One of the things I’m going to have to do as a candidate for
the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (SLNC) is to speak at several candidate
forums. To do that effectively I need to
know what concerns and issues that I am likely to be asked to give an opinion
upon. Listening to public comments at
the meetings I’ve attended gave me some idea as to what those might be. Living in the neighborhood made me aware of
others. I made a list of them and then
started gathering information on those I didn’t know very much about. The issues as I perceived them are as follows:
Crime
Prevention
Disaster
Preparedness
Open Space
Community
Gardens
Reservoir
Plans and Usage
Parking
Commercial
Development
Small Lot
Development
Air B’n’Bs
Gang
Activity
The SLNC
Budget
Pedestrian
and Bicycle Safety
Infrastructure
– streets and sidewalks
Water use
Homelessness
Noise and
activity from the local bars
There are
certainly other issues and concerns, but my list seems to cover those which the Neighborhood Council could do something about. Because of the large number of candidates,
fifty nine at last count, the time each person will be able to speak on any
given issue at the upcoming forums will be severely limited, so I need to get
my thoughts on each of the issues distilled down to the essentials so that I
can address them clearly and concisely.
To do that I looked at each one, decided what I considered were the important
factors and then made notes addressing those factors. More on the details of my thoughts in the next post or two.
There was a
special meeting of the Governing Board posted on the SLNC website. There were items on the agenda that I think
fall outside the scope of what the Neighborhood Council should be addressing. There was a motion in support of the veto of
a Senate Bill in Arizona, and a motion in support of some sort of climate change
march and rally. It is this sort of
activity that incited me to want to get involved with the Neighborhood Council.
If the SLNC
is going to make motions in support of things, those things should have
something to do with the neighborhood. I
instantly thought of several people in the area who should have motions made
supporting the work they are doing, work that betters the community in a
tangible way, like cleaning up litter, working with local business and the city
to mitigate parking issues, heading up a neighborhood watch, making a
neighborhood safer for children, working with LAPD and the city on public
safety issues, and bringing C.E.R.T. training to the area. We need to acknowledge and support the people
who are doing things to help their neighborhood and make it a better place in
which to live, and leave the out-of-state and global issues for someone else to
deal with. If you’re going to make a
feel good gesture, make one that benefits someone who is working for the
community and sets them apart as an example of what we all should be doing. If I am elected, I hope I will be able help the council do more than just make empty gestures.
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