Paving Priorities

Published May 21, 2013 in the Foothills Sun-Gazette

     There was some interesting street language at last week's Lindsay City Council meeting.  Those who think we need our roads fixed might be interested.

     Apparently City Hall received some flack in response to the resurfacing projects they approved at the previous meeting.  "I just wish we could get the public to understand," said one department head during the discussion of next year's street repair projects.  "If we don't protect our investment, all that money spent will go to waste," he said.  "It's like changing the oil in your car.  If you don't do it, you know what happens."

     We know what happens.  That's what's happened to our neighborhood streets while they focused on glamorizing the downtown and building oversized City projects to serve the much-hoped-for middle class they wanted to attract.

     The subject came up during Tamara Laken's Budget Study Session, which she described as "an open dialogue between the department heads, council members and the city manager."  As if recognizing that the public was not included in that list, she presented the results of this year's public participation survey and compared them with last year's.  Last year, getting our streets fixed was the public's number one priority.  This year it slipped to fourth place, behind recreation, public spaces and economic development.

     Unfortunately, these survey results cannot be taken with more than a grain of salt, something Tamara quietly recognized.  Last year 14 people filled out the little form; this year only 11 people did.  According to Tamara, the forms were available in all the departments and online, but few chose to participate.  I wonder why?  Could futility play a role?

     Last year they received five comments in addition to the rating survey.  Three of the five were about fixing our roads, including this one:
     "The roads in Lindsay are by far the worst problem and need to be top priority in my opinion.  If they were all fixed properly the residents would have less car troubles and more business would be a bigger possibility.  It's definitely time to bring back the 10 year road plan and finish what was started long ago."

     This year only two comments were received.  One said "Streets that have never been paved should be taken care of.  Not the same street over + over."  If these small samples have any merit, the strongest message is the public is tired of the neglect to our neighborhood streets.

     Those neighborhood streets are not on the staff's list of priorities.  Some Council members show interest in re-routing those priorities, but they're going to need public support.  At the next meeting May 28, Ms. Laken will present a draft budget based on her gleanings of Council's direction from last Tuesday's meeting.  At the meeting June 11th, a final draft will be presented, and June 25th the final budget will be presented for a vote.  If you don't want the staff to pave over your priorities on how our tax dollars are spent, next Tuesday would be a good time to show up:  6 p.m., City Council Chambers.  Hope to see you there.
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Trudy Wischemann is a writer and City watchdog who would like some company.  You can send her your paving priorities at P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA  93247 or leave a comment below.