LAKEPORT — A special meeting held at City Hall at 3 p.m. Tuesday saw a less than expected attendance of fewer than 10 Lakeport citizens to help city staff and elected officials brainstorm about the future of the town.
The goal-setting meeting was the second of its kind for the city. A “yellow sticky note” exercise held early in October provided space for council members to brainstorm about how they envision Lakeport in five, 10 and 20 years. The intent of Tuesday”s meeting was to generate feedback from citizens about which ideas and goals were the most important.
“We had many people planning on coming to this thing,” said City Manager Jerry Gillham, who had counted on at least 30 people attending. “A smaller crowd makes things a little different.”
The goals of council members and city staff established at the previous goal setting meeting were posted into five different sections: special programs, livability, economic prosperity, effective government and infrastructure.
Citizens rotated in groups, voting on the importance of goals listed under each of the sections, and adding up to three new goals. Some of the goals under the economic prosperity led to heated discussions among citizens regarding whether or not “hotel row” (the span of hotels on North Main Street just past Natural High School) should be remodeled into something new and ritzy.
“I think the 50s era hotels are popular again. People want a place where they can come to relax in a cabin and bring their dog. Tourists don”t want spas, they have that where they”re coming from,” said Suzanne Lyons, a resident of Lakeport.
Another resident disagreed, stating it was his wish for newer, larger hotels with updated architecture.
After narrowing down the dozen or more goals to seven under each section, citizens voted on which were the most important by placing color-coded stickers next to their favorite ideas. Staffers and council members, who surpassed the number of citizens, also voted. The results will be tallied and announced at a future council meeting, Gillham said.
Some of the goals, if implemented, would require special committees and additional attention by staffers, such as the implementation of a “green” solar project for the city under the special programs section, which received many votes. Others, like paving roads under the livability section, are already underway and funded.
One goal seemed to spark particular passion among voters: amending the redevelopment agency to incorporate eminent domain. Several council members applied their allotted sticker votes to the item, while several citizens didn”t vote at all, feeling very strongly against eminent domain. Currently, the city has eminent domain, but has taken a position against using it for the redevelopment agency.
Gillham said there are many pro”s and con”s associated with eminent domain. “It”s good for any jurisdiction that needs to work in an environment where there are signs of dilapidation and uncooperative ownership. In my opinion that is the only time eminent domain should have a role in city government. Elsewhere, the tool has been abused to condemn neighborhoods and properties to benefit private profit.”
Lyons said she is firmly against eminent domain, saying it requires complete trust of one”s elected officials. “I don”t have that trust. I think there needs to be more transparency in our city government.”
Another citizen, Andrea Anderson, said she agreed. “I”m in a wheelchair so I can”t even make it to the (6 p.m.) council meetings because of dial-a-ride”s schedule. I can”t understand with today”s technology why they only have cassette tapes available of the meetings,” she said. Anderson placed many of her votes on the goal of increased transparency under the effective government section.
“I feel so strongly about it I expect I”ll be donating a web cam to them really soon, so they can put the meetings up on their Web site,” Anderson said.
Gillham said once the top goals are established, a means to attain them will follow, with city staff reporting on “who is working on them, what it”ll take to get there, and how much it”s going to cost.” He said items would be incorporated into the council”s agenda in which each goal is addressed individually during city council meetings. “As we go through the years, you”ll be able to check off the goals as they”re accomplished.”
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
