Neary-Sighted

The 2010-2011 Lakewood City Council: from left, Don Anderson, Claudia Thomas, Mike Brandstetter, Walter Neary, Mary Moss, Doug Richarson and Jason Whalen.

Today I publish the last column for Neary-Sighted. It’s job is done. It’s time to move on to a new mission.

Neary-Sighted began as a column in the Lakewood Journal weekly newspaper in 1994. It ended when I left the Journal in 1997, and picked up again when I ran for City Council in 2003. Neary-Sighted’s final column today takes place in 2011. So it seemed only right to make the final column a letter to the guy who started it all in 1994.

December 2011

Mr Walter Neary
Rigney Road, Steilacoom
Located in the year 1994

Dear Walter,

I hope you are having a good time in your temporary home. What I know now, 17 years later, is that your wife and children will finally relocate from Salinas, California, and you’ll find a very nice first Lakewood home down the road from Lake Louise. First off, to answer your most important questions: your kids are going to be healthy and fine. You’re still married to Cindy, who is still as wonderful as ever. Your mother and father will die in 1999 and 2000, but death is what happens in life. You accept this now.

Let me remind you why you are here in 1994. You were hired to edit the Lakewood Journal newspaper, serving four very different communities: Lakewood, Steilacoom., DuPont, and University Place. You were hired because a person or two thought you wrote pretty good editorials. You were hired because the cityhood campaigns had been losing in Lakewood. The people who wanted a new city were trying all sorts of different things, including new campaign tactics. Their wishes dovetailed with those of the newspaper publisher, who had many reasons to want Lakewood to be a city.

The main reason for these cityhood campaigns was because Lakewood needed to govern itself. An enormous amount of authority and money rested with the county government in Pierce county. To this day, county government has a disproportionate amount of money and power compared to the real needs of Pierce County citizens. That’s because its county executive practically has the authority of a Roman emperor, and its supervisors are elected in such large districts that no community except maybe Tacoma can be protected from the wishes of the supervisors outside the community. That of course makes places like Lakewood, Steilacoom, DuPont and University Place pretty much road kill.

That of course on default setting makes places like Lakewood, Steilacoom, DuPont and University Place pretty much road kill. The way they get any influence is to cooperate with other communities and the county to share dialogue and interests..

The same is true of many other places, of course, but you are not their editor. You have taken the most dramatic move of your life and uprooted your family to Washington state to provide whatever incremental help a newspaper can in building community. And you are going to crusade for cityhood for Lakewood.

You do this two ways. First you point out that change isn’t always bad, and that an awful lot of citizens have chosen to live in cities so they can govern themselves. Second, you crusade against the bullying and outrages of other governments. So, for example, when the county ignores a dangerous hotel complex so that drug addicts and others can die, set fire, etc., your newspaper starts a countdown listing the days before county government acts. You become a bit of a smartass, Mr Newspaper Editor.

Back then, Lakewood’s only ‘governments’ were a toothless advisory council and Lakewood United, a group of folks who meet for breakfast Thursday mornings, representing civic groups, local businesses and schools, or just themselves. So many of these people will be dead by now, Walter. You had no idea then, of course. I hope you appreciated the time you spent with all of them. I know you wanted to. As you might remember, we never saw county government paying attention to any of us. Remember that. It’s key to this letter.

The big signature outrage back then was that the county government had decided to dig up Lakewood streets for a sewer project without actually notifying anyone. The legal notice had been placed in the Enumclaw newspaper, because back then, county government did what the hell it wanted. Dealing with Lakewood as anything more than another field to grow tax revenues was pretty inconvenient. It was a handy place to dump strip clubs and such, and certainly its citizens had no say in local governance.

All this was on your mind as you joined a small army of wonderful people to campaign for cityhood. And cityhood won in 1995.

One thing that you have no idea of, Walter, is that in 2003 you’ll get elected to the City Council. You never had any political aspirations because no newspaper reporter or editor ever should when they’re in that role. You left newspapers, and the opportunity opened up, and you ran for office.

So I’m not going to give away any more surprises. Let’s talk about Monday night.

Monday was my last scheduled official City Council meeting. I sure hope it’s the last, because the only reason we will have a meeting in the rest of December is if there’s some disaster. So let’s hope for the best and call it my last. Let me tell you why it was unusual.

This was the second joint meeting of three City Councils: Lakewood, Steilacoom and DuPont. The first was last summer in Lakewood. We have begun talking about regional issues in a way that’s never happened before. As you might imagine, some of the regional issues involve helping Joint Base Lewis-McChord and possibly re-routing train traffic through populated areas. The main item on the agenda was a proposed flood control district that the majority of county supervisors want to create. They want to tax the whole county to benefit flood prevention projects along the Puyallup River and Interstate 5. The county tried to create this tax last year but Lakewood’s city government led the legal and political charge to stop how they were doing it--without proper public notice. It was the 1990s sewer project all over again, but this time, 15 years of community leadership by hundreds of people made a difference.

At this meeting Monday night, we actually had the county executive Pat McCarthy present. Pat’s no more a Roman emperor than what her job demands of her. She showed sincere interest in what the councils had to say, while defending creation of the district. And there were two county council members present.

Having three powerful elected officials from the county is unheard of at a Lakewood council meeting even if it's a joint meeting with others. This was history. It was a powerful sign to say, today your communities matter..

Think about it, Walter in 1994. Seventeen years later, you’re going to see the fruition of all that hard work by all those wonderful people at Lakewood United, at your newspaper, at so many Lakewood organizations, and by so many wonderful people in Lakewood, DuPont and Steilacoom. County government may not make the decisions we like, but they have to talk with us first.

I drove home from DuPont that night. I traveled under the same bright lights over Interstate 5 that you saw that night when you drove up from California, looking around in wonder.

You will live to see something wonderful happen, Walter. You will live to see a community form, and matter.

That was the purpose of all that work back then, and of Neary-Sighted the column and Walter the editor. Monday night brought it home to me that we’ve arrived at the destination you wanted in 1994. That’s why in 2011 you got that tear in your eye as you walked through the front door.

So you’re going to do something else. But it’s time for something new, and a new name.

Because Neary-Sighted has finally … seen. Wonderful things.

Sincerely,

Walter in 2011













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I'm many months overdue updating this website. Here's the short version of what's going on:

I started this blog desperate for exchanging information about Lakewood. I began this blog many months before the start of The Suburban Times and years before the start of Lakewood Patch. With their appearance, and of course continued coverage by The News Tribune, a lot of the reason for my blog went away. The good news about the situation is there's more ways than ever before, even if those ways are not in newsprint, to talk about Lakewood.

Of course in the past few years I've updated the blog, often about major issues, but this summer was not the time to do so. My day job became the most intense it's ever been, thanks to my employer's wonderful and extensive program to bring Internet and technology to the poor. There's no sign this workload will diminish, which is good because I love the work. As you can imagine, this increased intensity had something to do with my decision not to run for re-election.

Speaking of that decision, a sure sign my poor blog here got pushed to the side is that I never updated it with my departure column for the city council. That's embarrassing! This column was published in August in Connections, the city newsletter. This column belongs on this blog as well, and so I share it here:

This is the final year of my second term on the Lakewood City Council, so if you read only this one sentence, please accept my deepest thanks for the honor of serving you these eight years.
If you read this second sentence - and time is so precious, isn’t it? - let me thank you for reading this newsletter. Not everyone does.

So now, here on the fourth sentence, I know that whoever you are, you care enough to read the newsletter articles and not just the headlines. That makes you special because you clearly care about Lakewood. So let’s talk.

These past eight years have seen a lot of action. We started our own police department, which has reduced crime throughout our city. We shared Nov. 29, 2009, the day four of our officers were murdered. We’ve shared agreements and disagreements about parks, roads, sewers, businesses, and more. As I wrote in the Lakewood Journal in 1995 when we chose cityhood, we will never all agree on everything. But in our city we have a place to meet and discuss and share. That’s what cityhood is for.

So are the time and resources that we invest in the city worth it? Let me tell you how I measure success. If you remember my columns in the Lakewood Journal about my then-little children, this story has more meaning.

To help out my daughter and son-in-law, they’re living with Cindy and me. In this day, and age, the two of them have done something remarkable. They have jobs within a mile of their home. JoAnna is the smiling face who greets you as you enter Barnes and Noble. David works at Cartridge World. The two of them have something in the marriage that Cindy and I never enjoyed; they work within a couple minutes’ walk of each other.

Yesterday, they pre-qualified for a mortgage. These smart young’uns could live anywhere in the Puget Sound area. Where do they want to live?

Lakewood.

They like this place. Lakewood is a place to raise a family. That’s success.

So now you’ve read 29, nearly 30, sentences. You’re the person I ran to represent; the person I tried my best, sometimes well and sometimes badly, to serve. In front of you special people, I have a tear in my eye. Thank you for the honor of representing you on the Lakewood City Council.

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I'm torn about how to feel about three City Council Races where all candidates are unopposed: On the one hand, cities really benefit from vigorous elections where the candidates tell the truth and share different views about values and tactics. In fact, that's what democracy is built on.

But here in 2011, Don Anderson, Marie Barth and Paul Bocchi embody integrity and strong values for a better community. Don, Marie and Paul are also great people. The 2012 council will be strong & smart. I've seen all the councils, even served on a couple, and say pretty surely that it's probably going to be the strongest council ever in terms of breadth and the versatility of what each person brings to the dais. And that's good because the problems and challenges keep coming even as the world seems to be rooting into a recession.

So let's get to the question everyone wants to know: Don, Marie and Paul, does this mean we get a break on seeing all those yard signs? Or you going to put them up for candidate/team/city spirit?
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Not bad for the second-largest city in Washington's second-largest county.

The annual report for 2010 in Lakewood is pretty cheery. I'm afraid to read it, you have to click on that link and let a PDF light up your computer screen. The curse of a PDF is that it's hard to search from the Internet, but the document has a lot of good information. It's worth the time to plow through it. I'd encourage you to look at it.

The one thing you can't put in a political, polished annual report are the political victories. There are three of them that amaze even me, and I fought for all of them.

If you think back to 16 years ago, we were not even a city; you could not talk about clout. During the past year, Lakewood won some major victories at the federal, state and local level.

County: We stopped an illegal tax. Hardly anyone knows about this, but the country tired to impose a bizarre flood control tax on your property (if you own property here). Lakewood led the legal challenge to stop it. More reading here.

State: Our neighbors at Camp Murray decided they knew what was good for Lakewood and demanded Lakewood authorize a particular new route into the facillity. On behalf of the people of Tillicum - as well as the need to plan appropriately for all the people who drive I-5- our city demanded proper planning. More info here

Federal: And then there's the whole Amtrak proposal (that's it's popular name, though it's a project of the state Department of Transportation). This is the equally bizarre plan to spend millions to save Portland-Seattle commuters a couple minutes. And maybe we won't win. Two massive layers of government, federal and state, are pushing. But the state and federal government agreed to properly plan and evaluate. Now the decision has been pushed off until 2012. More info here about the past; and then more info here about the future

Lakewood cannot claim all the credit for all three of these developments, but in each of these cases, Lakewood was at the center of the effort. That's a record of 3-0 dealing with governments much vaster than a government of a city of 60,000. Not bad.

Of course, these three things are not done. The victories are all temporary. That's the nature of politics; it's hard to call a proposal ever dead. All the proposals are still alive in the heart of government bureaucrats and politicians outside Lakewood. The county may yet try to tax us, the state will use its leverage to demand change at Camp Murray, and all sorts of levels of government will pound on us to accept more dangerous and disruptive rail traffic. Who knows who will 'win,' if there is a win.

The good news is that 15 years into cityhood, Lakewood is there to engage. Sometimes we'll win. Sometimes we'll lose. There's a city to participate and advocate in the discussion and on behalf of us, the citizens - that's the only 'win' we can count on, and it's a big one.
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It's about time people start announcing they want to run for council this year for a term in 2012-2015. There will be at least one open seat.

You know, the old Walter would have written thousands of words about my retirement, about the city, etc. Today you get the short version. "I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now," as Dylan wrote. I'll keep it simple.

Eight years is plenty. We've done great things as a city: Seen the right of initiative granted to citizens. Seen the birth of a police department that not only has done the city proud in umpteen ways, but also - with all Lakewood - survived everything the Seaven Seas of Hell threw at us in November 2009. Seen more businesses (while some went away; d*^# this economy) There's a tenuous appreciation of our unique history. We're much more focused on trying to create jobs in the town, because we want jobs for our youth and tax revenues to hire more police, strengthen the roads and maintain the parks.

More importantly, I've been around for the maturity of a city. Eight years ago, the new city was a nasty, bitter political mess, reflecting the early teenage years of cityhood. Very few people with any sort of positive outlook on life were going to run for office.

I still wonder what the heck I was doing out there in 2003, the first time I ran for office. Hey, I'm not naive. I don't flatter myself. The people who approached me about running in 2008 probably approached dozens of people before me. But few people wanted to run for office in 2003 because elections were full of smears and personal insults. That's what made me a great choice in 2003 and, to an extent, in 2007. I didn't mind the insults and the campaign. I rather enjoyed it. It really helps to remember that while leadership is sincere and important, and governing is a call to excellence, the stage of politics itself is partly theater. Somehow as your blood, muscle, brain and heart are called to leadership, you have to remember you're also playing a part on that big stage. If you take the acrimony and defeats personally, you catch fire and eventually burn out. That's not the right approach.

Our city is moving from those tumultuous teen years to adulthood. Now it's time for me to take my turn off the stage. Lakewood has matured gracefully. I have no doubt any number of fine people will announce for Position 7. I've no doubt it will be a campaign about qualifications and issues. This is the time for a two-term councilman to rotate off, and maybe join a citizens' advisory board if they will have me.

It is actually very important, as I look around at older cities, that we have the kind of city where some former City Council members stay involved. One should not burn out of the Lakewood City Council and never be heard from again. One should contribute what one can, and then return with lessons learned to other parts of civic engagement. At recent events in Federal Way and Auburn - two cities that have their act together - I was struck with how many former council members were around, playing various roles.

I have final words for the 6,000 people who voted for me in 2003 and the 6,500 who voted for me in 2007. Thank you. Imagine seeing your name on a ballot, and trying to imagine hundreds and hundreds of inner and external conversations about you. I am very humbled. Grateful. Honored.

I've done my best. Sometimes I made a huge difference for the better - changed a conversation, an outcome, a movement. Other times I failed. Sometimes I really knew better, and just didn't act appropriately. Other times, man, I never saw what hit me. All times, I did the best I could.

Thank you.

That said - the term ain't over yet. I'm here until Dec. 31. Bring on the next issue, please. I'll still have a few more words to write for my loyal readers, both of you.
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The Lakewood Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board has designed the Old Settlers Cemetery on Washington as a protected landmark.

Normally, designation is meant to preserve a building's historic appearance in perpetuity. So a cemetery is an unusual designation. In some ways, this is more of an honor than an act of historic preservation. It's hard to imagine someone coming up with a plan to change the area: for example, relocate the graves and put housing there, for example. Still ... such a change could be proposed, and now it would be swiftly turned down.

Those of you with our Lakewood history book will recall that the last photo in the book is of Steve and me standing in this cemetery. The cemetery has lost many, many gravestones over the years. And while Pierce County Parks owns and cares for it in their fashion, there's no cemetery district to preserve and maintain it. Old Settlers Cemetery is like an hourglass whose sands of memory are slowly fading. The gradual loss of history in Lakewood is is why everyone has worked so hard to maintain the Lakewood Historical Society: so that what remains of our heritage can be preserved and interpreted for this and future generations.

The rest of this blog post is a report that historian Steve Dunkelberger put together for the nomination process. I wanted to include it so the names of those in the cemetery can be searched on the Internet. And ... it's interesting. Sorry for the funky look of the document, as I did some cutting and pasting.


The 4.24 acre (originally 5 acre) site contains the graves of
settlers from the area dating back to 1855, when it was established by a
donation of land from Frank and Lena Clark for free burials of
pioneers only and their descendents. About half of the burial sites in the
cemetery are unmarked by grave stones or markers, which have likely been
stolen during the passing decades. The land was formally (with legal deed
transferred filed with Pierce County) donated by the Clarks on Jan. 7, 1881
for $54.

The largest cluster of grave markers can be found on the Northwest
corner of the property, farthest from the site’s border with Washington
Boulevard. Clark was a lawyer in the area when he donated the land used for
the cemetery, although there are currently no known records of any burials
there. It was reportedly an open field cemetery until workers from the WPA
first fenced off the property after complaints that horses and riders knocking
over gravestones in the 1930s. The fence was been repaired and
restored several times during the passing years. The first verifiable burial
at the site (from the date on the stone marker) was July 25, 1855. Many
stones are either missing, unreadable or broken. The most recent known grave
at the site shows Mary Holt, who was buried there in 1965.

Walter again: There's also a report that a Beatrice
Johns was buried on site in 1992. A couple years back, the Lakewood Historical Society has a fascinating program by a woman who buried her father, a descendant of a French trapper and a Native American mother, in the cemetery. She couldn't find anyone to give her permission to bury him in Old Setters, so they just went ahead and did it. I don't recall other particulars, so if anyone does, let me know and I'll amend this blog post)

CheriePeterson conducted a survey of the visible grave sites in the cemetery in
1999, and that information was verified in 2004. That information is available
below and at:
http://www.interment.net/data/us/wa/pierce/oldsettlers/gravelly.htm

??,
Olive May,
no dates, granddaughter of (unreadable), (Lamb on Top of Marker)

??, Ray M., no last name, 1898, d. 1906, Son

Albert, Francis A., b. 1862, d. 1925

Anderson, Robert L., b. 2-16-1897, d. 1-19-1946, Tn. Pvt. 61 Pioneer
Inf.

Andrews, Henry (Corpl), no dates, Co. I 1st U.S. Dragoons

Andrews, Louis Valentine, b. 1862, d. 1960, Brother

Andrews, Rosalie Latour, b. 1864, d. 1946, Mother

Andrews, Thomas Jefferson, d. 1902, Baby

Arneman, Mr., no dates, wooden markers

Arneman, Mrs., no further info

Baker, H., b. 1900, d. 1923

Barnes, Annie G., b. 9-2-1867, d. 11-1900

Barnes, Archie R., b. 1900, d. 1919

Barnes, Charles Arthur, b. 1887, d. 1931, wooden marker

Barnes, Harry, b. 1824, d. 1888

Barnes, Henry, b. 1865, d. 1922

Barnes, Jack Archie, b. 2-18-1933, d. 5-8-1992, Loved by all his
family, Beloved Brother Merchant Seaman

Barnes, Jane, b. 6-1-1856, d. 11-27-1890

Barnes, John George, b. 1857, d. 1927, wooden marker

Barnes, John H., b. 1898, d. 1917

Barnes, Joseph, b. 1853, d. 1928

Barnes, William E., b. 4-21-1891, d. 12-7-1971, WWI,Wa. Cpl. 115
Spruce Sq.

Bates, Elizabeth, no dates, w/o J.S.R.

Bates, J.S.R., no dates, h/o Elizabeth, Co B 32nd Oh Inf.

Baunsgard, Jean M.(Miner), b. 1887, d. 1946, d/o Milo & Maggie,
(ashes of)

Benston, Adam Jr., b. 11-26-1846, d. 10-28-1941

Benston, Adam Sr., b. 11-17-1823, d. 3-25-1912

Benston, Alfred M., b. 1-13-1883, d. 5-10-1910

Benston, Benjamin I., b. 5-4-1886, d. 7-30-1901

Benston, Ella, b. 1-24-1881, d. 2-28-1896, d/o Wm.,Jr. & J., stone
very worn

Benston, Elmer, b. 9-3-1890, d. 9-8-1922

Benston, Harvey, b. 1892, d. 1903, wooden marker

Benston, Harvey, b. 8-27-1892, d. 2-2-1907, stone marker

Benston, Ida A., b. 7-20-1888, d. 10-23-1900

Benston, James, b. 1877, d. 1900, s/o Janet & Adam,Sr.

Benston, Janet, b. 8-21-1835, d. 6-7-1899, w/o Adam,Sr., m/o Janet
& James

Benston, John L., b. 2-6-1874, d. 10-27-1899, Gone But Not Forgotten

Benston, Joseph, b. 9-29-1879, d. 7-22-1910

Benston, Sarah, b. 3-16-1855, d. 7-20-1943

Benston, Walter, b. 1895, d. 1933

Benston, William H., no dates, wooden marker & small homemade
stone marker

Benston, William, b. 1-1-1845, d. 10-13-1899

Bleeker, James A., b. 1884, d. 1940, plaque on a huge rock

Bleeker, Mary Warren, b. 1882, d. 1960, plaque on a huge rock

Bonney, Emma J., d. 10-9-1882, 6y 11m 9d, d/o S.A. & E., lamb on
top

Bonney, George W., d. 2-1-1890, 2y 7m 1d, s/o S.A. & E.

Bonney, Samuel A., b. 1865, d. 1912, h/o E., f/o Emma J. & George
W., grave has both stone and wooden markers

Bottinger, Amandus C., b. 1-3-1854, d. 2-17-1937

Bottinger, Amandus C.,Jr., b. 1884, d. 1926

Bottinger, Anna, b. 3-12-1855, d. 5-21-1924, Mother

Bottinger, William H., b. 10-8-1890 Tacoma, d. 5-13-1919,
Philadelphia, Merchant Marine, very worn wooden marker

Braget, Arthur H., b. 7-20-1913, d. 7-21-1913, Rest in Peace

Braget, Carl Oscar, b. 9-24-1894, d. 10-3-1902

Braget, Edna A., b. 11-23-1911, d. 5-7-1915

Braget, Mrs. J. H., no dates

Brey, Henry, no dates, wooden marker

Burtschie, Cane Philip, b. 1875, d. 1896

Carlson, Frank A., b. 1869, d. 1949, h/o Isabell, Father

Carlson, Isabell, b. 1877, d. 1960, w/o Frank A., Mother

Cronin, Harriet, d. 10-22-1880, 69y, Gone But Not Forgotten

Cronin, Ole Frost, no dates

Dalgish, Ruth Carlson, b. 6-5-1908, d. 3-16-1988, sis/o Ellen
(Weinand)

Daniels, P.C., b. 5-15-1865, d. 8-2-1893

Daniels, Peter, b. 5-26-1837, d. 12-25-1916, h/o Stine

Daniels, Stine (Eisenbeis), b. 8-23-1838, d. 11-3-1895, w/o Peter

Davenport, Dennis, d. 7-27-1901, 74y 3m 1d, Rest in Peace

Edwards, Albert, Jr., b. 8-26-1922, d. 12-22-1981, Pvt USArmy WWII

Edwards, Rosalie, b. 1899, d. 1977, Sister

Eisenbeis, Fredrick C., b. 10-7-1823, d. 3-10-1902, f/o Stine

Faust, Caroline, b. 2-21-1812, d. 10-10-1892, w/o Jacob

Faust, Jacob, b. 12-28-1822, d. 7-5-1900, h/o Caroline

Frisk, Ole, d. 7-25-1855

Frost, Andrew Jackson, b. 1833, d. 1909, In Loving Memory From Their
Descendents 1988

Frost, Andrew, no dates

Frost, Baby Boy, b. 1910, d. 1910

Frost, Gilbert H., b. 11-10-1809, d. 9-28-1884, Settled in Oregon in
1844

Frost, John A., b. 1872, d. 1927

Frost, Mabel (Robb), b. 4-21-1862, d. 5-7-1940, w/o Walter

Frost, Mary Ann (Perry), b. 1846, d. 1918, w/o Walter C.

Frost, Mary T., no dates, d/o A.J. & Mary Ann

Frost, Walter C., b. 3-21-1860, d. 8-7-1926, h/o Mary Ann

Goranson, Axel Nathaniel, b. 1-11-1865, d. 12-30-1905

Greenwell, Sara Elizabeth (Edwards), b. 1853, d. 1932, wooden marker

Gullion, William Y., b. 2-25-1830, d. 4-28-1902, Until the Day Breaks
& the Shadows Flee Away

Hansen, Marvin, b. 1907, d. 1952, (ashes of)

Hansen, Nels P., b. 1864, d. 1949, Father

Hansen, Sadie L., b. 4-1-1894, d. 12-14-1899, d/o N.P & S.

Hansen, Sissel, b. 1864, d. 1939, w/o Nels P.

Henderson, Leroy O., b. 10-19-1920, d. 10-25-1920

Hicklin, Emeline (McAllister), b. 1862, d. 1940, w/o John Hal

Hicklin, John Hal, b. 1863, d. 1932, h/o Emaline

Holden, Frances Meyers, b. 1869, d. 1943

Holden, Freling-Huysen, b. 1844, d. 1927

Holt, Joseph, b. 8-12-1881, Haverfordwest, So. Wales, d. 6-19-1946,
Absent >From the Body, Present With the Lord II Cor. 5:8

Holt, MaryAnn, b. 12-31-1881, Aberdeen Scot, d. 1-24-1965, Our Mother,
Her Voice of Him Did Speake, Now He Giveth My Beloved Sleep. Psalm 127

Hunt, Elmer M., b. 3-19-1881, d. 3-23-1890, Our First Born Darling

Johns, Beatrice B., b. 1896, d. 1992, w/o Orville R., O.O.F.A Lincoln
Court #24

Johns, Nathanial Hamilin, b. 1898, d. 1912, wooden marker

Johns, Orville R., b. 1901, d. 1983, h/o Beatrice B., US Army WWII ID
803

Johnston, H.G., Lieut., no dates, Co. B 32nd Oh Inf.

Johnston, Ida, d. 1889, w/o H.G.

Johnston, N.H., b. 11-1-1833, d. 1-31-1898, Our Father At Rest

Johnston, Warren B., b. 7-18-1859, d. 5-3-1933

Keats, no name, no dates, Co. H 8th Ia Inf.

Keetes, Harriet, b. 5-22-1825, Eng, d. 13-4-1895, w/o John, The Lord
Taketh Pleasure in His People He Will Beautify The Meek With a Salvation

Keetes, John, b. 21-1-1825, Eng, d. 3-4-1892, h/o Harriet, Co. I, 32nd
Ia, Co. B Ia Inf., Oh How We Miss Thee At Home

Kimball, Kate (Sanders), b. 12-26-1858, d. 4-17-1944

Kirkland, Floyd, b. 6-6-1886, d. 4-11-1891, s/o A.P. & L.J.

Lindell, Joseph, b. 8-31-1882, d. 10-4-1900, Rest In Peace

Lindell, Nilla, b. 4-28-1842, Altus, Swe., d. 6-4-1909, She Was A Kind
And Affectionate Wife & A Friend AS Well

Marker, Jessie L., b. 5-18-1903, d. 2-10-1904

Marker, William D., b. 9-7-1905, d. 9-7-1905

Mason, Eleanor (Schrette), b. 1886, d. 1915, wooden marker

McAllister, H. B., b. 1851, d. 1932

McAllister, John W., b. 1876, d. 1935, Father

McAllister, Sophia A., b. 1857, d. 1918

McCarther, Scott, b. 1867, d. 1915

McLeod, Hugh, b. b. Scot, d. 7-3-1891, 60y, 48y res., Pierce Co, Wa.

McMurphy, Anna (Niesen), b. 4-15-1875, d. 7-6-1901, w/o J.H.

Melville, Robert, b. 8-12-1842, d. 1-5-1867

Meyers, Fredrick, b. 1825, d. 1911

Meyers, George A., b. 1872, d. 1945, Father

Meyers, Rosa, b. 1873, d. 1955, Mother, Our Beloved

Middleton, Garm, b. 9-4-1900, d. 10-17-1900, s/o R.P. & L.M.

Miller, H. D. P., d. 1934

Miller, Janet (Benston), b. 3-12-1856, d. 8-25-1936

Miller, John H., b. 3-29-1856, d. 6-23-1913, At Rest

Miller, N. G. Blicher, b. b. 8-19-1843, Denm, d. 4-7-1919, Father

Miller, Nicoline, b. b. 6-11-1846, Denm., d. 11-27-1900

Miner, Maggie R., b. 1882, d. 1947

Miner, Milo J., b. 1858, d. 1937

Morgan, Anna Frost, b. 1871, d. 1963

Murray, Hester A., b. 7-1-1837, d. 12-5-1915, Mother

Murray, Isaiah G., b. 8-9-1835, d. 2-7-1911

Murray, Minnie Irene, b. 4-1-1875, d. 2-12-1911, Daughter

Niesen, Bertha (Young), b. 12-13-1887, d. 11-15-1950, Rest Mother Rest
in Quiet Sleep While Friends in Sorrow Oer Thee Weep

Niesen, Bertha, b. 1-7-1842, d. 9-30-1901, w/o William, Mother

Niesen, Minnie French, b. 3-19-1883, d. 11-10-1941

Niesen, William, b. 9-20-1843, d. 7-4-1900, Rest Father Rest in Quiet
Sleep While Friends in Sorrow Oer Thee Weep

Richmond, J. Carrie, b. 9-18-1880, d. 5-14-1922, Mother

Roland, Owen, Dr., d. 9-13-1884, 60y

Ross, Betty, b. 1928, d. 1933, Daughter

Ross, Raymond, b. 1891, d. 1949, Father

Schenk, Viola (Bottiger), b. 2-2-1916, d. 10-5-1936

Schnitz F. Adolf, b. 1882, d. 1971, Son

Schnitz, A. Christina, b. 1884, d. 1920, Mother

Schnitz, Ama, no dates

Sears, Asa, d. 7-22-1892, 60y

Sexton, Henry W., b. 1895, d. 1901, s/o Wm. J. & Catherine

Shaw, James Madison Windolin, b. 1844, d. 1906, Co. D 9th ME Inf.

Shaw, Rosemary Winnifred, d. 4-13-1896, 4m

Simonsen, Goren, 7-13-1825, d. 3-27-1898

Smith, Annie J., b. 9-8-1880, d. 21y, w/o J.K.

Smith, Baby, no dates, child of J.K. & Annie J.

Swaker, S. D., no dates

Todd, Almira Jane, b. Mar 16, 1856 Marion Co. Oregon, d. Jan 24, 1883
Steilacoom W.T., of inflamation of stomach and liver, Our little boys sleep
near

Washburn, Mary Jane, b. 1-20-1825, d. 2-20-1887, w/o P.S.

Watson, Bertha, b. 1873, d. 1893

Wienand, Caroline Opstad, b. 1869, d. 1950

Wienand, Ellen M., b. 1903, d. 1970, sis/o Ruth (Dalgish)

Wienand, Mark, b. 1896, d. 1966

Wilcox, Perlia Jean Saunder, b. 1847, d. 1916

Williams, David A, b. 10-13-1877, d. 4-16-1888, s/o D.& J.

Williams, Emmie M., b. 5-11-1886, d. 5-4-1888, d/o D.& J.

Wood, Robert, d. 8-10-1896

Wright, Anni, b. 6-24-1795, d. 2-14-1882

Wright, Israel H., b. 2-16-1815, d. 5-10-1887, The Pioneer At Rest

Wright, Thomas, b. 8-26-1795, d. 6-18-1868

Wright, Will, no dates, wooden marker

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One hesitates to shout this too loudly, in fear of evoking a curse,** but 2010 was a better year than the year before for public safety in Lakewood, Washington. Of course, any crime is bad, particularly if you suffered one. I'm sorry if you did. This post is about numbers and trends.

Read through the slides below, but here's what jumped up at me:

* Violent crime was down 11 percent from 2009 to 2010. When you consider what our police department went through in November 2009, this is truly remarkable and inspiring.

* Property crime was down nearly 15 percent.

* Domestic violence reporters were down 7 percent, which is tribute to a lot of people in nonprofit agencies, at JBLM, here in the city, and throughout the community, as well as of course the police.

* Various kinds of fraud were up 35 percent or more.

I'm glad the city produces these numbers. It would be nice to turn them into action as the council conducts public policy. Sadly, our city council, unlike most governing bodies of our size around the state, does not have a public safety committee of council members. We don't usually talk about these numbers. So the data sort of ends here. However, it's good to know this stuff and if you do talk to people around town about public safety, it's good to have numbers to back up the conversation.

** You think I'm kidding about the curse. The fact that Lakewood had no reported murders in 2010, which is wonderful, was page one news; and then we immediately had a homicide. That's why you didn't read me making any reference to homicides above ...
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Darn it, just don't have time to write a summary of a report that got handed out last night, but if you care at all about Fort Steilacoom Park, I strongly recommend you get a copy. This is what I wrote some of our advisory board members a few minutes ago:

I strongly recommend picking up or downloading a copy of the report as soon as you can. This report won't just knock your socks off, it will blast your socks through at least three walls. There's a lot of big picture thinking, and challenges to think of extraordinary opportunity and potential. It's really nice to see history and heritage, parks and recreation, economic development, and all the equally important factors blended together in both fact-finding and vision.

It's not a blueprint, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a powerful call to be creative. What a wonderful thing in these economically depressed times.

This report offers a good starting point for a grand vision of the park. What resonated most with me so far is that the report looks at all the aspects of the park as important: as obviously a place for parks and recreation, but also as a driver for our local economy and as a unique resource in all Washington for history and heritage.

Of course, I've also been saying for years that we should have a mini-farm at the park for the benefit of schoolchildren. The park was a farm back in the Hudson's Bay Company days and then of course later for Western State Hospital. That's the other reason I like the report ;) You'll see what I mean. Let me know what you think.

Enough breathless talk, here's the link to the city report and where you can download the actual document.
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I'd been planning to post a resolution I wrote to honor Marcus Walker, and here The News Tribune writer Christian Hill did a very nice blog post I'll paste here in a minute. Lakewood Patch also had an article, and I'm indebted to my former Lakewood Journal colleague Steve Dunkelberger for the picture at right, swiped from his Facebook page.

Of course, there are a number of people in Lakewood who've faced a serious illness. In a sense, I think of all them as I consider the proclamation. What I admire about Marcus is how gracefully he's borne not only the illness, but also public awareness of his illness. We have plenty of heroes in the Lakewood arts, heritage and cultural communities, but only a few superheroes. Marcus' single-minded dedication to the Playhouse for longer than anyone else is worth note.

Above he's pictured with the council and his wife, Lauren Walker, recently elected deputy mayor of Tacoma. This is a busy family.

Added at 4 p.m.: After posting this, I heard from Kurt Sample of Lakewood's Promise that he had posted a link to a video of the event. You can see a couple of clips from the council meeting at the page. The video reminds me why I decided to not go into theater! But you can hear the proclamation and especially hear from Marcus himself. Check it out. The page itself is pretty nice, with feeds in the side columns from several local news sources.

Anyways, here's that post from The News Trib:

Lakewood honors theater director
Posted By Christian Hill on January 5, 2011 at 3:08 pm

The Lakewood City Council on Monday honored Marcus Walker, managing artistic director of the Lakewood Playhouse, for his outstanding public service to the community.

Councilman Walter Neary, who read the proclamation and presented Walker, 53, a copy afterward, began his recitation by apologizing for its length.

“You deserve each and every word,” he said.

Walker said many grapple with life’s trials and personal struggles and the purpose of the theater’s production is to “uplift, redeem and send people off with a new sense of hope that life is worth living.”

He received a standing ovation from the City Council and members of the audience.

Walker has run the community theater for a decade and is currently on medical leave during treatment for aggressive melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. He has had a long career in theater, works as an American Baptist minister and has served as a longtime member of the city Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.

The proclamation described Walker as “one of the most powerful individual influences in the intellectual development of Lakewood through the arts."

A copy of full text of the proclamation reads:

WHEREAS, 72 years ago, volunteers formed what is now known as the Lakewood Playhouse, holding their first meetings at the Little Church on the Prairie and their first performances in the Lakewood Theater, beginning more than seven decades in which the Playhouse has helped to not only entertain and inspire people from throughout the region, but also give Lakewood a unique identity and build community; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, the Playhouse board hired a former education director for the Tacoma Little Theater, Marcus Walker, who holds a bachelor’s degree in drama from the University of Washington and a Master’s Certificate from Mountview Academy of Theater Arts in London, as the playhouse’s fourth paid staff director; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker already had a long career in theater, but has also served his community as a minister, as he holds a Master’s in Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in Boston and was ordained an American Baptist Minister at Fremont Baptist Church in 1985, and is currently a minister at Burton Community Church on Vashon Island; and

WHEREAS, for the 10 seasons he has presided over the Lakewood Playhouse, the longest tenure of anyone in his role, Marcus Walker has helped the playhouse with unprecedented critical and financial growth, increasing the budget by tenfold and bringing in about 14,000 audience members to shows last year: and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker’s personal commitment to the importance of theater in the life of youth as a force for good as led to the Playhouse’s Youth Theatre Education program serving more than 250 young people a year regardless of their ability to pay tuition; and

WHEREAS, in summary the Lakewood Playhouse is the cultural heart of a diverse community, enriching our community through the stories it tells; its intimate venue provides an unusual theatrical experience and its productions receive strong positive reviews, while at the same time bringing theater in a community outside of the many resources found in larger cities, requiring strong skills in artistic and financial management; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker has brought wisdom to his role as a member of the City of Lakewood Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, where his service is valued because Marcus Walker has been one of the most powerful individual influences in the intellectual development of Lakewood through the arts; and

WHEREAS, besides directing countless productions, Marcus Walker has performed himself in as varied a set of roles as Dr. Seuss’s Horton, Petruchio, Lord Cromwell, Dr. Watson and Scrooge, and one of the more challenging roles in current theater, Thurston Wheelis in the Greater Tuna series, in which Marcus Walker in one play must assume 11 roles, both male and female; and

WHEREAS, when confronted with serious illness, Marcus Walker has taken on perhaps his most significant role: becoming a role model for anyone in a similar situation, bearing his latest challenge with grace and extraordinary humor, agreeing to be the subject of a roast at which several hundred people enjoyed his company and also raised money for the Playhouse. If All the World’s a Stage, and thus all Lakewood a stage, among its most magnificent performers today is Marcus Walker; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker everyday is writing a script for anyone else looking illness in the eye in a dramatic, public way, showing more courage, creativity and class than should be possible; and inspiring our Council to honor him today even though it expects him to be directing and performing in plays at the Lakewood Playhouse for many years to come.


NOW, THEREFORE, the Lakewood City Council do hereby express its sincere appreciation to MARCUS WALKER for dedication and outstanding public service to the City of Lakewood, the community and its residents, and on behalf of the residents of the City does hereby express its heartfelt wishes and gratitude for all of the time and effort Marcus Walker has given to the betterment of the community and the City of Lakewood.
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If you weren't around for construction of the DuPont and Intel highway interchange, my story might be unfamiliar, but it was a big deal at the time. Here's an old story on how the interchange fit into efforts to attract jobs to our area.

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The Lakewood Police Department has settled on a design for the permanent memorial to the fallen four, and construction has begun. It has room if there are more names to come. I sure hope there are not more names to come; we've had more than our share.



You should be able to click on the picture to see a larger version. The memorial is pretty self-explanatory, but if you can't read the bit at the left, it's a quote from Mayor Doug Richardson at the memorial service:

“There is no higher calling than to do one’s duty, and they served well.”

The project will be completed with the generous donation of time, money, and supplies by ART Rasmussen Architecture, Porter Brothers Construction, and Quiring Monuments. Both the architect and builder were involved in building the police station, and it was kind they stepped forward to donate to create this very, very sad addition.

The monument will be unveiled Nov. 29, the anniversary. Details to come.

I don't know about you; I sure don't know if I feel ready to revisit those memories. I will be by then. And I know you will too. We owe it to the four, their families, the other officers and the rest of the family of Lakewood.
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In the ideal world, a blog tells you about something you will see in your future. That's what this post is about. There's another news source coming. The only reason I happen to know much about the subject of the latest in local news sources is I helped organize a Social Media Club Tacoma panel last month about local news. So here's your fyi so you can know something before a lot of your neighbors.

I'm often asked about the subject of local news since I was the editor of the Lakewood Journal back when the city incorporated in the 90s. I was also the founding editor of the University Place Journal in 1995 or 1996 (the years blur the farther you get from them) Neither paper is around any more. It's often been a struggle to share local news here in the shadow of Tacoma and the even bigger shadow of Seattle. One of the reasons I started the predecessor to this blog many years ago, was because there wasn't even a reliable place to share events on the Internet. You may remember I was typing in events, etc...

That's when we all rejoiced about The Suburban Times. It's a cross between an electronic newspaper and an electronic bulletin board. You can't possibly understand what's going on in Lakewood, UP, Steilacoom, DuPont, etc.. without reading The Suburban Times. Can't happen. Yes, we have a daily newspaper, but The News Tribune is expressly designed for the region, not the specifics of day-to-day living in any one town.

The Suburban Times has that quirky, personal touch that a human being, not a news corporation, can provide. Take a look at their legislative coverage - candidates forced to hold up signs saying whether their stand is yes or no.

The Suburban Times is of course not alone in its methods when it comes to providing local news. The Times use of the Internet is one example of an enormous online news movement. There are a lot of local news blogs of different shapes and sizes. A couple of the more famous examples in Washington are the West Seattle Blog and exit133 in Tacoma. Others are also offering local news in various ways, such as the interesting KOMO experiment with local news blogs.

So ... enters a media giant. America Online. Yes, I'm serious. America Online. And its first site in Washington is, in all places, University Place.

Now you may have stopped reading at reference to AOL, because you remember all those dang CDs they kept sending around, but here's the deal. Experienced journalists are signing up for these jobs around the country. This is a serious, well-funded effort. AOL is committing a lot of money to this. Of course, money does not equal success. How it all turns out will depend on where readers and advertisers go.

If you are interested in the ebbs and flows of local news, I highly recommend you read this article about America Online's news efforts here via TechFlash. The TechFlash article is worth reading because you and I are are the ground zero of AOL's efforts in Washington. The first Patch in Washington is the University Place Patch, which is edited by Brent Champaco, a former reporter at The News Tribune. He'll be doing stuff like covering City Council meetings in UP.

Soon, one of the first Washington Patches will debut in Lakewood. The editor is journalist Marques Hunter, who most recently worked for the Gig Harbor newspaper. It will be fascinating to see how the Lakewood Patch intersects for us as a news provider with The News Tribune, The Suburban Times, and other publications. More news is better. And anyone who guesses how you'll get your local news in, say, five years or even two years is surely only guessing.
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So far, as promised, the Lakewood council has had one work session on the proposed city budget. Here are highlights about the budget proposal. Remember the draft comes from the staff and manager. So the draft budget is subject to change and almost certainly will change.

For one thing, if you own a house in Lakewood, your taxes would go up under the draft. Should the city of Lakewood charge homeowners $1.75 a month (on average) for sewers via a sewer tax? That would raise $300,000-$350,000 a year but be yet another tax in a down economy. I seriously don't see the seven of us doing that ESPECIALLY in this economy.

But who knows? Three new council members took office in January, and unless you polled everyone I don't know how you would predict whether this council is willing to raise taxes or not.

You can find a plethora of other highlights in the materials provided to council, some of which I scanned in and placed at this site below. (Tip - Click on 'Go to SlideShare and then click on the little Full-Screen icon on the lower right of the frame in order to actually be able to read the document)



After I scanned this in I saw the last several pages are already on the city website, so that's a clearer option for the PowerPoint slides.

There are no layoffs contemplated in the budget - that's different than what you've seen in many other cities - but Lakewood has apparently had its pain for now though then you'll recall this is budgeted with a tax increase. The city shed 19 positions over the last couple years. How we maintain our services - and yet don't raise taxes - will clearly be a focus of discussions. I've known a lot of people who've been out of work for far longer than I would have expected. We can't raise taxes, and we all need to adjust our expectations for what any sort of budget - be it a home budget, a business budget and certainly a government budget - can do.

It's not a very eventful budget. I had the chuckle because if you read the slides called 'Budget Highlights' you'll see that the very first screen has the budget highlights for this year, 2010. This budget is so quiet we had to import accomplishments from the previous year! There are also some highlights of course that apply to 2011 and 2012. There is a position added to work on economic development: we need to bring more jobs to Lakewood to help invest our way out of the slumping economy, and make better use of the land along I-5.

At Wednesday's hearing, Councilman Mike Brandstetter made a good point about the council getting more involved in figuring what businesses we want to attract, and how to attract them. A huge thrust of the city economic development plan right now is to bring hotels, and that's great as far as it goes. Hotels raise land values and make the area more attractive, bring visitor tax dollars in, etc..

But Mike works at Bates Technical College, and he made the point that a lot of people who work in the hospitality industry are taking classes so they can get jobs that pay more than jobs in the hospitality industry. What's Lakewood doing to attract higher-paying jobs such as, say, contractors who serve Joint Base Lewis-McChord. We began a good dialogue on this subject Wednesday night.

Anyway, that's about economic development. I refer you to the slides for more detail about the budget. Basically, what I called this draft budget at the first budget meeting, Monday, was a "duck, cover, hold" budget: we're trying to protect what's going on good now within the city. There's no money for the kind of simple stuff we might have imagined five or even three years ago. I remember when we got all excited about how many police officers to assign to neighborhoods; now we're excited to still have our current staffing level of police officers.

If you like a lot of interest and have passion about roads, parks, and/or planning issues, click here for links to more information specifically about what was presented regarding planning, economic development, parks and public works.

The budget hearings continue for the next couple of Monday and Wednesday nights. The police budget is up for discussion Monday. I'll keep you posted. We're about a month away from intense deliberations and final decisions.
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I was trying to decide what to pen about the letter that Camp Murray blasted out to the world, when in steps Deputy Mayor Don Anderson with a letter that pretty much says it all. Anything I added would just be more provocative :) Here's Don's letter if you've not already seen it. If you are not familiar with the issue, you'd want to get up to speed either at The News Tribune site and the Suburban Times site above.

Here's Don's letter. I italicized the one paragraph I hope you read if you don't have time for the whole letter:

Dear MG Lowenberg:

I am writing in response to your letter to the City Manager and Lakewood City Council of September 28, 2010. I can only speak as one member of the Lakewood City Council and not for Lakewood City Government as a whole, but I would be happy to meet with you at any time to discuss Camp Murray’s continuing traffic congestion issues.

However, I must say that I am disturbed by both the content and tone of your letter of September 28, 2010. It makes no reference to the well-recognized cause of Camp Murray’s traffic problems or to the logical solution to those problems. It also fails to recognize the City of Lakewood’s good faith attempt to work toward short-term mitigation of the issues or to the City’s very workable alternative proposal to allow for the construction of a new gate for Camp Murray. This was in spite of the fact that Camp Murray’s Environmental Assessment of the project was untimely and grossly deficient.

As you are well aware, recent traffic studies conducted as a result of the City of Lakewood’s procurement of a grant from the Defense Department’s Office of Economic Adjustment confirmed what has been patently obvious to all who travel I-5 in the area of Camp Murray. The Tillicum interchanges have failed. The reduction of lanes on I-5 between Tillicum and Nisqually needs to be corrected by the construction of additional lanes. Those are the root causes of your and our traffic problems.

To paraphrase the late Senator Daniel Moynihan, any solution short of additional lanes and new interchanges would merely be putting lipstick on a pig.

The responsibility for this infrastructure failure rests squarely on the shoulders of your boss, the Governor, and your fellow state agency, the Washington State Department of Transportation. While the WADOT focuses on “trip reduction,” “non-motorized transportation,” trains and King County infrastructure, the badly needed and long-ignored improvements to I-5 between Lakewood and Nisqually have not been prioritized or slated for funding.

Joint Base Lewis McChord is the largest employer and the leading economic driver in the South Puget Sound Region. Transportation infrastructure for this lynchpin of the State’s economy should be the top priority of the Department of Transportation. Sadly, it is not even close.

You asked what the City of Lakewood is going to do to correct your problems. The solution lies in your chain of command, not ours. We can continue to work to obtain funding for the implementation of a permanent solution to the I-5 corridor traffic problems which plague Lakewood, its Tillicum neighborhood and Camp Murray. These will never be solved by relocation of a gate or rerouting traffic to failed I-5 interchanges.

We hope to have you as a partner in this endeavor. I believe that as the head of a state agency, you are in a unique position to influence both the Governor and the Department of Transportation to recognize, prioritize and fund the needed I-5 infrastructure improvements.

Very truly yours,



Donald L. Anderson, Deputy Mayor
City of Lakewood
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To heck with the return of Hawaii Five-O. We have the Lakewood budget to talk about!

My loyal readers, both of you, will recall I make a big deal about the annual budget process because this is where the city government makes some of its most important decisions. How we as public policymakers spend money says a lot about priorities and strategies to provide the essential services we all expect and need. The decision of what we spend money on is crucial to whatever the city can do to make Lakewood a better place to live and work.

It's no surprise this is a lean budget year, what with the economy in such bad shape. So one does not expect to hear about new programs; one expects to hear about how to preserve what we've got and maybe do things more efficiently and differently.

That said, one cannot leave vision behind. Example: The Lakewood Landmarks board got a preliminary briefing about the Lakewood Colonial Center last night. The good news is that the architectural firm found fewer problems than we expected with the building. But it's still going to be a pricey venture to preserve that building, whoever preserves it. You could argue that's not a problem for the city, but the preliminary discussions raise a challenge and call us to dream: Should the Colonial Center be at the core of a stronger downtown-like neighborhood, and if so, how? What role should the city play in the surroundings of that neighborhood?

In the context of having dreams like this, the 2010 budget process should be a challenge. I encourage people to come by for budget hearings, because you learn a lot of things that no one could fit in one newspaper story or blog post. With that in mind, here's the calendar for this year's budget:

Sept. 27 (Monday): Revenue Workshop. That's a nice way of saying the staff and city advisory groups will present ways we could raise taxes. I'd be stunned, with how almost everyone out there is suffering in this economy, if that happened. But to be thorough, it's a discussion we should at least have. I don't think the voters elected a council that wants to raise taxes, but I've been wrong. Well I was wrong once, think it was 2007. Will have to check my notes :)

Oct. 6 (Wednesday - note there are some special Wednesday workshops) The council will discuss the budgets for planning, economic development, public works, parks and recreation, human services funding and facilities.

By the way, if you think that's too much for one night, you're right. I really wish we were like most cities and had council committees that explored these sorts of important city subjects in more detail. But 'course you've heard me say this before.

Oct. 11: This workshop will be about police and public safety, neighborhood policing and code enforcement, the courts and our legal department.

Oct. 13: This will be a joint session with the council and the chairmen and chairwomen - and any other members who attend - of the city's various citizen advisory committees such as for public safety, parks, roads, etc... For the 'average citizen,' whatever that might mean, this would be a good place to get an overview about the budget, as it will be presented to the advisory groups to get the discussion flowing.

Oct. 25: Another budget workshop.

Nov. 1: Public hearing about the budget.

Nov. 8: Another budget workshop.

And here it gets tricky in terms of calendaring. The 'new' council has been pretty agreeable, and it's possible the budget will get approved on Nov. 15. Or if we run into snags or outright disagreement, that could happen another night. There is a legal requirement the budget for 2011 be approved in 2010.

As with all of these, it's prudent to keep your eye on the city website or other usual sources for when meetings take place and where.

Hope to see you there - and if you can't make it, you'll hopefully hear more about the budget process as it moves along.
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It's always good to question assumptions. Here's one: does anyone feel like my blog, as presently formed, is of any use? Years ago before the Suburban Times was there to share information, there was no doubt in my mind this blog had a purpose. I wonder now. I'm curious what people who don't normally reply to my blog might think - if anyone is still reading it. Let me know. I'm thinking of getting involved in another project instead. But let me know what you think. Comment, or email me at wneary@cityoflakewood.us
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Those of you who follow @wtneary on Twitter or are Facebook friends have been keeping track of how I re-enacted President Wilson's appearance at the Stadium Bowl in September 1919. This was today in honor of the bowl's 100th anniversary. I thought I'd share the speech I read on President Wilson's behalf.

My friends and fellow citizens, it is very delightful to find myself in this beautiful spot and very thrilling to find myself surrounded by so great a company of my fellow citizens.

I cannot in these circumstances make you a speech, but I can say something from my heart.

I can say that I am profoundly glad to see you and profoundly touched by a welcome like this.

I want to express my particular interest in this charming circle of school children – I am told there are 12,000 of you - because one of the thoughts that has been most in my mind recently is that we are making decisions now which will mean more to the children than they mean to us and that as we care for the future generations we will be careful to make the right decisions as to the policy of the United States as one of the factors in the peace of the world.

I feel, as I am sure you feel, that we have reached one of the most critical periods in the history of the United States. The shadow of the war is not yet lifted from us, my fellow countrymen, and we have just -come out of the depths of the valley of death.

I offer you a substitute for war, the substitute for turmoil, the substitute for sorrow and despair. That substitute is offered in the covenant of the league of nations. America alone can not underwrite civilization. All the great free peoples of the world must underwrite it, and only the free peoples of the world can join the league of nations.

We must have peaceful means; we must have discussion — we must have frank discussion, we must have friendly discussion — and those are the very things that are offered to us among the nations of the world by the covenant of the league of nations.

My fellow citizens, do not forget the aching hearts that are behind discussions like this. Do not forget the forlorn homes from which your boys went and to which they never came back

I have it in my heart that if we do not do this great thing now, every woman ought to weep because of the child in her arms. If she has a boy at her breast, she may be sure that when he comes to manhood this terrible task will have to be done once more.

Everywhere we go, the train when it stops is surrounded with little children, and I look at them almost with tears in my eyes, because I feel my mission is to save them. These glad youngsters with flags in their hands—I pray God that they may never have to carry that flag upon the battle field!

I will make further remarks later at a smaller place in a few minutes. Here, I give you my most cordial greeting and my most profound thanks for this generous welcome.


I'm no expert on the Wilson years, but I found his speech rather poignant. Here was a guy who hoped through the League of Nations that he had out-thought war. Throughout his tour of the West, including his stop in Tacoma, he was very ill. He had to be worrying that his body was going to give out on him, which it did when he had a stroke a month later.

I should for the record note that of the speech above, the first four sentences and the last sentence were from his remarks at the Stadium. All he did at Stadium, in the absence of today's sound systems, was acknowledge the reported 40,000 people who were there. The rest of the speech came from his main speech in town, at the Tacoma Armory, which sent on for 45 minutes to an audience of about 4,000. My goal with the Stadium audience today was to include enough of his Armory talk to explain why he was here - to support the League of Nations.
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Here's in interesting question to contemplate. Where do we put the sign that is seen at right at the Kuwait-Iraq border?

You can see the sign at the beginning of the video here hosted by The News Tribune. The sign carries the name 'Lakewood' and was posted at the Kuwait border to indicate to the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division that they were crossing from Iraq to Kuwait labeled as 'Lakewood' - to home. After all was said and done, the sign was taken down and preserved. At a function last night, I heard that the command team wants to donate the sign to Lakewood.

Assuming the sign arrives back in the U.S. safe and sound, and is donated to the city - where should it be displayed? City Hall? If so, where? Or somewhere else?
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