A New Lake Forest - The Journey Begins...

As a City we are no longer what we were, and yet we have not yet become what we will be. We are in transition, and we have the privilege of helping shape our own future.

"Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome." - Isaac Asimov

I’ve been Mayor for slightly over a month now, and along with having a new Mayor, the City has a new Councilman, Col. Tom Cagley. It’s worth taking a look at what we’ve been doing in our first month.

This is the first in a week-long 5-part series.

MORE RESPONSIVE COUNCIL MEETING

We tried to make the Council meeting more responsive to residents. Here’s what we did so far–

• A greeter meets everyone at the door and orients them, if they need it. (Click Here) Our first greet was Jan 16.
• Beginning at 6 pm and continuing until 6:30 (start of meeting) we show a slide show with information about the City, recent achievements, and upcoming events. Our first show was Feb 6.
• We now broadcast live on Facebook so that people can comment and also ask questions/make comments during the meeting. (Click Here). Our first broadcast was Feb 6 and again on Feb 20. Dozens of people tuned in and asked questions or made comments.
• During the meeting, we try to re-order the agenda so that items that elicit more comments/questions (hence of more interest to those people in attendance) come earlier in the meeting.
• During the meeting, we have a Production Assistant who displays relevant agenda reports to help people understand what we’re discussing. He started doing this Feb 6.
• We made an introductory video, cutting the time and ensuring accuracy. This great video will start on March 6.
• We introduced an 8 pm “necessity break” on Feb 6 so that no one has to leave the room during the meeting.
• As people leave the meeting they’re offered a take-away flyer with a list of upcoming events and also new businesses that opened in the City. They can also pick up a list of pets available through the Pet Adoption Center. We started doing this on Feb 20.

These are a lot of changes and it couldn’t have been done without the help of our Management Services (Brett Channing, Jonathan Volzke, Skylar Hunter) and the Chamber of Commerce (Mary Visconte, Jeremy Olson). Obviously the City Manager (Debra Rose) signed off on all these innovations.

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." - George Bernard Shaw

All of these changes are being made so that our meeting is more welcoming and more informative. I’m dedicated to bringing government to the people and engaging more people in what happens at City Hall.

Many of these changes are “works in progress”. We will continue to refine them and make them better. Your suggestions are welcome.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about major legislation initiated and new business friendly measures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His Twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be May 17 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).