Is The Lakewood City Government Keeping A Hidden Agenda?

As most Tillicum and Lakewood residents are now aware, Camp Murray has proposed and is prepared to move its existing Camp Murray main gate from its present location at Union Avenue and Berkley Street to a new location at Portland Avenue and Boundary Road.

(Click for Patch coverage of the controversial issue).

During the past two years, residents of Tillicum and the Tillicum Action Committee have, in numbers, spoke out to the Lakewood City Government in opposition to the $4.6 million-plus planned move of the gate. Numerous letters, e-mails and public comment have been furnished by the city.

On August 1, 2011 at the Lakewood City Council meeting, a large contingent of Tillicum residents spoke out on the gate issue. The majority of the comments were against the gate move. The Lakewood City Manager Andrew Neiditz in his weekly City Council report in the Suburban Times forgot to mention the very large turnout of Tillicum residents and their opposition to the gate move.

Numerous Tillicum residents have written the Mayor, City Council and the City Manager and notified each of their opinions and opposition to the gate. Written questions were also posed to these officials. To date, most writers, if not all, have not received replies to their written inquiries. A reasonable amount of time has now lapsed for a reply to each. 

Lakewood residents should be aware that a plan for Tillicum was written in 2010 and finally adopted in June 2011. This Tillicum Neighborhood Plan is on the city's Web site. The following four paragraphs were extracted from the plan and are of great importance to Tillicum residents. 

1. Tillicum possesses three unique urban features that distinguish it from other Lakewood neighborhoods. Tillicum is one of the few neighborhoods in the city with public waterfront access and a public park. Tillicum also has a traditional street grid system which better supports connectivity and pedestrian appeal. Even while Interstate 5 created a barrier, it also provides Tillicum with freeway frontage which benefits commercial redevelopment. That frontage, together with the proximity to Ft. Lewis and Madigan Hospital, offers untapped opportunities.
2. Tillicum enjoys a strong sense of community. Long-time residents who live there remember Tillicum for what it was. They believe in its future, and they are committed to positive change for the area.
3. This plan seeks to revitalize the community by building upon the neighborhood’s assets. To make this work, the plan includes specific implementation measures that would be introduced over the next five years based on neighborhood input, City Council priorities and budget resources. As the community evolves and moves forward, the implementation measures would also evolve to meet specific needs. In essence, these measures represent a report card for Tillicum residents, merchants and property owners, and the City of Lakewood.
4. Another important goal of this plan is to involve local residents in a new empowerment paradigm. To relieve many of the social ills confronting this small community, the city encourages neighborhood leadership development and collaborative community involvement. While the city can take some actions to bring about changes, those who reside in Tillicum must accept responsibility and actively participate in steering that change. In this sense, the Tillicum plan can offer a model for other distressed neighborhoods and, ultimately, for the revitalization of Lakewood as a whole.

Given the last two years worth of angst on this issue of the Camp Murray Gate, it is becoming more evident that all the above may have been, at best, simply the dutiful requirement to fill a square.   

More and more the residents of Tillicum are experiencing less and less the impacts of transportation so much as the lack of representation. 

This letter was written by Brian Dennery. Letters to the editor are welcome, regarding any story or issue happening in the city.