A week of big decisions: prayer, transit and senior housing

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I know it was busy in Lodi with the School Street Stroll and the Roland Cheney statue revealing in front of the Chamber of Commerce.

This week some important decisions will be made in Lodi on some issues that I know our readers have been following closely.

• Prayer: Wednesday is the big night for the council to vote on what its policy will be on prayers before council meetings. The council voted on Sept. 30 to not censor anyone giving an invocation, so religious references will be allowed, including saying “Jesus Christ.” The council also added stipulations to make sure a wide variety of people are included.

• Transit: The city needs to cut $373,000 from its transit budget. This could result in a reduction or elimination of hours or services. Here’s the most recent story on forums the city held to discuss the proposed cuts.

• A senior community: The city will take the next step to move forward with purchasing property on Tienda Drive for an affordable senior housing project.

In Galt on Tuesday, the council will receive an update on the city budget, decide how to replace state cuts in property taxes and discuss park curfews.

Also, if you are out of a job or just want some financial information on staying afloat in this economy, Galt will be hosting a town hall meeting and career expo Wednesday. The meeting, organized by Councilman Andrew Meredith, will be called “When the Paycheck Stops.” It will focus on creating a post lay-off fianncial plan, dealing with creditors and advice on how to keep food on the table. There will also be information on the programs utility companies have to help residents.

Here’s a press release for more information. I will also have a small preview story in Tuesday or Wednesday’s paper.

Now I have some questions for you. I’d love to get some feedback on the story format I used this weekend. I did a main story on the possibility of rent stabilization for mobile home parks in Galt. Instead of one long story, I broke it into three other components. I had a mini-story on what proponents of a rent ordinance had to say, another on what opponents had to say and a story on Fairfield, where all the large mobile home parks are owned by the tenants. I did something similar with a Delta Greens story.

I know everyone out there is busy, so I thought this is a good way to break up a complex issue. Is it still too much information at once? Do you like this approach? Is there any other issues you think would benefit from this type of format?

Specifically, with rent stabilization, are there any questions that are unanswered? You can comment or send me an e-mail at maggiec@lodinews.com.