“Can you hear us” is the question many residents are asking after their strong objections to recommendations in the recently-released draft Environmental Impact Report for the
proposed Silver Lake Reservoirs Master Plan appear to be ignored.
The first of two recent virtual meetings was held by the Reservoirs Committee and took
place Sunday afternoon, October 13. The goal of the meeting was to draft a letter of
support for the EIR, which recommends massive changes to the reservoirs complex. More
than 45 people attended the two-hour meeting and based on the numerous opinions, the
co-chairs elected to take a “straw poll” vote to check the temperature in the room. The
results were clear: the majority (27) voted AGAINST the Master Plan Draft EIR. Thirteen
(13) supported EIR Alternative #3, which offers the most limited alterations to the reservoir
complex. Only nine attendees voted in FAVOR of the Master Plan EIR. Policy and
procedure would have allowed a motion to be made to draft a letter on NON-SUPPORT of
the DEIR, but one co-chair opted to inform the attendees that he and his co-chair would
discuss how to proceed at a later date.
On the following Wednesday evening, the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) held what may be
the last Silver Lake Reservoirs Complex Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
community meeting before the proposal is submitted to the city council in spring 2023.
Although the presentation of the EIR was technically glitch free, the meeting was riddled
with technical difficulties and the portion reserved for public comments was anything but
smooth sailing. On multiple occasions, staff members stated they couldn’t hear what was
being said. A member of the public did not miss the opportunity to point out the irony of
how staff could not hear a sizable number of comments. He called it a parable considering
that after three years of community meetings, the BOE, elected representatives, and
special interest groups continue to ignore vocal opposition to the Master Plan.
Can you hear us? We don’t think so.