Adrian for Laurel

Christmas is a time to reflect on life. Somehow, most of society mutually agrees that we should take time aside, pause, and celebrate the transcendent.

Sure, there’s cookies, wine, eggnog, gift wrapping, and more. But they seem to come from some thing different; they aren’t the thing itself, but something connected to ‘the thing’.

A part of us senses about life that there’s gotta be something more, something it’s all about. I once heard humans described as ‘meaning-seeking’ creatures, and after reflecting on, it stuck - we are: we look for purpose, for significance, for meaning. We know our struggles, our joys, our connections, our yearnings, they’re linked to some thing.

This time of year, that thing seems to have a peculiar palpability — it feels closer to our touch, within reach for us to grasp. Maybe it’s because there seems to be an extra dose of ‘good will’ in the air. Or maybe it’s connected to the sparkling lights we see here and there. Or the scents, sounds, and shuffling about on errands for others instead of ourselves.

Whatever it is, it feels ‘with us’. It draws us closer if we’re attentive, waiting. Like the bright star piercing the night sky, crossing the expanse of the universe, traveling at the speed of light … all to be seen by our eyes, to fill us with a glow, to bring a smile to our faces. There, as we stand in the midst of the cold night, warmth is felt, we get a glint, a reflection.

Then we go back inside, hug those who are closest to us, and hold that moment in our souls, keeping its embers alive and rekindling the fire for the night ahead.

~*~

May his peace be with you this Christmas and all the nights of the year, and wishing you health & true prosperity in the new year ahead!

Those tuning into tonight’s Council Meeting may have seen that I voted three times against suspending rules that safeguard the passage of legislation. Those rules call for two “hearings” before a vote can be taken on Resolutions, and the Council was short-circuiting that to one. For anyone who may be interested further on why, I’ve provided the below.

Big picture:

• Ultimately, our City belongs to the people. And rules around our City’s legislative process are put in place to ensure that all residents: (a) are allowed adequate notice about what’s going on in their city, and (b) are provided adequate time to reach out to their representatives to share their thoughts and have those integrated into the decision-making process.
• Especially when situations impose new requirements on citizens, or when there’s a material commitment being made by the City, these changes are required to have two (2) “hearings” – This means that the agenda item has to appear in two separate meetings and the public provided two separate opportunities to comment, propose changes, disagree, support, etc.
• Occasionally, an emergency or other compelling circumstance may arise where the legislature may consider suspending the rules to avoid adverse impacts that might otherwise occur. To accomplish, a majority of the body must vote in favor to ‘suspend the rules’.
• Absent those types of scenarios, in my opinion, a legislature should not invoke suspension powers out of respect for the prerogative of the people.

Particular to tonight’s agenda:

• I learned 2-3 hours before the meeting that Council would be considering suspending the required two-hearing rule for the four Resolutions on the agenda.
• The circumstance cited was that our normal Second Meeting of the month had been cancelled (and not rescheduled), since it fell on the Monday of Christmas week.
• In my judgment, our resident’s rights aren’t any less in December simply because Council opts to cancel its second meeting.
• In the short time left before the meeting, I was able to confirm from our legal counsel that there would be no adverse impact to taking up the affected Resolutions at our next scheduled Regular Meeting on January 13 as normally required. Two of the Resolutions related to the DROP program, and it was very important to me that Police and City employees rights were protected.
• The DROP program is the Deferred Retirement Option Plan and it was being considered for extension for four years. The final bits of the program had just been shared with me over the weekend, and I was in the process of digesting the information, hearing others’ thoughts, and arriving at a vote decision.

In my opinion, the safeguards around the passage of legislation exist for a reason, and that is to ensure the people have their voice. To me, even if many times no one is present in the room, we always need keep them forefront in our mind and protect their space for whenever it is needed.

I like to think of it like the old Motel 6 commercial, grounded in good hospitality: “We’ll keep the light on for you.” To me, when we short-circuit the rules, we usurp the power that is the people’s. And absent a sufficiently compelling reason, we’ve sacrificed for convenience’s sake the very trust we purport to uphold.

Earlier this fall, a resident shared with me a resource she found called Dark Sky International – I then ran into it again a month later at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum when I visited with my son for his birthday. Wouldn’t it be cool if our city’s night sky looked like this?

This is Flagstaff, Arizona – The first city certified in the U.S. as a “Dark Sky Community” in 2001. The idea is that with thoughtful lighting both from municipality and residents, we can all look up at night and marvel at the sky. 🙂🔭 (Btw, did anyone catch the aurora borealis earlier this year?)

A big part is just knowing the basics, like: (a) what types of lights are best, and (b) the 5 principles of outdoor lighting, as illustrated below:

And there’s absolutely no need to sacrifice safety – In fact, studies show that properly lighted areas that aren’t ‘over-lit’ are actually safer for pedestrians, homeowners, and businesses. (Ever get blinded by a car’s headlight at night and couldn’t see anything around the perimeter of the lit area? – Same thing can happen around your house or business.)

Dark Sky’s website has a plethora of resources, like:

• A list of lighting products
• Helpful fact sheets to educate yourself
• Sample municipal codes
• Success stories
• And more …

So hopefully something in here has sparked your interest too, to search for and help preserve our ability to wonder at the sparks of beauty in our night sky! 🌃