In the 49 years I have lived in Vancouver, Monday was the first time I was deeply disappointed with my elected officials who lead our city. Over the years, there have always been things that I may have agreed with our mayor and city council on, and things I may have disagreed with them on. However, I always felt like they had my respect as my elected official. Regardless of whether I had voted for them or not, they were still my elected official. I live off Southeast 34th Street in Fisher’s Landing and have made my home in this neighborhood for 25 years. Last year, me and several of my neighbors formed a group called Save Vancouver Streets because we were disappointed in the direction that the city of Vancouver was moving regarding lane removal on many of our major streets. The primary source of our frustration was the lack of transparency, community engagement and true communication from our elected officials.

Fast forward to this past weekend, when the final touches were put on lane removal along Southeast 34th Street. The first weekday after the changes, we faced a 12-block backup along 34th due to a newly configured single-turn lane onto Southeast 164th Avenue. I decided that I would print photos of the traffic backup and take them to the city council meeting that evening to share my concerns with the council. I signed up to testify, only to have a clerk tell me that if you are not signed up to testify on a specific agenda item, they do not allow for any open public comments. Additionally, I asked if I could quietly hold up a photo of the traffic on my street and was informed that this would be considered a disturbance and I would be asked to leave. The overwhelming majority of city and county governments in our region, as well as most across the state and nation, make accommodations for the public to speak openly at council meetings. Some cities limit the time or limit the amount of spots available to testify, but in our city, the council has decided that they will accept no open public comments if the topic is not specifically on the agenda.

In addition, our city does not publish individual email addresses or phone numbers to our council members. The only way to reach them is through a general email box, which they do not regularly view. This is not how democracy is supposed to work. This is not how my elected leaders should engage with members of the public in our city. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, our city council should be open to hearing from its residents. The city of Vancouver should be better than this. Please, Madam Mayor and other members of the Vancouver City Council, do better and listen to the residents of your city. Justin Wood is a Vancouver resident and a member of Save Vancouver Streets.