Lakeland meetings and events for July

Meetings and events for July in Lakeland include the following events and meetings. Additional information is at www.Lakelandtn.gov

(Youtube "Channel 19" version)

-Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 1, 2010

-Lakeland Children's Parade, 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 3, 2010

-City Hall Closed, Monday, July 5, 2010

-NOTE: ALL REFUSE COLLECTION, RECYCLING AND YARD WASTE SCHEDULES WILL BE DELAYED ONE DAY-NO PICKUP ON MONDAY, JULY 5, MONDAYS SCHEDULE WILL BE PICKED UP TUESDAY ETC.

-Business Appreciation Breakfast, 7:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 7, 2010 (www.ShopLakelandtn.org)

-Natural Resources Board, 6:30 p.m., Thursday, July 8, 2010

-Park and Recreation Board, 6:30 p.m., Monday, July 12, 2010

-Design Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 13, 2010

-Municipal Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., Monday, July 19, 2010

-Economic Development Commission, 6:30 p.m., Thursday, July 22, 2010

-Lakeland Family Day, Friday, July 23, 2010 (City Hall Park, movie "The Blind Side" will be shown)

-Board of Commissioners Work Session, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 27, 2010

SHOP LAKELAND DAY, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2010-WATCH FOR PROMOTIONS AND SALES AND PLAN ON SHOPPING LAKELAND! (www.ShopLakelandtn.org)

City of Lakeland E-mail out Tuesday, June 29

The City of Lakeland e-mail (@lakelandtn.org) will be be out Tuesday, June 29 and possibly part or all of Wednesday, June 30 for a planned upgrade. E-mail received during this time is supposed to be delayed and we should be able to respond to it on a delayed basis after service is restored.

Other e-mail addresses and the City of Lakeland phone system should not be affected

Consolidation Watch: Valid surveys?

I attended the Thursday, June 17, 2010 meeting of the Metro Charter Commission, the group appointed by Mayor Wharton to develop a Charter for Metropolitan Government. The proposed Charter will be voted on at the November, 2010 elections.

I was surprised at these developments:

1. A representative of "Rebuild Government", a lobbying group for consolidation appeared and presented a "survey" to the Commission as he has done at past meetings.

As with all of Rebuild Government surveys, there was no information on:

-If the questions had been reviewed and determined to be valid (such as neutrally worded etc.)

-No indication of how the survey was taken (random phone survey, visits, self-responses to e-mails etc). A truly random sample is a lot different than an e-mail sent to supporters!

-No information on the number of respondents. (It may have have been five, or 500 for all the information that was presented.)

-No information on the "margin of error" or if there even was a "margin of error" determined. This normally (at least statistically) tells how valid a survey really is.

What really concerned me is that the Metro Commission members, who are responsible for writing Charter that will affect every Shelby County resident for years, accepted the survey without any questions!

One Commissioner even seemed to think that the Metro Commission should ignore an Attorney's Opinion and proceed with a Charter provision based on the survey!

When you hear the Metro Commission and pro consolidation proponents trumpet the "survey results" of Rebuild Government, be sure to ask the questions I noted to determine if the survey is even close to being statistically valid!

2. I was even more surprised to hear the representative of Rebuild Government submit a provision that "he had been asked about", that was accepted by the Metro Charter Commission for the "Charter writing committee" with virtually no discussion.

The document (the survey and the proposed Charter provision) was handed to the Charter Commission at the meeting. Members of the audience had to ask for it.

I do wonder why was this not on the Agenda and yet a motion approved to take action on it? I have always assumed that the Open Meeting Law at least required that an item be on the agenda before action was taken, and it is surprising the documented was handed to the Members at the meeting, when it was obvious the information could have been available well before the meeting and included on the agenda for a full discussion.

BOC Work Session Starting Time Changed

To accommodate the desire of Board members and residents to attend the Partnership Lakeland Candidate Forum (7:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at the First Baptist Church), the Board of Commissioners Work Session will start at 5:00 p.m.

No action is taken at the Work Session. Action on agenda items will be taken at the Thursday, July 1, Regular Meeting. Mayor Carmichael, Vice Mayor Nicholson, and Commissioners Mark Hartz, Don Barber and Cecil Tompkins encourage all residents to attend the Candidates Forum to help you decide how to vote in the August Primary! Additional information on the Candidate Forum is noted below.

BE AN INFORMED VOTER AND ATTEND THE CANDIDATE FORUM!

PARTNERSHIP LAKELAND TO HOST SHELBY COUNTY CANDIDATE FORUM

Tuesday, June 22nd, 7:00 p.m.

First Baptist Church of Lakeland, 4500 Canada Road

Everyone is Encouraged to Attend

Partnership Lakeland has invited all candidates for Mayor, Shelby County Sheriff and CountyCommissioner District 4, Positions 1, 2, and 3 vying in The Shelby CountyGeneral Election on August 5 to participate in the forum. The purpose of the forum is to introduce candidates to the citizens of Lakeland, and to allow constituents to better understand the platform of the candidates. This is an opportunity to put a face with the names on the ballot and vote for those individuals that will best serve you. What better way to find that out than attending a forum where by you can meet many of them at once and actually listen to them speak.

The following candidates will participate in the Forum:

For Shelby County Mayor: Interim Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell.

For Shelby County Sheriff: Bill Oldham has accepted.

For Shelby County Commissioner, District 4, Positions 1, 2, 3: Wyatt Bunker, Terry Roland and Probate Court Clerk Chris Thomas have accepted

Each Candidate will give an opening statement followed by a Q & A period, and conclude with closing statements.

Please contact Phil Pilcher (867-0668) for additional information

ShopLakelandtn.org is now on line!

ShopLakelandtn.org is now on-line and available for Lakeland businesses to comment, register for upcoming events and suggestions from local businesses. ShopLakelandtn.org is designed to provide two-way communications with Lakeland businesses, including the over 100 known home-based businesses in Lakeland. The ShopLakelandtn.org web site is a joint venture of the City of Lakeland Friendly Face program and the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce.

Currently, information and registration for the Business Appreciation Breakfast on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 and the Shop Lakeland Day on Saturday, August 7, 2010 is featured on the ShopLakelandtn.org website.

A Home-based business Expo to provide home-based business owners to showcase the products and services they offer is being planned, if enough interest is indicated by the over 100 licensed home-based businesses in Lakeland.

Check out ShopLakelandtn.org!