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| "No monkey business, please" |
So.. you are frustrated that you haven't heard about all of the housing planned for Marinwood/Lucas Valley?
It's not surprising. They don't actually want a crowd at their meetings. They are often scheduled at times and places most inconvient for most of us. For example, this morning, Saturday, September 29th, there was a planning meeting at Mary Freitas Senior center in Terra Linda from 9:00AM to 10:30AM.
Why should you know about it? If you are a normal person, you'd never guess that a meeting about the fate of Marinwood/Lucas Valley was occuring today.
The Planning department was invited to hold a public meeting in OUR Marinwood Community Center in a town hall format. They initially accepted and suddenly changed the date, time and location of the meeting. Instead of a "community event", they would conduct their own "planning workshop" where they could sell their ideas for growth without scrutiny of the public.
I knew about the meeting but refused to publicize a sham event. I'd be curious if anyone else knew about the event. (note: there were only two Marinwood-Lucas Valley people present, a couple that has been closely following events at the planning department. No other "regular" people attended.
I stopped by Marinwood Community Center and it was empty at 10:00 AM. I assume it would have been available at no cost to the planners for 1 1/2 hours.
Why do you suppose they had the event in Terra Linda instead of Marinwood? It would have been much better attended and publicized. This should tell you everything you need to know about the "public" involvement in the 2012 Housing Element. The "public" events you never hear about seem to be for show, only. Thank goodness this plan is coming to light.
Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
I hope our leaders will recognize the need to involve our community in the planning process when so much is at stake. Our schools, public services, roads etc. may be inundated with a huge influx of people, growing our community by 20%. It only seems right that we should be part of the planning process.
Please sign the petition at
http://www.change.org/petitions/marin-county-board-of-supervisors-suspend-approval-of-the-2012-housing-element
Join us to get the word out to our neighbors. Print out flyers (see post "neighborhood alert")and give it to your neighbors. Talk at your community meetings. Email friends. Come to the planning meeting on October 8th.
No matter how you feel about the housing, let's preserve our community democracy by having open meetings about housing in Marinwood/Lucas Valley.
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