[Electronic-lan] Fwd: Please improve transparency and community involvement in decisionmaking in the City of Lawrence

[Melinda]

Re: discontinuing city utility drop boxes at grocery stores:

The item was on the CM agenda for November 21st. 
https://assets.lawrenceks.org/assets/agendas/cc/2017/11-21-17/cmreport.html 
(3rd item)

The staff report indicated the commission should take the following action:

Action: Authorize staff to cease accepting Utility Bill payments made 
through the grocery store drop boxes effective December 29, 2017.

For CC to do that, many of us believe it would require a formal vote 
("authorize" staff...")

We also believe that any item requiring a formal vote from CC should be 
on the regular CC agenda and be open to public comment. Currently, it's 
impossible to comment on an item on the CM report (whether or not an 
item requires action by the CC).

I sent an email requesting the item be removed from CM Report. My email 
missed the deadline to be included in the agenda packet material, but 
was printed out for commissioners and staff. (My email was added to the 
item on Monday, November 25th. 
https://assets.lawrenceks.org/assets/agendas/cc/2017/11-21-17/drop-box-correspondence.pdf

Commissioner Larsen asked for the item to be pulled and moved to another 
CC meeting. It's now scheduled for the December 19th CC meeting.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks.

...Melin

On 12/6/2017 8:20 AM, Eric Kirkendall via Electronic-lan wrote:
> FYI, Eric
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: *Eric Kirkendall* <kirkendall1 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:kirkendall1 at gmail.com>>
> Date: Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 3:42 PM
> Subject: Please improve transparency and community involvement in 
> decisionmaking in the City of Lawrence
> To: Leslie Soden <lesticia at yahoo.com <mailto:lesticia at yahoo.com>>, 
> Lisa Larsen <llarsen at lawrenceks.org <mailto:llarsen at lawrenceks.org>>, 
> Matthew Herbert <matthewjherbert at gmail.com 
> <mailto:matthewjherbert at gmail.com>>, Stuart Boley 
> <sboley at lawrenceks.org <mailto:sboley at lawrenceks.org>>, Mike Amyx 
> <mikeamyx515 at hotmail.com <mailto:mikeamyx515 at hotmail.com>>
> Cc: Diane Stoddard <dstoddard at lawrenceks.org 
> <mailto:dstoddard at lawrenceks.org>>, Tom Markus <tmarkus at lawrenceks.org 
> <mailto:tmarkus at lawrenceks.org>>
>
>
> Dear City Commissioners,
>
>
> I appreciate the hard work all of you put into your job, and know that 
> you and city staff are trying to improve city government.
>
>
> However, in recent months, several city actions of great interest to 
> residents have been made without transparency and community 
> involvement.  This practice sows distrust, leads to poor decisions, is 
> a bad governance practice, and should stop immediately.
>
>
> Please take action to resolve this problem.  Examples and 
> recommendations follow.
>
>
> Examples
>
>
> In the last few months, at least three issues have been the subject of 
> consternation and email discussions among different groups of 
> residents concerning the lack of transparency and community involvement:
>
>
> 1.
>
>     Bicycle priorities
>
> 2.
>
>     Nitrate water discharge into the Kansas River from the former
>     Farmland site
>
> 3.
>
>     Defunding of utility payment drop boxes
>
>
> In each case, planned city actions were contained in the city 
> manager’s report at the end of the meeting - sometimes with 
> insufficient information.  In case #1, which took place this summer, a 
> resident waited until the end of the meeting to comment and then was 
> refused the opportunity by the city commission.
>
>
> In case #2, residents were never informed by the city of plans to dump 
> polluted water into the Kansas River, but learned of the plans very 
> late through a newspaper article, and of details through Johnson 
> County residents.  By the time I shared (and I think surprised) the 
> city commission with news that releases of polluted water into the 
> Kansas River were imminent, they were actually underway.
>
>
> I don’t have details on #3, but can tell you that the city’s decision 
> without public input has caused considerable consternation.
>
>
> To resolve these problems, I recommend the following:
>
>
> Recommended Actions
>
>
> 1.
>
>     Move the city manager’s report to the beginning of the city
>     commission meeting, so residents can tell you their
>     recommendations after they hear about the city manager’s plans,
>     but before action is taken.
>
>
> 2.
>
>     Put a few informed citizens on the task force charged with finding
>     a long-term solution for disposal of the pollution associated with
>     the Farmland remediation.
>
>
> 3.
>
>     Ensure that decisions that will affect Lawrence residents are
>     alwaysmade with sufficient citizen involvement and transparency.
>
>
> Thank you
>
>
> Eric Kirkendall
>
> 785-550-3408 <tel:%28785%29%20550-3408>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
/"The first lesson to be learned by every citizen who desires to bring 
about a higher life in our American cities is that he must take an 
active part in managing the affairs of his own city."/

--Theodore Roosevelt, The Outlook Magazine, Dec 21, 1895
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