March 24, 2017

“Why Do We Have to Keep Coming Down Here?” – Public Hearings in the Planning and Zoning Process

Monday night’s public hearing on proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan was well attended and the participants and Council were actively engaged.  That’s a good thing.  Not so good, however, was a rather unhealthy dynamic that revealed itself in some of the comments we heard.  As Mayor, I feel I have a responsibility to speak up and address that dynamic, in hopes of facilitating a constructive community dialog and encouraging respect for all viewpoints.  Additionally, I take this opportunity to clarify the public hearing process and why we do things the way we do.  Note that I’m purposely not addressing the merits of the Comprehensive Plan proposal itself in this blog post, as Council has not yet deliberated or voted on it.

March 6, 2017

Police Department Staffing Trending in the Right Direction

At his Winter Community Meeting last week, Chief Holloway announced that for the first time in years the Police Department is down to just one sworn officer vacancy.  (Over the past few years we’ve averaged around four.)  And the signs are encouraging that the one remaining position may soon be filled.  To be clear, even with vacancies the Department is always fully staffed for every shift, and there is never a gap in coverage or reduction in service.  But obviously filling vacancies is a good thing and helps the Department do what it does best more efficiently.

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