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Council Member Huson is not convinced discussions with Tacoma will yield anything productive. The issue of annexation has been broached before without an enthusiastic response from Tacoma. He feels it is important for the council to review any letter sent to Tacoma before it is sent to ensure it reflects the council's position. The council wants to talk to Tacoma about having the larger city provide services as well as annexation. He voted against the motion on March 2nd because it did not include a provision for the council to approve the final wording before it was sent.
Huson stated clearly he is not ready to give up on Ruston yet - hopefully not ever. He is concerned that the police budget is so big (slightly less than half the total budget). He did not think there would be any decision on any of these issues until the research was done.
He is supportive of having the council do everything they can to develop the current business core. When he was on the planning commission, they wanted to raise the building height to 45'. He supports having the planning commission look at this issue again. "You can't do a Class A commercial building at 35' as we saw with the recent variance application for The Ruston Building," he noted. He hopes that building can start soon.
He feels the town should look at selling its surplus property before considering annexation. There are several pockets of land Ruston could sell. That was where the idea of selling Ruston Park for development began.
He is not enthused about giving up to Tacoma with $3.5 million in the bank. On a personal level, people don't declare bankruptcy until they have done everything (take out loans, go out on limbs before jumping ship). He feels the town should follow the same course, exhaust all possibilities before annexation is considered.
Having said that, he feels we need to come to grips with our services. What revenue do we need to grow our services to meet future demands as the population increases. He thinks that right now our services have surpassed our revenues. He hopes we can hold on until our revenues increase enough to find that balance again.
He continues to strive to keep the council meetings calm and businesslike. He doesn't think it is productive for the council to fight in public. But he would rather spend his time outside the meetings working on positive things. For instance, he and the mayor recently met with Pierce County about potential grants for upgrading the storm sewer system.
His priorities continue to be to get Point Ruston developed and address our infrastructure needs. He feels we are lucky to have Point Ruston moving ahead even in the current market. We should be happy with the level of activity and supportive rather than throwing up roadblocks.
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From: Karen Pickett [mailto:kpickett22@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tue 3/3/2009 5:56 PM
To: Albertson, Dan; Hedrick, Jim; Hunt, Jane; Bradley Huson; Stebner, Wayne; Hopkins, Bruce
Subject: Annexation
Dear Mayor and Council,
The vote last night to begin discussions/negotiations with Tacoma for
annexation was very important to our community. I am inviting each of you to explain why you voted as you did on the motion last night and why you would not allow public input before you made your decision. I think voters would be very interested in what you have to say on the issue.
Your response will be posted on the Ruston Home blog. I hope you can find time to provide your input into this important issue.
Karen
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On Tue, 3/3/09, Albertson, Dan
From: Albertson, Dan Albertsond@TownofRuston.org
Subject: RE: Annexation
To: kpickett22@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 7:07 PM
Dear Ms. Pickett,
As a matter of policy, I choose not respond to people who run websites which post altered pictures of Town Council members in Nazi uniforms. These types of websites, including yours, have, in my opinion, done great damage to the Town of Ruston and its image in the community. I believe we should focus on the issues to try to solve the Town's severe financial problems, not the kind of personal attacks posted on your websites.
Sincerely,
Dan M. Albertson
Council Member
Town of Ruston
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009 8:28 PM
From: "Karen Pickett" kpickett22@yahoo.com
To: "Albertson, Dan"
Thank you for your input. I am sorry you are not willing to share your reasons for your important action at last night's meeting. To clarify, as you know the website you are referring to is no longer being used for precisely the reasons you state; it was being used by all sides of our contentious issues to attack each other rather than dialog. Besides the one photo you focus on, there were and have been many attacks against those who disagree with current council members. The council member pictured in that photo is not offended and I am sorry you are not able to put this behind us as well.
The Ruston Home site is carefully monitored and offers a variety of opinions. I believe wholeheartedly we can disagree without attacks, which is what this communication tool strives for. It is important for people to understand what your goals are on this issue and why you think negotiating for annexation is the best use of our energy during the current financial challenge. I hope you will reconsider and share your opinion.
Karen---
6 comments:
No response from the other 3 council members?
That is correct, no response from the rest of the council or mayor on this request.
The mayor has already covered the subject in the latest town newsletter. He will be exploring contracting services (fire, police, and other services) with Tacoma. He says that Ruston will have to make major decisions about its future in the next 12 to 18 months, which would include the option of annexing to Tacoma. He's also exploring what other little towns are doing to survive.
I can hardly wait for the next 12 to 18 months to see what happens.
Politically, this town is conflicted and bitter. Our government has been and remains a fiscal spendthrift compared with the amount of revenue we take in.
Many people are way too dependent on the hope that Cohen can bail us out. I don't believe annexation can be stopped.
It's sad to see the last commenter so excited to see Ruston end. Ruston is worth holding on to. If every city and town quit every time there was a budget deficit, we wouldn't have any of 'em left. This is the first year we've faced this in a long time - its too soon to cut and run. Let's find ways to hold on, spend our time and money on constructive things, not destructive.
Nothing sad about the commenter's thoughts that I can see. We don't give up Ruston's community feeling (though it's fractured and we all know it) if annexation turns out to be the answer. We all know each other, we all will continue to go to neighborhood council meetings, etc. I'm not moving, neither are my neighbors, to my knowledge.
One correction about the last anonymous' statement that this is the first year of deficit and it's too early to give up. In truth, the budget deficit has been with us for several years now, unfortunately.
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