1/21 Council Mtg.
I’m proud to say I participated as a council member in my first council meeting on 1/21. As you may know, regular council meetings are on the 3rd Thursday starting at 6pm. You can enjoy them in the comfort of your own living room through the wonders of technology!
There were 2 items of importance:
A presentation from Captain Urena, the manager of West Valley Patrol
Discussion of 2 controversial homes proposed for Mora Dr.
There is a concern that crime is increasing in our community. There are also concerns about inherent bias in law enforcement actions. Captain Urena presented statistics and took questions on both topics. You can see the discussion starting at 11 minutes. Both issues are important and nuanced. There has been an increase in burglaries in town with 31 in 2020 as compared to 21 in 2019, but our community is still exceptionally safe. Are there some steps we can take to reduce burglaries? The discussion about bias in policing is just starting and will be taken up in the next council meeting.
I do encourage you to attend a community forum, Wednesday 1/27 at 6pm. Captain Urena will be presenting and taking questions.
The council unanimously voted for staff to add more details showing how these developments are unlike any other in the town. A vote on the staff findings will be held at the next council meeting. Various proposals to develop these 2 substandard lots have been put forth since 2014. There is a long history and I’d be happy to answer questions but ultimately the reason I chose this path was because I feel the proposed development was antithetical to the community’s founding principal: maintaining our rural character. The Planning Commission did the hard work, many times for different proposals, of researching and carefully considering all the plans. We should all be grateful for their diligence!
But this was not an easy issue. Could denying development open the town up for a lawsuit? How does our position affect future development?
As usual, I welcome your comments, and please encourage your neighbors to sign up for my email. I really do want to hear from everyone.