SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Shafter's May 7th City Council meeting will be held outside at Community Park inside Gossamer Grove to help bridge the gap between the fastest-growing neighborhood and the core of the city.
- Shafter Mayor and city council member of almost a decade, Chad Givens said the importance of holding a meeting in the community is to ensure residents in the area are able to effectively communicate with city leaders.
- In terms of the logistics, Givens says the city has a good bit of equipment left over from the COVID-19 pandemic that has been sitting, that will get used on Tuesday making it an easier task to undertake.
- Givens also noted the city plans to hold more council meetings in the neighborhood following the construction of the city services building slated for the west end on 7th Standard Rd.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the site of the next Shafter City Council... wait, that is coming up. I'm wrong, follow me.
Man, that was a long walk. This, this is where the next city council meeting for the City of Shafter will be held. At Community Park inside the Gossamer Grove neighborhood. And you may be thinking to yourself, "Sam, are you sure? This seems kind of crazy?"
The answer is yes, and it's not as far-fetched as you might think.
"We get folks who come in from Gossamer, if they have a question or a concern. And we, we embrace that," said Mayor Chad Givens.
The distance between Community Park and the City Council chambers in the core of Shafter is just over 11 miles, and for Shafter Mayor Chad Givens, while that may seem like a short distance on paper, he recognizes it's not always feasible for residents out here to get out to a City Council meeting. That's why they've opted to have one out here.
"Now we want you to know like, hey, we're a lot more available. Let's have that moment where you guys can come in at least, you know, if you have an issue, let's address it, if you have praise, let's address it, if you want to see something new, let's address it. But we want to have that opportunity to do that,” said Givens
When it comes to holding a city council meeting there’s a lot of infrastructure to take into account like seating and technology. Givens said the city already has a good bit of the equipment they’ll need in-house due to the pandemic, making it an easier task to undertake.
"We said, well, what can we do with it, we don't want to just let it sit there. So, now we know we have all the equipment. Let's be creative, and let's find a way to actually get out and to our residents.”
And according to Givens, the plan is to have even more city council meetings out here once the city is able to get its city services building constructed..
"It's a police substation, there's a fire component that's going into that, we have the option for an EMS component, it is a community library," said Givens. "But on top of that, it's a community services room. So our intention behind the building wasn't just to do and facilitate that, but it was actually to facilitate council meetings.”
If you do live in Gossamer Grove, or really anywhere in the city of Shafter, and you want to go to a council meeting, but you're not sure what's on the agenda? You can find that information on the City of Shafter's Website.
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