Washington D.C. Trip A Success For Yakima Leaders — Dave’s Diary

Washington D.C. is a great place to visit but it feels so good to be home! The City Manager, Mayor, Chief of Police, Councilwoman Maureen Adkison and I went back for two days to talk to federal agencies and elected representatives about the airport, area ground transportation needs, guns, gangs and crime.

With the help of our lobbying firm we cram a lot of meetings and face-to-face time in short order. This was my fourth trip back and I believe it was our most positive.  Chief Rizzi did a great job laying out the gang and crime situation in Yakima and we were very well received by our federal partners.  The Chief is working to ensure an effective team of DEA, Homeland Security, US Marshalls, ATF, Justice Department and more, all working together to bring about the best intelligence gathering and most efficient prosecutions for Yakima area bad guys.  He really thinks ahead and is quite impressive as he lays out his plans.  The rest of us fill in details where we can and when the feds see that the elected officials are behind our staff plans that gives them an extra measure of confidence.

Someday down the road we will have major transportation projects as part of the development of the mill site and the relationships formed now will go a long way toward insuring our future success.

Some people think government’s job is to do everything and provide everything.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  Some people think all government is bad and that we don’t need government.  Again I disagree.  We should take care of ourselves, our problems, our opportunities as much as we can, but there is a time and a place for federal support and trips like the one just concluded will help make sure the help is there when we need it most.