Good News

Since this is the first article under our new name, let’s start with some positive news about the City.

TRANSPARENCY

One of the biggest improvements this year has been the transformation of the City’s website. By my reckoning we now have one of the most transparent websites around.  It’s a testament to the efforts of City Clerk Stephanie Smith and her dedicated staff as to how far they’ve come in such a relatively short time. And thanks go to Councilman Nick who has been the chief cheerleader for the transparency movement.

BTW - I'm told even more improvement are coming by the end of the year.

FEEDING THE FOWL

Thanks to Councilman Robinson and Mayor Pro Tem McCullough who attended the workshop, and Councilman Nick who made the motion, the much needed ordinance to restrict people from feeding the birds at Village Pond Park may finally appear. Readers are familiar with all the problems at the Pond, and the ordinance has been a long time coming.

TAMING THE TRAFFIC

Traffic is and has been the #1 problem for the City, and over the years it’s just been getting worse. Now, in the face of 32,000 more vehicle trips every day as a result of the 4,500 new homes, we are finally going to get a Traffic Commission thanks to Councilmen Nick, Robinson, and Mayor Voigts. Other cities with far less problems have them, so it’s about time we got this Commission up and running.

VOLUNTEERISM

Volunteerism has never been stronger in the City. Witness  the new Senior Advisory Group. As well, the Parade Committee has never been stronger, and many people believe this year was the best year yet. I’ve also been encouraged by the Community Garden group who have suddenly emerged. The recent call to fill a vacancy in the Planning Commission brought a dozen people offering to serve. Volunteerism can be a City’s lifeblood and we seem to have a strong beat indeed.

HELPING BUSINESSES

The City has always had a good program to support local businesses, but where the City has fallen down is spending more of our own budget on local businesses and people. Councilmen Nick and Robinson have supported this idea and thanks to Robinson the City held a workshop on “Government Contracting”. The workshop was well attended and very well organized, with some excellent presentations. Unfortunately, few of the people who attended actually came from Lake Forest businesses, so I’m looking forward to a repeat of the workshop tailored to our own people. Nonetheless this was a major step forward.

SPORTS PARK

The City started its biggest building project ever, the $40 million sports park. With a project this size we’re bound to come up with a few problems along the way, but so far it has been smooth sailing.

BOTTOM LINE

There are a lot of positive things going on in the City.