From the LFP Mayor Jeff Johnson: Shining through the challenges

LFP Mayor Johnson

As we find ways to work within the constraints of a pandemic, I would like to give a big shout out to the City of Lake Forest Park Public Works crew. Despite several challenges, the members of this team continue to shine as they serve the needs of our City.

The LFP Public Works crew consists of six full-time positions, plus the public works supervisor and a part-time administrative position. 

At this time, though, there are only four crew members available to work. There are also budget-related required furlough days and a hiring freeze through the end of this year that will impact the daily staffing level. 

I continue to be so very proud of this team and thank them for all that they do for us.

I would appreciate our residents keeping this in mind when submitting a Request for Service form. The crew’s ability to respond as it normally might will be much slower, due to the staffing shortage.

A brief overview of the crew’s summer activity includes:

• Vegetation management throughout the City
• Removal of shrubs that were run over in the median planter at SR 522 and NE 153rd Street
• Addition of two new traffic bollards on the pedestrian connection between NE 145th Street and NE 147th Street, due to vehicles using it as a cut-through
• Responding to vandalism at Lyon Creek Waterfront Preserve, which required repair (again) of the viewing deck rails
• Responding to graffiti vandalism, which required removal of graffiti from the SR 522 bridge walkway in the 15300 block of the state highway

I would also like to express my appreciation to all of the frontline workers: our Police Department, the Northshore Fire Department, our medical professionals who work and/or live in Lake Forest Park. Thank you for all that you continue to do to see us through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last, but not least, I want to say thank you to our Community Partners for their hard work serving our community: Center for Human Services, Friends of Third Place Commons, ShoreLake Arts Council, Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Senior Center, and the YMCA.

Together, all of these efforts help Lake Forest Park continue to be a wonderful place to live.

My sincerest thank you to all of you.

--Mayor Johnson