Sunshine, Cars, Food & Family Fun @ U.P. Fest 2009
The two-day University Place Festival wrapped up on Saturday. Admission to the fun at Cirque Park was free but $1 donations were asked, with proceeds to go toward next year’s festival. Parking at the venue was also FREE. I donated $3 just to have the convenience of parking at Cirque Park rather than walking from half a mile down the road.
There had been a pancake breakfast earlier in the morning, at Curtis High School. It was sponsored by the Optimist Club of West Tacoma. As much as I love pancakes for breakfast, 7:30 on a Saturday morning is too early. I hope they weren’t counting on me being there. [Optimists...counting on me being there...Get It?]
There were tents set up in the park for vendors, which included the colored pencil drawings of Ann deMille Flood. These include pictures of many Tacoma landmark businesses. There are drawings of Stadium High School, Frisko Freeze, The Flying Boots Cafe, Java Jive and other Pacific Northwest locations. I enjoyed speaking with the vendor, who I probably saw in the hallway at Stadium High School back in the day. She would have been in my graduating class, in fact.
Among the vendor tents were some of the candidates for University Place City Council. Javier Figueroa was being interviewed by Lakewood radio station 1180 KLAY. I had a chance to speak with him and a few other candidates for the open positions. Figueroa, running for Position #1 on the Council, was the most vocal about the direction the current council has taken on topics such as Town Center, population growth and the quality of life in U.P.
His mission statement from his website gives a glimpse of his vision for University Place: A safe and welcoming place for all of us to live, work and play, and for our businesses to thrive. Recreational areas for all age groups. Youth recreational activities in partnerships with schools, churches and civic organizations. Community gardens with the assistance of Master Gardeners. Curbed sidewalks in areas of heavy pedestrian use. A business-friendly environment with sensible limits to government restrictions and regulations. A transparent government, where leaders respect, invite and acknowledge citizens’ ideas and contributions. A balanced municipal budget with sufficient reserves to ensure UP’s sustainability. A safe community in which to shop in the evenings and weekends.
Eric Choiniere, running for Council Position #3, spoke about the mistakes and delays in moving forward on the Town Center project. Choiniere says the time is NOW to get ‘er done! He says with the upcoming US Amateur Open in 2010 & the US Open in 2015, the community will see a sustained opportunity from tourists coming into the area to enjoy the Chambers Bay facility.
In his run for Position 1 on the Council, the position presently held by Linda Bird, Dan Carnrite points out that the Council adopted new Town Center standards with limited public notice. In fact, during a council meeting, in front of TV cameras [it is on tape], when Carnrite pushed for more public hearings on the Town Center, a council woman stated loudly that this would not be necessary because ”the public doesn’t understand”. Carnrite does not consider this to be transparent, participatory government. Carnrite warns that the City of U.P. should not change zoning standards to fit a developer’s need and that zoning standards should be based on community needs and desires.
As for the Town Center, Carnrite says the council should stop acting as or trying to be land developers-they are not; Adopt Town Center standards for what we want to be built; Sell the land; then, when a developer comes to the city with a permit application, let the public sector “get it built.” Carnrite says the University Place City Council should adhere to the Comprehensive Plan. “It’s our vision — and law.”
Running for Council Position #5, and by far, the most attractive candidate that I had the opportunity to speak with today, is Denise McCluskey. Beyond safe streets and sidewalks along arterial corridors, McCluskey is enthusiastic about making infrastructure Improvements for a regional transit center, improvements to the business sectors outside of the Town Center Project, such as 27th Street from Bridgeport east to include the area around the AMC Narrows Plaza 8, manage growth to preserve single family residential areas, further enhancements to Parks and Open Spaces, and she is very interested in restoration of salmon habitat along Chambers Creek.
During the University Place Festival, the University Place Fire Department was on scene, giving children the chance to spray a target using a real fire truck water hose. The little kids were blown away by this simple exhibition. It was simple, fun and FREE. The Kids Zone had inflatables, a climbing rock, open-mic karaoke, trout pond, games & sports. The Saturday night headliner – rhythm & blues singer Freddy Pink.
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September 4th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
There were two other candidates you failed to mention: Ken Grassi and Lorna Smith. I don’t know where you were looking, but Lorna Smith was not only there, she was working as the main volunteer of the Friends Of Homestead Park booth selling T-Shirts and other items as a fund raiser for the park, as well as assisting the UP Historic Society and Curran House group (aka CHIPS), which were situated next to both the Homestead Park booth and the campaign booth manned by her husband. If you missed seeing her, she may have been moving between those 3 different locations, answering questions or finding just the right size for someone buying “I heart UP” T-Shirts. Or maybe she was absent because she was assisting me in my own booth when I needed help. Both she and Ken were very much present by being a visible example of their dedication to our community through volunteering when others did not. She was assisted by her family and Ken Grassi when he was not volunteering in other ways. While both Ken and Lorna could have been out and about “shaking hands and kissing babies” they continued with their commitments to Homestead Park, the UP Festival and the UP community as a whole, never forgetting who they work for.