Edmonds City Councilmember Diane Buckshnis is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings in October, in three different Edmonds neighborhoods. All are invited to attend and discuss the 2023 proposed city budget or anything else on their mind.
Here’s the schedule:
Monday, Oct. 10, 6-8 p.m. at Edmonds Waterfront Center upstairs in Community Room B; 220 Railroad Ave., Edmonds
Thursday, Oct. 20, 5-7 p.m. at Mel and Mia’s in Perrinville; 7530 Olympic View Dr., Edmonds
Monday, Oct. 24, 6-8 p.m. at Edmonds Lutheran Church fellowship hall; 23525 84th Ave. W., Edmonds
For more information, contact Buckshnis at diane.buckshnis@edmondswa.gov or at 425-275-7695.
CM Buckshnis has a great deal of experience with Edmonds Budgeting. As a current member of the Finance Committee, she can play a pivotal role in helping the public understand the unusual aspects of city finance models.
More than helping us learn about the budget she will be well position to gather our inputs. This is great, hopefully many will attend, learn and contribute.
I think we desperately need a system where City Council can have direct, regular and personal interaction with the citizens they are supposed to be representing. Nothing against Diane for having this ad hoc Town Hall and I admire and appreciate her for doing it, but these things should not be ad hoc. In my view we should have at least five geographically based Council Districts with full time, well paid CM’s being required to meet with THEIR citizens prior to the full weekly Council Meetings. Hobby government just doesn’t cut it anymore. We are too big and diverse and things are too complicated for that to even begin to work. It’s one thing to say the citizens are at the top of the organization chart and another to truly make it so. Why not look at and try some change in concepts and procedures instead of making the same mistakes perpetually and never really resolving building heights, parking and density issues to the benefit of the majority of citizens living in any given area of town?
I attended Diane’s Town Hall last night, which was well attended by many fellow commenters to MEN, Council Person Chen and several Council Candidates for the open Council position. My view was that this was a wonderful experience of open honest communication and basic grassroots good city government which Diane and some others on our current council seem to be trying to facilitate. Please remember she is having two more open ended constituent meetings this month on Oct. 20th. at Mel and Mia’s Bakery 5:00 PM and on Oct. 24th., Edmonds Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall on 84th. Ave. W, Edmonds, 5PM. If you have any interest whatsoever in our city and how it really gets run, you need to attend at least one or all of these Town Halls. I notice that many citizens don’t even have a basic understanding that Council Persons do not have any more guarantee of good access to nuts and bolts basic information about business management of our city than we do and their access to day to day information about operations is closely guarded by the Strong mayor. This is the system by design. You need to know that when voting.