City of Lakewood

August 14, 2009
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

• Police Training for Rape Defense: The Lakewood Police Department hosted the RAD program (Rape Aggression Defense Systems) on August 10-12. This program was presented by Kathy Wright, who is an instructor with the RAD program, and there were over 25 participants to include Fort Lewis and McChord, and Correne Buck and Dawn McGinnis of LPD. This is an intense 3-day 30-hour course which includes physical defense work outs, and exercise designed to confront confrontational circumstances. Its purpose is to certify instructors who can teach basic self defense techniques to women in the community
• Senior Center Summer Fiesta: The Lakewood Senior Activity Center was celebrating summer - fiesta style - on August 3rd. Over 100 members and guests gathered together to rejoice in this special season. Participants were greeted with festive colors, serenades, sombreros, special friends and an enormous array of tasty food. Parks and Recreation department staff was on hand to cook hamburgers and hotdogs for a very appreciative group.
• Association of Defense Communities (ADC) Conference: Asst City Manager David Bugher and Project Manager Dan Penrose attended the Association of Defense Communities annual conference in Boston last week, with the theme --- "Military Communities: Responding to Change". The conference brought community representatives from around the nation together with experts from the Department of Defense, federal and state agencies to share their experiences and strategies in partnering with the military bases. Lakewood staff had several opportunities to discuss Ft. Lewis growth impacts with high level leadership, including the Deputy Chief of the Army's Base Realignment and Closures (BRAC) division, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, and the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installation and Environment. The ADC conference was part of Lakewood's grant from the Defense Dept's Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) which will be funding the planning for military base impacts.
• Driver training exercise: 25 police employees received driving training in the parking lot of Lakewood Towne Center on August 12th. The training consisted of slow speed, and placement driving. Employees had to maneuver their vehicle forwards and backwards through the course without striking a cone.
• Employment Security Commissioner welcomed to Lakewood: The city manager welcomed Karen Turner Lee, the State's Commissioner of Employment Security, back to Lakewood as she was the speaker at Lakewood Rotary on August 14th. Commissioner Lee is from Lakewood and is a graduate of Clover Park High School. In her presentation, she covered unemployment and income statistics from Lakewood and around the County and the State. The Employment Security office is now a neighbor of Lakewood City Hall, in the adjacent building which also houses DSHS.