At Large Council Applicants

[Amy Martin]

Can anyone tell me where on the CIty's website that I can find a list of the candidates for the At-Large Council Seat?

I've been searching the site to no avail . . .

[pj bennett]

There were originally 17 applicants.
At this past Monday's Committee Of The Meeting, I learned that the list had grown to 23.
During an Executive Session, 8 applicants got cut.
The remaining 15 will be interviewed in 2 separate COW meetings on this coming Saturday and Monday.

The list of the original 17 can be found on the city's website.
I never saw the list with the 23 names.
I'm not sure if the list of the remaining 15 is on the website. It should be, but I haven't requested it.

Since I was at the meeting, I added the 6 names to the list of 17, that I already had.

Since I left the COW meeting before the Executive Session was over, I watched the video. At the very end, the names of the 15 that will be interviewed, were read aloud.

I hope my answer makes sense.

[Amy Martin]

Where on the website are the candidates listed? I've been going through the website for almost an hour . . .

[pj bennett]

The list is a public record. So.....on the home page of onelakewood.com, click on Public Records Request. It's the 2nd item in the dark gray box.
On the next page, click on the 'click here'.

From there, you should be on the Open Public Records.

You can search the previous requests.

You can also make a new request of asking for the list of 15 applicants to be interviewed.

You can always download the original list of 17, except it grew to 23, and then downsized to 15.

[Bridget Conant]

Try this Amy.

B3DA0FF2-E772-40F7-85F3-9660B9AEFF03.png (253 KiB) Viewed 5395 times

[pj bennett]

That's the original list of 17, which is a good start. 5 more people applied after this list was compiled.
And then, 8 applicants were cut.
15 remain.

Some of the 'cut' people show on this list, while those who applied later (and did not get cut) are not listed.

[pj bennett]

The agenda for the Committee Of the Whole meetings on Saturday and Monday is to interview all 15 applicants.
Perhaps, Council President Dan O' Malley will attach the list of applicants to the agenda onto the calendar, so that the public can see 'who' is being interviewed, and on which day. That would be most helpful.

[Dan OMalley]

Here are the 15 applicants selected for an interview and the schedule.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1st
9:00 Steve Skantzos
9:15 Laura Rodriguez-Carbone
9:30 Nora Katzenberger
9:45 Kevin Dugan
Break 10:00 -10:15
10:15 Lindsey Grdina
10:30 Tom Einhouse
10:45 Sarah Kepple
Break 11:00 - 11:10
11:10 Mark Schneider
11:25 Ray Cushing
11:40 Virgil Wahome
MONDAY FEB 3rd
6:00 Emily Christescu
6:15 Susannah Selnick
6:45 Jeff Wise
7:00 Kyle Baker
7:15 Jenn Pae

[pj bennett]

Thank you, Dan.... much appreciated!

[Dan OMalley]

Thank you, Dan.... much appreciated!

You bet

[Bridget Conant]

That’s a lot of people suddenly interested in being a councilperson

Perhaps they should have actually ran for the job instead of hoping to be appointed.

I’m glad to see names of people who actually put forth the effort to run a campaign.

I just find it odd that so few people get out there and run, but when there’s an easy appointment, without having to file petitions, raise funds, tramp door to door, and attend social functions, everybody and their brother put their hands up.

[Mark Kindt]

Yesterday, Brian Essi confirmed to me that he had not been selected for an interview.

Of course, he is my friend. I am disappointed.

Brian spent a good portion of the past 5 years in a fight for honest, open, and transparent government through his writings in the Lakewood Observer (and here on the Deck), not to mention the three years that he spent vigorously fighting the city for access to denied public documents.

Not one person on this list of applicants did anything like what Brian did for clean government in Lakewood.

I know nothing about who else was eliminated in the closed session.

[pj bennett]

I, too, am disappointed by the early elimination of Brian Essi. He is resourceful and has a willingness to invest the time to conduct research. Any project brought to Lakewood's table would have been looked at thoroughly - to be sure, that it was appropriate for the community. In short, I feel that he would have taken the position very seriously. Plus, he has life experience, which can not be taught. (It's a very young council sitting up there on the dais.)

Brian exudes a confidence and self assuredness, that some might find unsettling. He might have rocked council's boat, and from my viewpoint, some members on council only want as smooth a boat ride as possible.

[Matthew Lee]

Brian and I don't see eye to eye on many things but it is a bit odd for him to be cut but still have another 14 or so to interview? My apologies if this has been posted but what was the criteria for making the cut? It's not like the list went down to three people, it is still a large list. Why not just interview all that applied? At 15 minutes an interview that would only take an extra 2 hours or so.

[Mark Kindt]

Laura Rodriguez-Carbone

Of those remaining on the list of potential appointees to the At-Large seat, Laura Rodriguez-Carbone is among the most qualified choices.

1. She made a clear commitment in writing to support improved ethics-in-government legislation for Lakewood;

2. Having just run for office, she knows the issues facing Lakewood directly from her conversations with voters; and,

3. From her published writing, she demonstrates a clear understanding of complicated issues like the impacts of tax abatement.