David Loya reply to letter from Lee Torrence – February 13, 2023

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    This is a reply from Community Director David Loya to the letter written by Lee Torrence, dated February 12, 2023.
    Mr. Loya wrote:  “I understand it can feel sometimes like the decision makers are not listening because they do not respond to each and every comment or because the direction they seem to be heading does not align well with some community member’s ideas about the future of Arcata.”
     
    Based on the ideas expressed at the January 2022 Open House meeting — the largest assembly of residents of Arcata to comment on the Gateway Plan — there are not just “some” community members whose ideas about the future of Arcata are not in alignment with the direction this plan is headed.
    There are hundreds. In fact, it appears to be the majority.
     
    See the letter and compilation of the Open House results from Sherri Starr in her letters of February 10, 2023.
     
    The Community Development Department continues to disregard the public’s views from that January 2022 Open House. 
     
     
     
     

     

    Note:  What is shown below is a copy of the original letter, made for this website.  It is included here only so that the contents of the original letter can be searchable.  (The PDF received from the City is in the form of an image, and so is not a searchable document.)

    What is below is not the letter sent by the letter-writer. It will contain typographical errors and other departures from the original.  The PDF displayed above is accurate.  The text below is not accurate.  It is printed here for indexing purposes, so that each word can be indexed and included in the search.

     

    Dear Lee,
    Thank you for your letter. We’ll upload this to the ongoing engagement website on the Gateway.
    I understand it can feel sometimes like the decision makers are not listening because they do not respond to each and every comment or because the direction they seem to be heading does not align well with some community member’s ideas about the future of Arcata. With this long-range planning work, the decision makers are balancing a lot of competing priorities. And the community’s ideas and perspectives And until they have made a decision, it is important to keep having the conversation about these competing priorities.
    I am confident that they are listening and considering all of the information they are learning from the community. And I know they appreciate that not everyone feels comfortable speaking in public; email correspondence is a great way to get in touch with them.
    Sincerely,
    David Loya (him)
    Community Development Director
    City of Arcata