The Coffee Shop Confrontation That Started It All Last Tuesday’s city council meeting ran two hours longer than usual, and it wasn’t because of the budget discussions. The room was packed with business owners from our downtown corridor, and the tension...
The Parking Wars Are About More Than Parking You’ve probably noticed the tension at the last few neighborhood association meetings. On one side, longtime business owners frustrated about losing street parking to new bike lanes. On the other, newer residents and...
When the Notice Appeared on Maria’s Door Maria Gonzalez first spotted the public notice taped to her apartment building’s front door on a Tuesday morning in March. The city was proposing to rezone the empty lot across from Lincoln Elementary for...
The Plot Thickens on Maple Street You know that awkward feeling when you walk into a room mid-argument? That’s what Tuesday’s city council meeting felt like when the Maple Street Community Garden proposal hit the agenda. What started as a straightforward...
When Mrs. Chen’s Garden Met the Fire Hydrant Last month, I watched Mrs. Chen from three houses down argue with a city inspector about her vegetable garden. The inspector spoke only English. Mrs. Chen spoke only Mandarin. Her teenage granddaughter wasn’t...
The Tuesday Night Vote That Hit Your Wallet Last Tuesday at 7:47 PM, City Councilwoman Martinez made a motion that will add roughly $8 to your monthly water bill starting in January. The 4-3 vote funds repairs to the aging water...
