West Hollywood’s Public Safety agencies came together Wednesday for an open house at Plummer Park meant to introduce the community to the many people responsible for keeping thing secure in the city.
On hand were the Public Safety Commission, the Sheriff’s Department, the Fire Department, the Block by Block security ambassadors and the city’s own Community Safety Division.
Mayor John M. Erickson introduced the crowd to his dog, Winnie, the Pet Mayor, and Councilmember Lauren Meister recounted her own beginnings as a neighborhood watch leader, which put her on the road to becoming a councilmember.
“That’s where it all begins,” Meister dsaid. That’s where you start, and once you have that down, you know then you start meeting everybody at in your neighborhood, you start meeting people who can help you at City Hall, you start meeting all of your sheriff’s deputies, and fire department, and that’s what makes us safer: is knowing who’s there to help us and how you can help.”
Newly appointed Fire Chief Kevin Price introduced himself to the crowd.
“I’ve come full circle,” Price said. “I was a firefighter paramedic here in the city back in 2000, so now I’m back as battalion chief.”
Lt. Fanny Lapkin from the Sheriff’s Department thanked her deputies and noted that they were accepting volunteers.
Is Lauren Meister saying if you “know people” at city hall, they will help you and you will get better treatment? So I suppose if you don’t “know people”, you can expect to be treated like garbage? I would think our city employees should be trained to treat everyone equally, whether they “know you”, or not.
That’s not what she said. She was encouraging people to get involved and know their neighbors, community and city resources. It is better to know people both in good times and when you have problems. Nothing she said suggests that people should be treated like garbage. Taking benign comments and twisting them into negative extremes is a sign of isolation. Maybe it is time to get out a mingle a bit.