City of Lakewood

October 29, 2010
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

• State Auditor presents clean 2009 audit report: The State Auditor's office conducted an exit conference on October 27th with the city manager and staff from Finance. Four areas had been audited for accountability, including the municipal court, parks & recreation, hotel/motel tax, and brokered natural gas litigation. In addition, there were four grant areas examined, including Public Works & Economic Development facilities, federal Dept of Justice grants, highway planning & construction, and Dept of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment; the report found compliance with federal grant requirements. The audit summary indicated that the City had complied with state laws and regulations and its own policies and procedures. The report indicated no significant difficulties or disagreements, and there were no audit findings or management letters.
• Police Dept hosts Internal Affairs Investigations course: LPD hosted a 2-day Internal Affairs Investigations course October 28-29, focusing on best practices, social media, and in-car videos among other issues. Law enforcement agencies from all over Pierce and King Counties participated.
• City staff completes Community Emergency Response Team Training: On October 22, the following City employees completed CERT training: Alice Bush, Dawn Avcular, Karen Devereaux, Livia Colombini, Nadine Mitsch, Randy Richards, Scott Williams, Tesa Zanotelli, and Suzi Riley. CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team and the program educates people about disaster preparedness, fire safety and suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, and team organization. CERT members receive 20 hours of training; including classroom instruction, tabletop exercises, and active drills.
• City staff participates in Oakbrook Elementary Annual Fall Festival: Neighborhood Patrol Officers Brian Wurts and Eric Bell and CSRT member Sandra Stauffer participated in the annual Fall Festival at Oakbrook Elementary on October 22. The officers showed the children their patrol cars and answered questions while the staff timed the children with a radar gun as they threw a softball. Over 100 children and their parents attended the event.
• LPD Memorial near completion: The LPD Memorial for our fallen officers is progressing quickly and is currently expected to be completed ahead of schedule.
• City staff attends Annual Pumpkin Patch: On Saturday, October 23, CSRT member Gail Conelly attended the 14th Annual Pumpkin Patch, sponsored by the Lakewood Fire Department. There were multiple vendors sponsoring booths such as fishing games, bean bag games, helmet sales, and give-a-ways. There were approximately 2,500 people in attendance. Free pumpkins were available in the pumpkin patch, and kids also had the opportunity to climb through the "Smoke House", shoot water from a fire hose, and climb through fire engines and SWAT vehicles. The Pierce County Child Passenger Safety Team also conducted a free car seat check, checking 25 car seats and giving away 5 car seats to ensure the children left safer than they arrived.
• CSRT and Neighborhood Patrol visits St. Frances Cabrini pre-school class: On October 28, 2010 CSRT member Dawn McGinnis and Neighborhood Patrol Officer Darcy Olsen visited St. Frances Cabrini to talk with their pre-school about what police officers do while they are at work. They spoke to the children about keeping people safe, making good choices, and that police officers are "their friend". Additionally, the officer stressed the importance of eating healthy food, exercising, and education in becoming a police officer. The children asked a lot of questions, and were given police badges, stickers, color books & crayons, and LPD Frisbees, and also enjoyed a tour of the patrol car.
• Park Lodge Elementary - Walk to School Event: Over 60 students, parents, and staff of Park Lodge Elementary braved the weather on Thursday, October 28 to celebrate and "break-in" the newly-constructed sidewalk improvements around their school. Deputy Mayor Anderson, Principal Eric Richards and staff from Clover Park School District, Lakewood Fire District, Lakewood Police, and Lakewood Public Works were there to provide encouragement and safety. All of this was made possible by a Washington State Safe Routes to Schools grant. Starbucks donated coffee and scones.
• City staff briefs County Council on JBLM Growth Coordination Plan: Dan Penrose conducted a briefing on the draft growth coordination plan regarding the impacts of Joint Base Lewis McChord to a study session of the Pierce County Council on October 25th. The federal DoD/OEA-funded plan is near its final stages and has been administered by the City of Lakewood, with support and involvement by regional entities in both Pierce and Thurston counties. The plan is focused on transportation and I-5 congestion issues, in addition to schools, social services, and other quality of life issues related to our military population.