CC - Minutes - City Council - 8/29/2006

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Prescott City Council Regular Voting Meeting—August 29,2006 Page 8 Carl Tenney responded the problem had been developing over many years and the Southeast Prescott Circulation Study would soon be started; The Homestead was a small part of the problem and the City would have to deal with the problems whether the Tenney's developed their property or not. Mayor Simmons announced he had told a gentleman on the 151h who asked to speak to send him a letter and Councilman Luzius would read it into the minutes. Letter from Kevin Tighe,249 S.Virginia Street— "Dear Mayor Simmons, As I am unable to attend the Council meeting of August 29th i am forwarding my comments regarding the Tenney family request for a zoning change to the Council to be read into the record during the meeting. I respectfully request that my comments by read by councilman Luzius. My name is Kevin Tighe, I am a resident of South Virginia Street and owner of three houses in the southernmost block of S. Virginia St. I have tried through the proper channels to have the traffic problems of our street addressed by the city for over two years. i have had no success to date. I am unable to attend the meeting because 1 am speaking at a conference in the Austrian Alps. Ironically the subject I am speaking on is the failure of democracy in the United States and the inaccessibility to power of ordinary citizens. I thank you for giving me such an easy example of my point to use as an illustration for my audience. Though my focus is on Federal issues, the same dynamic exists at the local level. There were many of my neighbors also in attendance at the August 15 meeting and we were all led to believe we could have our comments heard during that meeting. I requested one minute of the council's time to hear my input, but was denied. Is this democracy in action? For years the residents of S. Virginia Street have had to grapple with the rumors and proposals that an extension of S. Virginia St to meet Senator Highway was inevitable as a solution to the traffic woes of the residents of Mount Vernon Avenue. At the root of these proposals is the assumption that the rights and peace and quiet of those residents are more important than the rights and peace and quiet of the residents of S. Virginia St. Do the wealthy get priority in these decisions? It appears that way to us. It may not be so, but appearances are everything.