t seems that the direction that most members of the Everett City Council are taking with regard to citizen participation and input, is “the less seen and heard the better.”
Under the direction of Arlan Hatloe, our council will not hold an additional evening meeting to allow for citizen participation for folks who cannot make day meetings; most members of our council do not want candidates for office to voice their opinions at neighborhood association meetings “because it may take away from ‘neighborhood business’”; and committee meetings of the council are held in private so “members can be more open and frank with each other.”
From the perception that most members of our elected council do not want to hear from citizens but will make their decisions behind closed doors with their friends and cronies to limiting neighborhood participation in the democratic process to the seasonal mudslinging, Everett sure has entered the “big time.”
Not in the positive sense, either. Everett deserves better!
Everett
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