Letter to the Editor: City of Lake Forest Park paid consultants $ 923,749

To the Editor:

The Stewardship Foundation has continuing concerns about the lack of environmental care shown in the process leading up to changing development regulations for the Lake Forest Park Town Center.

In particular we have been concerned about the viewpoints of the consultants hired by the City to guide this process, who appear to favor excessive residential development at the Town Center area. These contracts are adopted by the Council and signed by the Mayor.

The diversion of this large amount of public funds unwisely left other city projects and community needs behind.

On May 16 we filed a public records request with the City to learn the amount of City funds being paid to three consultants. These contracts began in 2017. From the official records we received several days ago, we learned that the grand total paid to the City's three primary Town Center consultants through March 16, is $ 923,749.50.

The contracted work continues, so there will be more payments, made after May 16, 2019, to add to the total.

The information we received were summary reports for these three contractors that did not clearly identify specific payments with the particular task being supported; nor is it a complete accounting of funds paid to all contractors engaged by the City for this project.

Integral to the City’s own Strategic Plan’s Values and Vision is the commitment to be “effective, efficient, financially prudent and innovative stewards of the public’s resources, and strive to achieve sustainable results.” We urge the City to fulfill this responsibility to its citizenry by demonstrating this stewardship with a timely, detailed, and comprehensive report.

Julian Andersen, President
Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation