Remember when the Los Alamitos City Council began talking about how the city had built up a reserve of approximately $8 million and thought it would be a good idea to give some money back to residents in the form of utility tax rebate?
The amount they wanted to give back was more than $350,000. But when divided amongst each household, it amounted to just a few dollars per family, residents jumped up and said, “Don’t insult us!”
Instead of giving families a few dollars that would only buy them some milk and a loaf of bread or two, why not put money back into the community? Things like concerts in the park, or Christmas decorations have been squeezed out by the belt-tightening and it’s time to bring some of those things back.
Bring back the things that make Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos, was the cry. So the council went back and began looking for ways to do just that. They got imput from community members and at Monday’s council meeting, there were 10 suggested ideas for ways to invest the $358,000 back into the community.
Everything from developing a community garden to seed money to help start an annual Sugar Beet Festival was suggested. Apparently, Sugar Beets were once pretty prominent in this area and are engrained in the history of Los Alamitos. Anyway, once the ideas were presented, some members of the community jumped up and said, “whoa what are we doing.”
Are we just going to take this money and blow it like a bunch of sailors on shore leave (I’m paraphrasing)?
We need this, we need that and why should we invest in something that will just need more work later? I’m beginning to think this council couldn’t win if they were showering the city with gold.
“Whoa, gold. Do you know how bad that will scratch my car when it hits the paint?”
Firstly, the list was just suggestions and secondly, there was no blowing all $358,000 on a Sugar Beet party. The list is meant to offer suggestions and get the community involved with imput on how they would like the money spent. Lastly, the money is earmarked for community enhancement, so street or infrastructure repair is off the table. You can still complain about it, but that’s a different discussion.
Get involved in the discussion by e-mailing City Manager, aavery@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us or calling 562-431-3538.