Discussion: How Important is the Town Council?

Tuesday is the first chance for Altadenans to vote in the 2011 Town Council race: The full five location election day is Saturday, but today any residents who may be otherwise occupied on Saturday can vote today at the between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

If past elections are any indicator, turnout for the election will lag behind the turnout for any area City Council race.  That may not be an issue: the Town Council is not the elected government of Altadena, but rather an elected body meant to convey the concerns of Altadena residents to the elected county government and make recommendations on local policy issues.  Campaigns are quieter, with few election signs, direct mailing, or general publicity for candidates.

The question then is how much Altadena residents should pay attention to the Town Council.  On the one hand, the Council is the main organization that the elected county government and individual county departments turn to for conducting community input and looking for recommendations on issues that affect Altadenans.  In addition, the group's Land Use Committee does a lot of work handling land use policy in the town, and is now working on .

On the other hand, other people and organizations have had success working outside the Town Council. For example, recently groundswell of community support helped the without assistance from the Council.  A local church while the that the county is working on has not happened yet.

So what do you think?  How much should Altadena residents follow the Town Council and participate in elections?  Should residents be paying more attention?  Or is it best to work together with other organizations or outside the Town Council?

Also, some candidates in this election have said the Council should do a better job communicating with the public?  Do you feel that is the case?

Please leave your comments below, and please be respectful.  Let's keep focused on the issues.