LFP Mayor’s Corner – Reflection

LFP Mayor Jeff Johnson

With this being my last Mayor’s Corner message to the LFP community, I would like to use it to say what an honor it has been to serve as your Mayor the last eight years and as a city council member for four years before that.

 

Over the last 12 years, we have accomplished a lot, including the following:

• We weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and maintained balanced budgets throughout the economic downturn
• Moved to hybrid city council and advisory body meetings, expanding public access to the legislative process
• Moved the culvert replacement plan forward by completing the culvert on NE 178th Street and preparing the next replacement at NE 185th Street
• Built a picnic shelter at Pfingst Animal Acres Park
• Purchased the Lake Front Park property and began the public planning process
• Held Coffee with the Mayor events
• Welcomed a new Municipal Judge
• Held the annual Picnic in the Park event each year and the popular Battle of the Bands
• Created the Climate Action Committee
• Said goodbye to some long-term staff who retired, and welcomed new hires

If I had to pick the one thing I am most proud of during my tenure as mayor, it is the city’s purchase of the Lake Front Park property. Once complete, our community will have free waterfront access to Lake Washington. Our name is Lake Forest Park, after all.

If I had to pick the biggest ongoing challenge to the city, it would be finding funding to maintain and update our public amenities like parks and sidewalks. 

When presented with a proposition on the November 2021 ballot to help fund sidewalks, parks, and multimodal connections, voters said no. Without the community’s support for funding of these types of improvements throughout the city, future city leaders will be faced with tough choices when developing budgets— how to maintain the current levels of service and improve and maintain infrastructure in the face of inflation and staffing limitations. 

If park and sidewalk development and maintenance is truly a desire of the community, the community will need to support funding options.

I would like to thank all the city staff members for their hard work and dedication to the LFP community. I always enjoyed seeing you at council meetings, events, and around city hall.

Lake Forest Park is a great place to live and work and it has been an honor to serve as an elected official during these past 12 years.

Happy holidays to you and yours, and may the new year bring blessings to all.

--Mayor Johnson