By Robert L. Style
Honorable Councilmembers:
Your agenda for Tuesday is jam packed, so much so that citizens may find it impossible to address their concerns within the allowed three minutes. If they are concerned about only one issue, the entire time can be directed to that issue; however, if they want to speak on 3 or 4 issues, their time is diluted and only allows for bullet items without the ability to explain their reasoning or to discuss consequences.
I believe people will want to talk about annexation, your budget study session, the Shoreline Master Program, affordable housing, tolling, and maybe tree amendments. Of all these issues, only one has a deadline. If no changes are made to the agenda, the meeting will go past midnight and you will have denied the citizens their say.
To insure you make an informed decision, the public needs an opportunity to express their concerns.
A solution could be that you allow items from the audience after each item is opened and discussed by you, and before you decide on a course of action. Another solution could be to delay those items that do not have a deadline. Citizens need to feel you are listening to them.
Since the budget has a deadline, it’s the only one that needs immediate action. The rest can wait.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Style
Bob, it sounds like SMP can’t wait. From the agenda items:
The City is required to update its Shoreline Master Program (SMP) by December 1, 2009. The SMP update must implement the policies and principles established in the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58) and reflect the new State Guidelines of WAC 173-26.
There are many so called “deadlines” imposed by state agencies that even the state agencies don’t meet – particularly the Department of Ecology (DOE). The state does not like to impose sanctions and even worse, hates to enforce them. The standard escape clause they use is “as long as they (agencies, governments, and organizations) are making progress” they do not enforce deadlines. Just with the DOE alone, there are still communities south of Seattle dumping raw sewage into Puget Sound that should have stopped 20 years ago. So much for deadlines.,
If the State wants everyone to meet state mandates, the state should fund them. Updates to the Shoreline Master Plans is a good example. Many of the proposed changes asked for by DOE are already in place in Kirkland. Very little needs to be done to be in comliance: how ever the demands by the state exceed what is lawfully required. Kirkland is already in compliance. We could go years without updates that are unnecessary.
And what if the state say a community is not in compliance? History shows that the state only goes after jusisdictions with money. If there’s no money, there’s little or no enforcement unless the state
can get money from other jurisdictions. Seattle was supposed to separate their storm water from their sewage in 1968 when Metro was formed. They still have not done it because it would be too expensive so we are faced with raw sewage from Seattle going into the Sound about 3 times a year. So much for meeting deadlines.
Bob, your position is that city governments can treat deadlines as suggestions if we are “close enough?” Have you worked for government? At best that puts the city in a cycle of progress reporting. At worst the DOE writes its own SMP for Kirkland and you, as a lakeside property owner, are subject to rules that a government located elsewhere has written. That can’t be good.
This is a document we are talking about, not a physical solution to stormwater or sewage issues. Kirkland DID receive a grant from the state to update the SMP. You may find this to be unnecessary, but the law this is based on (passed by public referendum) went into effect in the 70s and many plans that cover all the shoreline in the state haven’t been updated since.
Tia:
From what you’ve written, I take it you either are or was a government employee and you see government as a solution to problems. I believe government is the problem. Since I don’t know who you are, I don’t know your creditability.
When it comes to grants, most of them are to identify problems, not to solve them. The SMP update is a good example. What DOE wants has to be paid for. By who? Even though everyone including the county and state benefit from Lake Washington, it’s only the property owners who end up footing the bill.
When a grant is issued, it’s like getting a savings coupon in the mail. If you use it, it will cost you much more. It is nothing more than a down payment that creates greater debt.
The county complains about state unfunded mandates. The state complains about federal unfunded mandates. Neither pays for what they want. Taxpayers do. Since 47% of people who file federal tax returns don’t pay any taxes, it leaves the remaining 53% to carry the load. Which group do you belong to?
For your information and those who don’t know me, I’ve worked for several government agencies starting with the NY National Guard, the USAF, a city in California, a city in Washington, and the IRS in Seattle. I’ve seen a lot of abuse within those organizations. Politicians turned the Viet Nam war into a disaster at the cost of many lives, the budget, and the stature of the United States. I’ve seen politicians turn the IRS into a welfare agency that hands out money to irresponsible parents.
Politicians promote a society dependent on handouts instead of requiring them to support themselves. By doing so, politicians know creating a dependent society which is controlled by politicians insures their vote. The Pauls in this world of robbing Peter to pay Paul will vote for them every time and Peter is paying for it.
Our country was created because we wanted independence from government. I don’t like what is happening now. We’re going down the wrong track. If we don’t get off that track, history will repeat itself and we will lose our freedoms.
Write a letter or email. I know that doesn’t give you the t.v. time but if your intent is to provide the Council with your opinion, it serves the same purpose.
He wrote a letter – and was even capable of doing so without any passive-aggressive snottiness.
Hell, Bob even signed his own name.
Pretty stand up if you ask me.