From: Jacob Patterson
To: Lemos, June
Cc: Spaur, David; sarah mccormick; Smith, John
Subject: Public Comment -- 4/25/22 CC mtg., Item Nos. 5E, 5G, and 8D Date: Monday, April 25, 2022 1:05:39 PM
City Council,
It might be a little odd connecting consent calendar Items 5E and 5G for the purposes of public comment but I am doing so because the City may be focusing on the wrong things in how we are allocating scarce staff time and financial resources compared to the actual pressing problems facing the community. The Covid-19 pandemic is serious but I think the more pressing "emergency" facing the community is your lack of collective judgment and prioritization of efforts that we can actually address on a local level.
Please see the below excerpt from yesterday's Mendocino County Today in the AVA, which sums up the situation nicely, IMO. As a City, we appear to be wasting a lot of time, money, and energy on relatively low-impact and low-utility efforts that cater to local special interests and fun pet projects of particular councilmembers, staff (or former staff) rather than tackling many of the real problems facing our community, some of which are discussed in the AVA excerpt below. I recognize that some of the listed issues are not clearly within the direct control of the City or City Council but we are spending a lot of time and money on relatively unimportant projects like investing in public money to develop the ocean water infrastructure for the Noyo Center's potential--emphasis on potential--future aquarium and research center and allegedly for a blue economy business park that is not even permitted by the current zoning (except aquaculture) and isn't likely to ever come to fruition despite all of the best intentions of the supporters of such concepts. Why are we investing so many local public resources with a single well-connected local non-profit but effectively ignoring so many other more pressing community needs and services that have a greater likelihood of tangible economic benefits or much-needed local services? Where is the urgency dealing with facilitating future healthcare services on the coast as we continue to face diminishing access to such services? What is happening with the Community Land Trust and how is it actually moving forward to developing more local housing opportunities? What are we doing to address the numerous housing-related programs we committed to consider when you adopted the current housing element? Where is the pilot safe parking program for mobile homeless living in vehicles and RVs that won't be covered by the tiny home ordinance--all the more pressing because County code enforcement efforts are apparently leading to eviction notices for at least some of the long-term residents of Wildwood Campground? (Where do you think those people are likely to end up along with their trailers and RVs?...) To address the matters at hand on the agenda tonight, why are we spending so much time on cannabis-related issues when the legal cannabis industry is in such decline and we likely missed the boat on getting our regulations in order? There are rapidly diminishing returns at this point and facilitating more commercial cannabis activity in town is less likely to generate meaningful economic development and the free-for-all that is being pushed by the Council majority for the CBD is likely to harm our other economic development opportunities for our downtown core; meanwhile we are effectively ignoring the industrial areas north of town where such development has already been proposed and is the most likely area for future economic development related to commercial cannabis, particularly with the pending end of the sunset period for the Mitchell Creek and Simpson Lane County neighborhood in June 2022. What is the purpose of even adopting a new moratorium for pending applications in the CBD when the only applications we have in the CBD are not approvable under the current code so we don't need to worry about them getting approved prior to the new regulations potentially going into effect mid-July?
On a more granular note, why was the report in 5G not prepared and presented to the City Council prior to the expiration of the prior moratorium as is required? Can we do nothing correctly according to legally-required procedures? When will you recognize that there is a problem with how the City is doing things and try to make some changes to get us on the right procedural track? When will the City actually hire qualified people to perform these functions rather than sometimes hiring apparently under-qualified people who may function as relatively expensive interns who we then pay to develop many of the basic qualifications for their jobs they likely should have already possessed in order to be hired in the first place and using public funds to do so? What is going on and why are none of you doing enough to right the ship (at least in the opinion of people like me who pay attention to details and City projects and activities overall rather than just lookign at each project and effort in a silo without taking a more broad perspective)? I wouldn't be surprised if the new city manager gets to town and doesn't even unpack before she/he/they go running for the hills because of all of the issues and dysfunction apparent in how the City is being run not the least of which appears to be an illogical organizational structure and inefficient allocation of staff positions within City Hall that appears to be structure to cater to the needs and wants of the current staff rather than what actually makes sense to serve and provide services to the community and the public-at-large.
Please consider these topics as you decide how to proceed with the agenda items tonight and in general as the City moves forward with budget development and various projects and efforts.
Please note that I have no idea who wrote into the AVA under "name withheld" and it wasn't me; I first became a local resident by being born at the hospital a decade prior to the author's arrival.
Regards,
--Jacob
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FORT BRAGG’S DIMINISHING CORE SERVICES
Editor,
Over the past 30+ years...since I moved to Fort Bragg in 1986. I've loved this town and all that it represented (past tense).
However, as of late, what seems like almost overnight, Fort Bragg has become a town in crisis!
All the institutions that we came to depend on and respect are for all intents and purposes GONE! I raised my son here in great schools, acquired my AA at the local JC, received caring and supportive medical/emergency services for my rescues, was on the receiving end of dedicated and devoted medical health professionals and more.
But, these and too many other institutions that I've come to depend on are no longer available to the residents of this community.
The Junior College is a ghost town, the hospital struggles to entice doctors to the Coast.
Emergency and even regular veterinary care services are all but non-existent! We are forced to seek services elsewhere, off the Coast, and for those with limited resources, they do without.
Fort Bragg City Council members, I ask you: What is it, exactly, that you are doing to address the absence of essential, core services of this community, services you were elected to provide?
What exactly have or are you currently doing/planning to address the absence of the most basic needs of this community?
What are you doing or plan to do to put an end to the ever-diminishing services that once were available to this community?
It's a long time since 1986, but I would ask you, Council members, are we, here on the Coast, here in Fort Bragg, better off now, than we were 10 years ago? 20 years ago? That answer is abundantly clear: NO! Not even close!
And now, you talk about dissolving the Mendocino Coast Health Care District? Why? Because you've already accomplished so much in providing for the needs of this community? My guess? Pure arrogance? Another agenda? Your inbox is overflowing. Start doing what you were elected to do!
Name Withheld
Fort Bragg
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