What Do You Want Your Future to Look Like?
The future of Bonney Lake depends on our residents, government and businesses working together. In these tough economic times, it will take steady teamwork to keep the economy of Bonney Lake stable and balanced. It will require an investment of time, resources and faith to continue the rebuilding of trust that has occurred in the past 3 years to continue into the near and distant future. The biennial budget just approved is balanced and pared down, and does not call for any loss of staff to keep the city moving in a positive direction.
City events centered around youth, seniors and families will continue to provide fun and low cost entertainment and recreation. The various events are a draw to our city from the entire plateau. A YMCA would bring more visitors to our city.
The city has a plan for development of each of the distinctively different business districts and will continue to find ways to encourage and support development of these unique districts. The goodwill developed between various government agencies and business entities have served the City well and the plan is to continue on that path. City leaders need the input and expertise of existing business leaders in our City to keep on a progressive path.
Bonney Lake has become a destination on the plateau for shopping and services. The City must be doing something right to be one of the fastest growing cities in the State of Washington. Management of that growth is crucial.
The fate of the City and the entire plateau area is in the hands of the voters of Bonney Lake. Many who live outside the city limits are concerned. They come to Bonney Lake for services and shop here and contribute to our economy. Customers want easy access via transportation corridors inside and outside the City. People inside and outside the city are concerned about their utilities and what they cost. The school district and our fire district serve not just our city, but our neighbors in other cities and the county. Growth planned to the south of Bonney Lake will bring much more commerce to our city. Consumers want good restaurants and a variety of retail establishments to chose from and come to Bonney Lake to find them. If there is a change in our form of government, the following could happen:
- Changing to a charter could bring disorder to the City government
- If the voters chose to have a Charter form of government, at the next election voters will simultaneously decide on whether to approve the city charter that was developed by the freeholders and they would also vote for the candidates who now have to file for new elected positions created under the proposed charter
- At the same time, a parallel election for the mayor and 3 councilmembers who are up for election in 2009 under the current form of government would take place
- This means there would likely be dual elections running concurrently-very confusing
- All current elected officials would have to run for office again if they wanted to be a part of the new Charter government
- People would have to run for any new additional offices created by the Charter
- If the charter was approved, the current form of government would cease, the new government would take effect, and the newly elected officials would take office
- The Bonney Lake Municipal Code would have to be rewritten to accommodate the Charter
- Taxes and fees could go up, making starting or continuing business here not feasible
- Taxes and fees could be abolished, causing the community not to be desirable due to a lack of livability and services
- Make government less efficient and possibly slow down service response times possibly including police and fire
- Oversight may be more or less strict
- Business cannot thrive without customers created in a livable city
- Quality city staff may lose their jobs or wish to leave due to instability, which leads to
- Difficulty in recruiting new staff with a government that is in flux
- The City could be redistricted to have more or less council members impeding city business
- The Mayor-Council government could change
- Council members will have to run for office again, hampering continuity
- Repeated elections cost the city money that could be better used for things such as economic development
- If department heads have to run for office, it limits the pool of candidates by the City limits
- A city government in constant flux cannot effectively provide services like permit, inspections and maybe fire and police
- The benefit of years of networking with other cities, state, local and federal government would be lost
- Visions and plans for development would have to start over or may be forgotten
Our city is open and accountable. It is a great place to work, live and play. If it wasn't, we would not have seen the growth in population in the greater Bonney Lake area, the influx of many new businesses side-by-side with our old, reliable mom-and-pop businesses. For more information visit www.NoCharter.com.
