LYNNWOOD — Recent suggestions by some City Council members that it might make sense to scale back the city’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Affairs to save money drew an outcry from residents last Monday.
“The Office of Neighborhoods and Community Affairs is the only office I know of that reaches out to communities that have traditionally been neglected,” Gloria Sepulveda told the council during public testimony at City Hall.
She was one of several people who urged the city not to scale back the department.
Council members are working on ways to stave off a projected worst-case $4.8 million budget shortfall. Ideas have ranged from department and program cuts to new taxes.
The council tossed ideas around during an April 5 work session. Council members Jim Smith and Kerri Lonergan both suggested making cuts to the Office of Neighborhoods and Community Affairs among various budget-saving moves.
The two-person department, which opened in 2007, works to improve communication between the city and its neighborhoods.
Among its duties, the department oversees the city’s Neighborhood and Demographic Diversity Commission and Lynnwood University, a City Hall-sponsored series of classes designed to acquaint people with city government.
Johnetta Moore, an Edmonds Community College employee, said the two-person department’s affect on the community “is disproportionate to their small size.”
“We strongly urge you not to take this course,” she told the council.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429; ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
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