The Village of Lakewood (where I live) sent out a survey.
It asked about residency, then moving on to the following:
What do you want to be able to say about Lakewood 10 years from now? (Select up to three)
Here there could have been the option of “Being able to afford to live here,” but, instead being able to walk to stores (good luck on that), having a sense of belonging, recreational opportunities, addressing discrimination (the “gentiles only” of the 1950’s is already gone), infrastructure to attract business and mobility, strong neighborhoods, gathering places, programming (“Art, culture, recreation, nature, and local businesses bring vibrancy and people to our spaces”), prosperity, quality housing (for all ages and income levels), senior-friendly.
What are Lakewood’s greatest STRENGTHS? (Select your top three)
There were a couple of questions for which “other” was an option where one could comment on what seemed missing in the options.
But TOTALLY missing in the survey was any place to comment on taxes.
Here’s where such an answer would have been appropriate:
Which THREE categories of Village services listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- Annexation – bringing other properties into the Village’s geographic limits
- Economic development
- Effectiveness of Village communications with the public
- Ensuring that Village services are provided equally across all neighborhoods.
- Flow of traffic and congestion management on Village streets
- Garbage, recycling, and yard waste services
- Maintenance of Village streets, sidewalks and infrastructure (i.e., streetlights, trees)
- Quality of Village water/wastewater utility services
- Quality of Village’s stormwater management system (i.e., storm drains, retention ponds)
- Quality of customer service you receive from Village employees
- Quality of fire and emergency medical services
- Quality of police services
I put down lakes and golf courses.
What are Lakewood’s biggest CHALLENGES? (Select your top three)
- Addiction and mental health
- Aging infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, etc.) [What sidewalks?]
- Aging population
- Aligning education/skills with available jobs
- Attracting/Keeping young adults
- Business growth
- Crime
- Entertainment options
- Housing options for all
- Parks and recreation amenities
- Restaurant options
- Retail options
- Senior services
- Sense of community
- Social services
- Traffic
- Walking and biking
- Other (please specify)
The options read as if the person who wrote the questionnaire has no idea that Lakewood is a suburb of Crystal Lake and in the Crystal Lake Park District.
I expressed a property tax concern again:
“Reaching the population or 5,000, which will result in our having to have a local police pension fund, which could cost homeowners plenty.”
Which THREE categories of Village services listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- Annexation – bringing other properties into the Village’s geographic limits
- Economic development
- Effectiveness of Village communications with the public
- Ensuring that Village services are provided equally across all neighborhoods.
- Flow of traffic and congestion management on Village streets
- Garbage, recycling, and yard waste services
- Maintenance of Village streets, sidewalks and infrastructure (i.e., streetlights, trees)
- Quality of Village water/wastewater utility services
- Quality of Village’s stormwater management system (i.e., storm drains, retention ponds)
- Quality of customer service you receive from Village employees
- Quality of fire and emergency medical services
- Quality of police services
If given the opportunity I would have commented with
- my opposition to annexing land with the goal of increasing the population over 5,000 people and
- my opposition to street lights
Which THREE environmental sustainability initiatives listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- Environmental leadership and education at all levels
- Natural resources conservation
- Renewable resources and energy
- Sustainable development and infrastructure (e.g., best practices, building codes)
- Sustainable transportation and mobility
- Waste management and recycling
The use of pesticides that could pollute lakes and groundwater is an unasked, but relevant question.
Also missing is the possibility of reviving the 1970’s picking up of leaves at the curb, but the majority of the Village Board probably don’t have enough leaves to worry about disposing of them or figure everyone is rich enough to hire someone to rake their leaves.
Which THREE transportation services listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- Availability of public transportation services
- Ease of bicycle travel
- Ease of east/west travel
- Ease of north/south travel
- Ease of pedestrian travel
- Traffic conditions in your neighborhood relative to speed and traffic amount
I checked only the last option.
Again, it appears the author of this questionnaire has no idea that county government provides door-to-door service via McRide (including Uber).
Which THREE water and wastewater utility services listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- How well the Village keeps you informed about planned disruptions to your water service
- Online portal to view water usage and leak detection
- Opportunity to participate in water conservation education
- Overall value that you receive for water and wastewater utility rates
- Quality of customer service from water utility employees
- Taste/odor of your drinking water
- The accuracy of your water bill
- The reliability of your water service
- Village efforts to prevent backups from wastewater in your home
None of these questions apply to most residents in Country Club Additions subdivision, where most people have wells.
Community Policing
- Compliance with police reform measures
- Crime reduction/prevention
- Driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs
- Innovations in police technology and equipment
- Juvenile crime and delinquency
- Neighborhood Patrols
- Police officer wellness
- Police training
- Social services and mental health
- Traffic safety on roadways
- Unlawful possession of firearms
- Unlawful possession/sale of marijuana
- Unlawful possession/sale of narcotics (heroin, cocaine)
Community policing and neighborhood patrol were my picks.
Which THREE fire and police topics listed do you think should receive the MOST EMPHASIS from Village leaders over the next three years?
- Customer service and communications efforts
- Departmental accreditation and professional development
- Emergency preparedness planning and education
- Emergency response (Fire, EMS, and specialty response)
- Innovation in non-urgent service delivery
- Mental health-related training and response
- Proactive programming and education to reduce community risk
- Quality of Emergency Medical Services
- Specialty teams and training to respond to complex critical incidents
- Training and education for front-line responders
The “Mental health-related training and response” option was my selection.
