Come to the City Goal-Setting Forum

Walgreens' front entrance

November is when our City sets its goals for the coming year.  This was started by our present Manager, Aaron Cubic, soon after he started working for Grants Pass.  To begin a process that stretches over several days, he starts with a citizen’s forum, which Councilors may but generally do not attend. 

The first year, many people showed up, full of hope for change.  Opinions were all over the map.  Change didn’t happen.

Discouraged, I didn’t go to the second year’s goal-setting forum, and even skipped the citizens’ forum for the police and fire performance auditors in 2013. 

No one attended the auditors’ forum, but they saw the litter and weeds in this town and said that the city must enforce its landscape maintenance codes, saying, “enforcement by complaint isn’t enforcement, doesn’t work, and isn’t fair to the citizens, who expect police to enforce the law.”

So I went to the Citizens Goal-Setting Forum last year, determined to push home that message. I was the only one there for 10 minutes, and then was joined by Arden McConnell.  Mr. Cubic and staff picked our brains for an hour, and Arden agreed with me that the litter and weeds need to be cleaned up.  But again, change didn’t happen.  We were only two.

This year, Manager Cubic has been making a point at the end of every City Council meeting to mention the City’s Citizen’s Goal-Setting Forum on November 12^th at 6:00 PM in City Council Chambers (behind City Hall at 5^th and A Streets).  He apparently wants more people to show up. 

Please come to the forum and give him more people, speaking with one voice on at least one topic, litter and weeds.  Please also tell him to lay off Homegrown and Medical Marijuana growers and follow state law, and whatever else you think he needs to change.

I may present my paper petition signatures to leave pot growers alone and target litter and weeds, leaving the online petition at Change.org for another time.  If you sign the online petition, you will get email updates on both issues, usually not more than once a week.

Please come to the Citizens’ Goal Setting Forum and tell our Manager what you think the city should do this year.

October 24, 2015 protest leaflet.  Published on GardenGrantsPass.blogspot.com.  Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/grants-pass-city-manager-aaron-cubic-leave-pot-growers-alone-target-litter-and-weeds

Read Chapter 5.72 at http://gardengrantspass.blogspot.com/2015/09/chapter-572-homegrown-and-medical.html

Support the lawsuit at www.GoFundMe.com/HomegrownDefense 

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener          541-955-9040        rycke@gardener.com