This week, the Pueblo City Council in Colorado will vote on their alarm ordinance. Without going deeply into the particulars of what we hope will emerge, we want to talk with you about that dreaded word – “process.” In this case, it’s the process of how we’ve gotten to where we are today.
It’s taken us many months to get to this city council vote. That’s a very important point to remember. Working with multiple partners that can hold conflicting views on how to proceed and what the final product should look like does not make it easy to come up with a local law.
Multiple meetings with local officials have taken place. Alarm industry representatives have presented their views. Public testimony has been taken. SIAC has participated at several levels to help facilitate an open discussion that serves the long-term interests of the community, ensures quality public protection and incorporates successful and proven alarm management techniques.
The public process is like watching paint dry. You put on one coat, then it needs to be touched up. Then you find the first coat was just a base, and you need a whole second coat. Laws come about in a similar way. There’s a small change here, someone wants to noodle there, and what once seemed to be an easy clear cut change ends up taking 10 months to get everyone on board.
That’s okay. We believe in regular participation in these types of forums, and do it willingly and gladly for the alarm industry. The Pueblo’s of the world won’t always go exactly our way. But the more we participate and engage, the better the dried paint looks. It may not be a masterpiece, but we hope people are pleased with the results.