The end of a term

Dear friends and neighbors,

At the end of October, the last regularly scheduled City Council meeting for the 2008 term marked four years as mayor having come and gone. It was an especially emotional night because it meant listening to many say goodbye to those council members whose term had ended. After speaking, I sat listening to each council member speak about things meaningful to them as they have served this City of Homewood, and it became very clear to me just how much we all have enjoyed serving.

I came into office four years ago as mayor excited about the possibilities and nervous about how I would run a $40 million city. There were several things that gave me peace and confidence about doing the job. I knew right from wrong, my neighbors believed in me, I would never plan on spending more than was brought in, and my mom and dad taught me from an early age how to treat others. Another factor that gave me peace was having a really good council. I knew they could be a tremendous support to me and to this city and would help in every way possible. I can honestly say we all kept our word to each other as council and mayor—but more importantly as neighbors.

Some of the council members have served with me since 2000, and I look back on some things that have happened since then. We’ve built a senior center, soccer fields, world-class walking trails and a new fire station, and we completely redesigned downtown Homewood. We’ve also built a new Fleet Maintenance Building and a new traffic department, increased landscaping on and revitalized the Greensprings area, and repaved more than $1.5 million worth of streets. We have a new middle school on Valley Avenue, and we are nearing completion of West Homewood’s Patriot Park.

And yet there is more to come. I fully expect to start building a new recreation center and continue to add to the walking trails, and the council has already approved more sidewalks. We are looking to start West Oxmoor Road’s improvements once final plans are completed and have already held a meeting last month looking at the long-range plans for West Homewood.

The past four years in a row have ended in surplus, no employees have been laid off, and no workweeks have been shortened to meet budget. There have been a few nay sayers along the way, but I have never been willing to surrender Homewood’s dreams to the noisy negatives, and neither has the majority of the council. For we know that no one has ever stumbled onto something big while sitting down and nothing dies quicker than a new idea in a closed mind.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as mayor with this council and the members who have believed in Homewood. I’m grateful for them staying focused and positive and I will expect the same from those new council members coming in on Nov. 5.