Thursday, March 25, 2010
Cleaning Up After a Mine
There was a lot of news in the 90s about various toxic sites and their cleanup in the greater Lakewood area, and you don't hear as much about toxic contamination these days. So I took note to get this bulletin in my council mailbox about a cleanup near I-5 and 512. It's a site we all notice when we drive past, so I thought you might be interested. You can find the bulletin here. At the bottom are website addresses for information.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
We Been Workin' on the Railroad ...
Today's prose belongs to Lakewood Deputy Mayor Don Anderson, who fired off a pithy but potent note to the feds about the Point Defiance Bypass which would dramatically increase rail traffic in town. I asked Don what motivated him today, and he said it was two things: the death of someone by railroad in Steilacoom, the current route of the train; and a news article in a Tacoma paper that illustrates state government's continued pursuit of the program.
Don's letter:
Office of Railroad Development
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE- Mail Stop 20
Washington, DC 20590
I am writing to relay the serious concerns of the City of Lakewood, Washington concerning the allocation of ARRA funding to the Point Defiance Bypass project. I understand that the particular project allocations have not yet been approved by FRA. A more detailed discussion of the City of Lakewood's opposition to this project as proposed can be found at the link below and in the attached resolution of the City Council.
As proposed, this project would create a new passenger rail corridor through our densely populated urban area where none currently exists. This is proposed without grade crossings on major arterials, some of which intersect with freeway off ramps which exit directly adjacent to the proposed rail route. It would also seriously impact some of the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in our city.
This project has been pursued without normal NEPA safeguards. Impacts on our community were unduly minimized or ignored, especially the environmental justice aspect of the project. A Declaration of Categorical Exclusion was issued to expedite this project, apparently in an attempt to avoid the costly mitigation a true environmental evaluation would indicate is necessary. An honest completion of the FRA's Categorical Exclusion Checklist would clearly indicate a DCE was inappropriate.
The Washington State Department of Transportation can certainly use the ARRA funds available without extending the passenger rail line in Lakewood south of the existing Sound Transit rail station. Funds should not be approved for use within the City of Lakewood until the concerns addressed in the attachment are met. Additional information on the impacts and required mitigation is available on request.
Don Anderson
Deputy Mayor, City of Lakewood
http://www.cityoflakewood.us/news-and-events/635-lakewood-objects-to-amtrak-plan.html
Good letter. This is going to be a tough one. Even if every voter in Lakewood voted against every incumbent state and federal official, it wouldn't create enough votes to change a state and federal program at this stage in the normal political game.
It's human nature in politics - well, really any sort of public stage - that if you portray someone as wrong, you can justify bypassing normal processes. There's no real evidence that anyone outside our area cares about safety, traffic or the legal process for Lakewood. It's really the same button in human nature that made lynch mobs ok: if you think the rules are being violated, it becomes more OK to violate more rules. When folks from outside our area even know about these concerns, Lakewood is portrayed as against transportation alternatives and taking a NIMBY attitude. As a result, a lot of folks outside the community think it is fine to bypass normal analysis of railroad traffic effects and safety.
Here's another way of putting it: If you portray Lakewood as being obstructionist, you make it seem almost appropriate that the state is giving Lakewood its just desserts by bypassing the normal legal safety process. The situation is both sad and unfortunate - and horribly unfair.
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Don's letter:
Office of Railroad Development
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE- Mail Stop 20
Washington, DC 20590
I am writing to relay the serious concerns of the City of Lakewood, Washington concerning the allocation of ARRA funding to the Point Defiance Bypass project. I understand that the particular project allocations have not yet been approved by FRA. A more detailed discussion of the City of Lakewood's opposition to this project as proposed can be found at the link below and in the attached resolution of the City Council.
As proposed, this project would create a new passenger rail corridor through our densely populated urban area where none currently exists. This is proposed without grade crossings on major arterials, some of which intersect with freeway off ramps which exit directly adjacent to the proposed rail route. It would also seriously impact some of the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in our city.
This project has been pursued without normal NEPA safeguards. Impacts on our community were unduly minimized or ignored, especially the environmental justice aspect of the project. A Declaration of Categorical Exclusion was issued to expedite this project, apparently in an attempt to avoid the costly mitigation a true environmental evaluation would indicate is necessary. An honest completion of the FRA's Categorical Exclusion Checklist would clearly indicate a DCE was inappropriate.
The Washington State Department of Transportation can certainly use the ARRA funds available without extending the passenger rail line in Lakewood south of the existing Sound Transit rail station. Funds should not be approved for use within the City of Lakewood until the concerns addressed in the attachment are met. Additional information on the impacts and required mitigation is available on request.
Don Anderson
Deputy Mayor, City of Lakewood
http://www.cityoflakewood.us/news-and-events/635-lakewood-objects-to-amtrak-plan.html
Good letter. This is going to be a tough one. Even if every voter in Lakewood voted against every incumbent state and federal official, it wouldn't create enough votes to change a state and federal program at this stage in the normal political game.
It's human nature in politics - well, really any sort of public stage - that if you portray someone as wrong, you can justify bypassing normal processes. There's no real evidence that anyone outside our area cares about safety, traffic or the legal process for Lakewood. It's really the same button in human nature that made lynch mobs ok: if you think the rules are being violated, it becomes more OK to violate more rules. When folks from outside our area even know about these concerns, Lakewood is portrayed as against transportation alternatives and taking a NIMBY attitude. As a result, a lot of folks outside the community think it is fine to bypass normal analysis of railroad traffic effects and safety.
Here's another way of putting it: If you portray Lakewood as being obstructionist, you make it seem almost appropriate that the state is giving Lakewood its just desserts by bypassing the normal legal safety process. The situation is both sad and unfortunate - and horribly unfair.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Bus Trip to Trouble
Tuesday evening Update: Whooops, had the wrong time in the original post. the meeting is 6 p.m. on the 23rdThe Lakewood City Council heard from Pierce Transit this past Monday, and once again, there's news to share. The news is not good. Because of a big drop in sales tax collections, which count for three-quarters of their budget, Pierce Transit is apparently looking at some huge budget cuts and huge reductions in service within the next few years.
Glancing over the information, it looks like rural areas take the most 'hits' although there's a big ugly dead spot on their map over Steilacoom too. This story out of East Pierce County has a lot of detail. If you ride the bus or want to help someone who does it would behoove you to get smart on the potential cuts and make noise. Pierce Transit has what looks like a pretty informative website at http://www.pttomorrow.org/ and then they say there will be an insert in The News Tribune tomorrow (Wednesday) with a lot of information.
They are planning several public meetings, the first of which will be in Lakewood from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 23 at the Pierce Transit Training Center 3720 96th St SW - over by South Tacoma Way.
I'd like you to tell me how you see these changes affecting you. I used to ride public transit to get to a job in Seattle, and I know how important these services are. On a very broad scale, we heard:
- Many routes that currently run every 15 to 30 minutes will go to running every 60.
- The number of routes could drop from 51 to 23.
- Service will drop from 622,000 to 265,000 hours.
I can only say I am sure glad I am not on the Pierce Transit Board. There are tough decisions ahead. I hope you feel empowered to weigh in.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Fire Merger
The Lakewood City Council heard from the Lakewood fire commissioners on Monday, and I wanted to report back to you. I learned quite a lot about the plan to combine the Lakewood and University Place fire departments. I should quickly note if you are new to town, it's important to bear in mind that Lakewood is typical of a lot of cities in that the fire department is operated independently by a separately elected body. So our council has no say in this matter, except the city government and fire department officials work closely together and cooperate and keep each other informed.
It sounds to me like a lot of things came together to make the proposal come up now:
- There's a merger trend in difficult economic times as departments look to cut overhead and share individual skills as part of a greater whole. In 1990 there were 32 fire departments in Pierce County; today there are 20.
There's already an East Pierce County Fire and Rescue, Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, and South Pierce Fire and Rescue. When you know that, it's easy to see why the combined Lakewood and University Place group would be called West Pierce Fire and Rescue.
- Several Lakewood fire department executives have, or will be, retiring. This makes it an easier time, on a human level, to combine forces and save overhead without layoffs.
- An outside study says the next logical place to put a new fire station to increase public safety would be around the area where Lakewood and University Place meet.
Lakewood voters will be asked next spring to decide whether the merger takes place. The reason Lakewood voters do this is that on a bureaucratic level, what's going on is that the Lakewood district is dissolving and merging into UP.
You'd normally think a smaller district - UP is about half the size of Lakewood - would merge into the larger one. However, the fire commissioners in both areas actually looked at it from the taxpayer perspective. Lakewood voters pay a slightly higher tax rate than people in UP. So the reason it is Lakewood dissolving is that they wanted Lakewood to move into the lower tax rate enjoyed by UP. If UP was merging into Lakewood, they would have to accept a higher tax rate, which doesn't sound like much fun.
The side benefit, if you will, is that the districts think when Lakewood people start paying the slightly lower rate of the combined district - the current UP rate - people in Lakewood will save $860,000 a year in property tax. No one ever accused me of committing math, but my rough calculation is that I'd save $35 a year on my home at current valuations. That's not enough to commission any radical change, but both fire districts think joining forces would help share resources and talents for the benefit of the community.
Being a politician, I had to ask who is going to hire the fire chief and who will be on the board of fire commissioners. The transition is clever: at the start, when the merger first takes effect, there will be the five commissioners in Lakewood and the five in UP who will make up a board of 10. Over the next three election cycles, that number will be reduced to five. Since Lakewood has the larger population, it's reasonable to assume Lakewood residents will continue to have a large say in the governance of the organization. Of course, you have to wonder who else the West Pierce Fire and Rescue will pick up in coming months, but I am told it's way early to ask such questions and this first merger is first.
It will be interesting to monitor the election next year. A lot of my friends who grew up in Lakewood served the department when it was all-volunteer. I always get a kick of hearing how classes at Clover Park were disrupted when the alarm bell went off and all the student volunteers headed out. That was back when the department operated out of a big metal building on 111th, not far from where I live, a building that's now a glass shop. The Lakewood Fire Department has always done a good job of chronicling its history, and management insists they plan to keep all their historical records so we can remember their long heritage. My guess, which I'd qualify by noting the election is one year and one month away, is that voters will appreciate Lakewood's heritage, but like the idea of cutting overhead.
If you have other questions, you are welcome to attend either of the groups' fire commission meetings, or here's the University Place FAQ that answers a lot of questions.
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It sounds to me like a lot of things came together to make the proposal come up now:
- There's a merger trend in difficult economic times as departments look to cut overhead and share individual skills as part of a greater whole. In 1990 there were 32 fire departments in Pierce County; today there are 20.
There's already an East Pierce County Fire and Rescue, Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, and South Pierce Fire and Rescue. When you know that, it's easy to see why the combined Lakewood and University Place group would be called West Pierce Fire and Rescue.
- Several Lakewood fire department executives have, or will be, retiring. This makes it an easier time, on a human level, to combine forces and save overhead without layoffs.
- An outside study says the next logical place to put a new fire station to increase public safety would be around the area where Lakewood and University Place meet.
Lakewood voters will be asked next spring to decide whether the merger takes place. The reason Lakewood voters do this is that on a bureaucratic level, what's going on is that the Lakewood district is dissolving and merging into UP.
You'd normally think a smaller district - UP is about half the size of Lakewood - would merge into the larger one. However, the fire commissioners in both areas actually looked at it from the taxpayer perspective. Lakewood voters pay a slightly higher tax rate than people in UP. So the reason it is Lakewood dissolving is that they wanted Lakewood to move into the lower tax rate enjoyed by UP. If UP was merging into Lakewood, they would have to accept a higher tax rate, which doesn't sound like much fun.
The side benefit, if you will, is that the districts think when Lakewood people start paying the slightly lower rate of the combined district - the current UP rate - people in Lakewood will save $860,000 a year in property tax. No one ever accused me of committing math, but my rough calculation is that I'd save $35 a year on my home at current valuations. That's not enough to commission any radical change, but both fire districts think joining forces would help share resources and talents for the benefit of the community.
Being a politician, I had to ask who is going to hire the fire chief and who will be on the board of fire commissioners. The transition is clever: at the start, when the merger first takes effect, there will be the five commissioners in Lakewood and the five in UP who will make up a board of 10. Over the next three election cycles, that number will be reduced to five. Since Lakewood has the larger population, it's reasonable to assume Lakewood residents will continue to have a large say in the governance of the organization. Of course, you have to wonder who else the West Pierce Fire and Rescue will pick up in coming months, but I am told it's way early to ask such questions and this first merger is first.
It will be interesting to monitor the election next year. A lot of my friends who grew up in Lakewood served the department when it was all-volunteer. I always get a kick of hearing how classes at Clover Park were disrupted when the alarm bell went off and all the student volunteers headed out. That was back when the department operated out of a big metal building on 111th, not far from where I live, a building that's now a glass shop. The Lakewood Fire Department has always done a good job of chronicling its history, and management insists they plan to keep all their historical records so we can remember their long heritage. My guess, which I'd qualify by noting the election is one year and one month away, is that voters will appreciate Lakewood's heritage, but like the idea of cutting overhead.
If you have other questions, you are welcome to attend either of the groups' fire commission meetings, or here's the University Place FAQ that answers a lot of questions.
Monday, March 08, 2010
On Fire
Lakewood's City Council meets in a joint workshop this evening with the elected governors of the Lakewood Fire District. This should be a good discussion since there is a lot of interest in plans to merge with University Place's fire department. I don't think there will be a lot of controversy; I just put the picture there on the right 'cuz a fire seemed appropriate.You won't hear much from me during breaks because we'll be meeting in the community room of the Lakewood Police Department building, where the bulletproof walls also block my access to Twitter.
The meeting is 7 p.m. tonight at the station, 9401 Lakewood Drive SW.
This reminds me, the council intermittently meets with all sorts of advisory groups to talk in-depth about particular issues. If some of the subjects covered in this list strike your fancy, please consider attending. These are often some of the most in-depth discussions we have about some topics, and it helps that specialized citizen advisory group members participate. All of these joint workshops are scheduled to be at the police stations' large community room.
March 22, 2010
Human Services Funding Advisory Board
April 12, 2010
Public Safety Advisory Committee
April 26, 2010
Planning Advisory Board
May 10, 2010
Redevelopment Advisory Board
May 24, 2010
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
June 28, 2010
Community Development Block Grant Citizens Advisory Board
July 12, 2010
Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
July 26, 2010
Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board
August 9, 2010
Lakewood Arts Commission
