Miller, Brown to fill vacant council seats

Lakeside voters headed to the polling at Lakeside Elementary School, last Tuesday, to determine the outcome of two open seats on the Lakeside Community Council. The seats were being sought by three contenders, Keith Brown, Marc Liechti and Barbara Miller.

Overall, voters favored Brown, who was seeking reelection, and Miller for the two seats. The two terms will begin later this month, when the newly elected council members are sworn in during the May council meeting.

Council chairman Greg Schoh said he was pleased with the outcome of the election and looked forward to serving with both individuals for the next two years.

"I think two excellent council people have been elected," Schoh said. "They have already demonstrated their commitment to the community, Keith by having already served on the council for a couple of years and the work that he has done on the council, and Barb by her work on the [Lakeside] Neighborhood Plan Committee."

Schoh said he recognized the amount of time and sacrifice that both individuals have given to the community, adding that he felt they had already made significant contributions to the community, "and are expected to continue to do so."

Brown said he appreciated the people who supported him during the election and added that he was excited to continue on with the council, working to ensure good planning for Lakeside's future.

"I thought it was great that we had three people running during this election, all of them with a good skill sets," Brown said. "We have two other positions coming up for election in a year, and it would be great to have a good selection of people running for those seats, as well. I think it's great when you've got enough interest from the community to have multiple people running in the election.

"I think the biggest challenge for the council, immediately, is going to be the Lakeside Plan and getting all the input on that. Hopefully, we'll get it pushed through. It will be modified, I'm sure, before it gets final approval, and that's going to be a big process. Hopefully, it's not going to be a contentious process."

Brown also extended congratulations to Miller, who he said put in hundreds of hours working on the neighborhood plan.

"The 2009 Lakeside Neighborhood Plan, which is now released for public review-and, more importantly, for public input-through June 19, is the first step toward Lakeside having more influence at the County level," Miller said. "Whatever version of the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan evolves from public review and comment and is submitted for adoption to the County this summer, I will support it.

"Once again, though, this is a two way street, and the community needs to read the Plan and send support, comments, suggestions, and concerns to the Committee to make sure the plan represents the majority of the community. Once adopted, I will consider our Plan in any development applications that come before the Council, and I will participate in some of the follow-on actions or projects recommended in our Plan."

Brown said he would like to see the community take ownership of the neighborhood plan through their comments and continued involvement in the public process.

Like Brown, Miller said she would like to see improved communications between the council and the community, including a community council Web site with information of interest to the community and a volunteer e-mail list for receiving alerts about relevant issues or important events.