City of Lakewood

July 17, 2009
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

• Adopt-a-Company Program: Lakewood's Connector Brigade at Ft. Lewis (4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team) is deploying again to Iraq in September. The brigade has an initiative underway in which local organizations or businesses can adopt one of the brigade's 30 teams. The commitment is modest - organizations would simply be expected to engage in correspondence with a company (between 50-100+ Soldiers) by sharing emails and photos on a somewhat regular basis. The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce is spearheading the effort on behalf of the Lakewood business community. The City of Lakewood will be hosting a "meet and greet" event in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, July 21st at 6pm. Interested organizations are encouraged to call the Chamber at (253) 582-9400 as soon as possible.
• City awarded US Commerce Dept Grant for Census: The City's Human Services and Information Systems Divisions have been coordinating Census efforts, and the City has been awarded $2,999 for promoting the 2010 Census, the highest grant award available from the U.S. Department of Commerce. An accurate Census count ensures the City to receive our representative share of the more than $300 billion in federal funds that are awarded to states and communities based on census data. The grant will be used for promotional items to be distributed at upcoming community events sponsored by the City of Lakewood, Clover Park School District, and several human service agencies throughout Lakewood. These events include the Ready to Learn Fair on August 15th, the All City Tailgate on September 11th, and two Easter events in March 2010.
• Dedication of 4-2 SBCT Memorial. Mayor-emeritus Bill Harrison represented the City of Lakewood at the unveiling of the 4-2 Stryker Brigade's beautiful new memorial at "Reflection Park" at Ft. Lewis. Reflection Park was dedicated later that day. During this moving and somber ceremony, former 4-2 SBCT commander Colonel Jon Lehr thanked the Lakewood community for its loyal support. The brigade lost 54 Soldiers during its 15-month deployment that ended early last summer. A photo of the new memorial will be posted in the upcoming Lakewood Connections (mid-August).
• 3rd Annual Lakewood PD Golf Tournament held for Special Olympics: The 3rd annual Lakewood PD Golf Tournament benefiting Special Olympics was held this last Saturday at the Oakbrook Golf & Country Club. Participants included Deputy Mayor Anderson, Police Chief Farrar, and Special Olympics board member Dino Rossi. There were 88 golfers and numerous volunteers that made this year's event a great success. The Golf Tournament raised approximately $14,000 which brings the total fund raising effort this year to over $20,000. There are still many upcoming events such as the Tip-a-Cop at the new Lakewood Red Robin, the Go Cart Grand Prix race and hopefully a Polar Plunge at the start of the year.
• Police Dept Awards Ceremony: LPD conducted its annual department awards reception this week, and Chief Farrar and Asst Chief Zaro presented special recognition awards to officers, employees, and citizens for exemplary service. Two citizen commendations were presented to Nicholas Bogajczyk, a postal worker, and Bill and Jamie Stuarts, apartment managers, for their conscientious assistance to Police. Chief's commendations were presented to Investigator Martin Knott, CSO Dawn McGinnis, Officer Ryan Hamilton, LT Alex Kasuske, SGT John Unfred, SGT Bryan Norton, Officer Brian Wurts, and Detective Jeff Paynter. The Chief's Citation was presented to Animal Control Officer Correne Buck. The Lifesaving Award was presented to Officers Jeff Johnson, Tina Griswold, and Oscar Maysonet, as well as to Officers Jeff Hall and Jim Lofland, Officer Mike Johnson and SGT Mark Eakes, and also to SGT John Fraser. The Core Value Award was presented to Officer Mike Russell. Pierce County Deputies M Lundborg and Ed Roberts were also presented with the award for Lifesaving.
• Sex Offender Policy Board. The city manager participated as the Association of Washington Cities' rep in meetings of the Sex Offender Policy Board (SOPB), and also the Sex Offenders in the Community committee of the SOPB in Seattle on July 16th. The SOPB will be reporting back to the governor and legislature for policy recommendations and is currently reviewing programs from a number of other states. The city manager will be hosting a committee meeting in Lakewood in August at which time Lakewood Police will showcase its monitoring program, its relationship with Dept of Corrections (DOC) and selected apartment managers, as well as its Crime Free Housing Program.