BY DAVID HAMPTON
White Rock

Dear Los Alamos County Councilors,

Thank you for voting to reconstitute the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB) as a task force. What to do with Chapter 18 and CDAB has been a very long process, and in the end I think we have a good result. Not everyone agrees with everything in the final Chapter 18 product, but we can move forward with it. The CDAB task force will provide a good review of how code enforcement is implemented, and will give additional voice to residents who continue to be uncertain.

I thought that the Community Survey produced some interesting results, and I think we would benefit from a more extensive discussion of them.

The discussion surrounding the Strategic Leadership Plan was difficult, and although long and relatively comprehensive, I think the final product came out to be rushed. I was unclear as to whether or not there was actual consensus among the councilors on a number of sections, including the vision statement, although you voted to approve it 6-1. I know you needed to complete it last night so that county staff would have time to prepare for April’s budgeting process, but it might be difficult to navigate as a guiding document, especially in light of the Community Survey.

Knowing how much time it would take to have a more extensive discussion of these things, and how many things are currently going on, maybe another task force could be constituted to revisit the Strategic Leadership Plan in light of the Community Survey, and make recommendations later in the year to support the 2024 Strategic Leadership Plan.

Ideally, a task force like this could benefit from using many of our former councilors who are still in residence. For example, I would recommend James Robinson, Sean Williams, and Antonio Maggiore as progressives with a proven passion for dealing with county governance issues, David Izraelevitz and Sara Scott as centrists with long term experience in county government and community/regional organizations, as well as Geoff Rodgers and Robert Gibson as conservatives who not only have much collective experience, but who could provide ideological balance and historical knowledge.

Once again, thank you for CDAB and your continued commitment to Los Alamos County.