Municipal Dreams For 2021
As the new year dawns, it seems appropriate to lay out some of the hopes — and maybe a few dreams — that I have for our coming year and what I think we can accomplish as a community to keep us moving forward.
Local Green Power:
Over the last several years we have made major steps forward in developing more of our own local and green power. This path is one we must continue to explore and invest in. As an electric provider to the community, we spend millions on bringing power to the borough and thousands more on fees for that power. If we generate the power locally, we can invest that money in ourselves and our own infrastructure. This will expand our flexibility without power grid and make us more self-reliant.
Currently, Lansdale Electric’s power is fueled mostly by coal. While it is possible to purchase more green power, it comes at a significant cost increase. If we are to expand our use of green power, it makes sense to diversify our power portfolio locally first, rather than purchasing more non-local power.
In 2021, it is my hope that we begin working on, and hopefully complete, a coordinated plan to determine how much local green power we can generate and how it can help our community long into the future.
Municipal 5G/WiFi:
Approaching this issue has become more important over the last few months than I could have ever expected when I became mayor several years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic has made internet connectivity essential to successfully work, teach, and conduct business.
To that end, it makes sense that we should entertain the idea that the internet is a necessary public service that all the residents of Lansdale need to be successful in their lives. Since we already have a significant amount of telephone pole infrastructure, the investment into a Lansdale 5G service would not be as laborious as we might expect and could help attract business to Lansdale as a community that understand the value of high-speed connectivity. Additionally, residents who choose to participate would know their money is staying local in their community by helping build a road, park, or other key service.
In 2021, it is my hope that we can further investigate what would be necessary to build a local 5G offering for our community and identify all the roadblocks or pitfalls that might keep us from expanding into this critical service offering.
Growing Our Lansdale PD:
Over the last several years we have had multiple retirements in the Lansdale Police Department. Most have been replaced and our total number of officers has remained steady. However, our community is growing, and our PD needs to maintain the FBI-suggested 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents for communities between 10,000 to 25,000 residents.
Currently, the PD has a ratio of around 1.39 per 1,000. We must move closer to the suggested ratio of 2.2. This will not be a single year issue and instead will take several years to resolve. Hiring is expensive and we need to ensure we are spending money appropriately and within our budget confines. In addition, we should be looking to actively diversify the ranks of our department. It is important to have a PD that reflects the reality of our community and we should aim to hire more officers who look like Lansdale to better serve all of us. Diversity within police departments have been proven to improve performance time and time again, we must follow that guidance as we seek to improve our own department and the service we provide.
In 2021, it is my hope that we can add two new officers to the Lansdale Police Department in order to move us closer to the suggested FBI ratio of 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents.
Obviously, these three issues are not the only challenges we must address. However, these three would help improve our community and are some of the items I am most looking forward to working on in the coming year. It is my hope that 2021 will be a banner year for Lansdale, and I believe that, together, we can find new ways to build our community up and improve upon where we were prior to the pandemic.