold it behind their back; the members of Lakewood Cares tell you when they are about to draw the knife, talk openly about the knives they chose from, show it to you for a long time and lovingly describe just how sharp it is. This style is not for everyone, but it is ineffective to simply whine about this confrontational approach. This, actually, is a point I plan to make in a minute. Meantime, let’s leave background and get on to my main point.
In February, the Lakewood city manager warned the council that the only way to pay for extending sewers to the Tillicum and American Lake Gardens area might include a small surcharge on Lakewood sewer customers. Let me quickly add that this is still up in the air; I owe you a column about Lakewood sewers, and will try to get to that soon. Let’s just suffice it to say that nobody is raising your rate yet, and it was only an idea. Now, if you had asked 100 people familiar with Lakewood Cares what their members would say, those 100 people would have assumed that the group would have immediately attacked the idea. Period. No discussion, or thought. Tax. Bad. You could not have a fee that did any good. Anti-everything, right?
What council member and Cares member John Arbeeny said was a total stunner: he told the council that he could see considering the surcharge if the city formed a committee to explain the surcharge to the community. As defined then and in subsequent conversations, I think what John had in mind was that a surcharge makes more sense if I tell you that I am taking $1.50 and returning $2 (and a better, healthier community) to you two or ?? years from now. Of course, in order to tell you that, I have to go through a process of analysis to demonstrate there really is value in your investment. So John was calling for more than a marketing plan – he was calling for a cost-benefit analysis and critical approach.
Lest John come at me with one of those knives, let me stress that I am not now announcing that John thinks all taxes are just great. We're going to have to share subtleties if we are going to work together to maintain and improve this great city. What he was doing was opening the door of Lakewood Cares into City Hall. John took the sewer proposal to Lakewood Cares meetings and subjected it to their level of analysis. He returned with a long list of questions and suggestions and points of view. Now, this process is ongoing and it is difficult to say how it will turn out. But what he did, in essence, was breach a wall.
I know that at least some members of Lakewood Cares expressed concern about being asked to endorse a tax (admittedly not, I am sure the wording that John would choose), so I applaud his willingness to take a chance within the group. I hope everyone, on all of the so-called “sides,” will take chances. If we all take chances, we can work together. If we don’t take chances and stay behind walls, we live isolated and at least partially alone.
And now … three causes for concern.
1. The hiring of a new city manager.Familiar words, because you just read them: The hiring of a new city manager. Scott has done a good job on many fronts, so he has tough shoes to fill. But I worry more about the process. If the council can evaluate candidates openly, and negotiate to agreement, that’s good. All council members should be comfortable with whoever is offered the job.
But – if Lakewood remains divided into Lakewood Cares and whatever you want to call the other “side,” or some new or even older bitter divisions, we risk a mild version of chaos. That could manifest itself as distrust and constant second-guessing of the city manager even when embarked on a reasonable course of action. A certain amount of criticism is essential, healthy and wise – we’re not turning the city over to a manager, just asking her or him to manage it. But if we disintegrate into “I told you that this city manager couldn’t do the job,” things will get ugly – not just for the manager, but for City Hall and the cooperative process.
2. A lack of political diversity. Lakewood Cares has several members who have run at least once for office – they’ve already gone through the learning curve of writing a sample ballot statement, printing up signs, and asking the public for votes. This puts the group at a huge advantage, especially if incumbents do not run. Now, if you support what the group stands for, this is much less of an apparent problem. I myself am not sure what would happen if Lakewood Cares members form a majority on the council, since the group has never been “in control” of the council. But even members of Lakewood Cares, who rightly call on citizens to get involved, would call on other members of the community who do disagree with them to organize and campaign. That’s essential to healthy democracy.
I should add that some people who heard my talk thought I was slamming Lakewood Cares. I think we should be concerned if any one group, no matter what they stand for, has a clear advantage over others in town when it comes to politics. As I said before, diversity is healthy.
3. Helping people to stay informed. And finally, I mentioned that the enormous diversity of the town makes it hard to get correct information to people. My August column was about this very point: how many citizens are misinformed about a key issue in town, our crime rate since cityhood. Is this typical? How many opinions are expressed about Lakewood that are based on innocent error? The possibility of widespread misunderstanding is enormous, particularly if we only talk to each other during charged political campaigns. Do people know our streets fund looking a few years ahead is essentially broke? Do they blame the council, the state, the county, fellow taxpayers or someone else? Where are we getting the information to form an opinion at all? Do they know enough to blame anyone, or what to do to remedy the situation? And that’s only one example. I do not have an answer to better flow of information – other than my own personal contribution to this newsletter – but I submit many other minds should be coming up with ideas on this very question.