Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

I constantly encourage people to attend City Council meetings (1st & 3rd Mondays at 7 pm at Lowell City Hall) and/or the monthly Coffee With Council (1st Saturday of the month from 8-10am at the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce building on the Riverwalk). As a City Council member I not only want to hear from you, but I need to hear from you. If you think expressing yourself to me and the rest of the City Council is a waste of time - let me give you some examples of why it is NOT a waste of time or energy. A few weeks ago we had some gentlemen attend a meeting. They are interested in setting up a grow facility for adult use marijuana. The City of Lowell is working to get regulations in place to accommodate such facilities in response to the overwhelming support demonstrated by Lowell voters last year. (Prop 1 passed by a 60/40 majority). I read all the proposed rules, but somehow a portion that dealt with restricting the type of lighting that could be used to grow pot escaped my...

WARNING: Styrofoam is one of my Pet Peeves. First off, I want to repeat what I have said and written many times. Good stewardship of the environment SHOULD NOT be a political consideration. Taking care of the planet from which we get everything we eat and drink is just common sense. Yup, I am well known as a greenie - a tree hugging old hippie who walks to work and rides an electric motorcycle. You know who raised me to be one? An ultra conservative, Republican mama - she is the one who had me read "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. Mom taught me about recycling before it was popular. She was a life long user of Amway's SA-8 laundry soap because it didn't pollute ground water. My mom was taught to take care of the Earth by her mom - who was equally conservative and was raised on a farm and taught to take care of her source of food and drink. Can we please put aside politics and just talk about common sense? Here is my main...

I had a great opportunity to share some of what makes me tick when the Lowell Ledger asked me some questions the week after my appointment:  Why did you want to be on the Lowell city council?   Seemed like the next logical step for me. I love me some Lowell and I believe that giving back to the community that supports our store is the right thing to do. I have been involved with the Chamber, the Marketing Committee, and have served on the DDA since 2014, but now that we live in Lowell I can be on the Council.   What are some of your favorite things about Lowell?   How long of an answer do you want! The foundation of most of the things I love about Lowell are summed up in the word compassion. Great community that supports each other, in spite of our differences: Pink Arrow, FROM, Rotary, Gilda's Club, and a host of others. Our schools rock - we have great sports teams AND The Rock Fusion Orchestra. We have two rivers - TWO RIVERS! We embrace f...

There is a contingent of people in the Lowell area who are proponents of putting a sports complex in the space currently occupied by the Kent County Youth Fair. I strongly disagree. Many would like to see a sports complex replace the KCYF - not me!! Before I present my reasons for favoring a campground head and shoulders above a sports complex at the Fairgrounds, let me first mention that I have a lot of respect for those who want to see such a complex in Lowell. I also want to mention that I recently watched an excellent segment on HBO's "Real Sports" in which they detailed how much money parents and athletes spend at such complexes, so I am not ignorant of their economic potential for an area. However, Lowell is NOT such an area. The reason I can say that with such conviction is simply because we do not have any place for the families who might be attracted to such a complex to spend the night. Imagine a family from Traverse City or Toledo who might travel to L...