FROM THE MAYOR'S DESK

At the end of this month, I will have six months under my mayoral belt. I thought it might be interesting to look at some things, including how it compares to what I had expected, what has happened during those months and what I see happening in the future.
To begin, I'll say that so far (knock on wood), I have truly enjoyed the mayoral experience. I thought that there would be a lot more disgruntled people either phoning or stopping me on the street. That has actually been very limited, and though it may occur more in the future, for now anyway, things seem to be going well.
Not to say that there haven't been some bumps in the road. How could we ever forget the ruckus caused by those infamous, plastic demons I referred to as the "Green Monsters?" What simply began as an attempt to save money on garbage fees and give everyone a uniform, attractive garbage tote turned into a sizeable controversy. I feel sorry for the ladies in the City Clerk's office who had nothing to do with the decision, but ended up taking the brunt of the phone calls. But now that things have settled down, I think it was in fact a good decision.
And then there were the seatbelts. For something that came about as a simple suggestion by the state, we certainly felt a ton of heat for that as well. It still astonishes me that something that is law could be so controversial. I hope that I do not go down in history as the mayor that dreamed up the seatbelt ticket fiasco, because that couldn't be farther from the truth. But I will say that I supported it both then and now, and always will.
And we've lost some businesses. I've heard rumors that some people in the public feel that I'm to blame. Well, I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but I simply do not have, nor would I ever want, the power to simply close businesses with the wave of a hand. I know that we need to work harder to keep our current businesses in place, along with bringing in new business and industry. Contrary to popular belief, we're trying hard on both ends. We really are.
Looking back, it's certainly been an interesting six months. What do I see for the next six months? Well, I would still like to get some sort of town meetings started. I can see having maybe four a year, an opportunity for the public to come and voice their opinions, ideas, complaints, etc... I think that the city council meetings may be a bit too structured for people to feel comfortable voicing their opinions in a truly open manner. I'll keep you informed.
I've had a lot of people ask me if I had known then what I know now, would I still have ran, and I say absolutely. Will I run again? I think it's too far away to really know. I will say that I can see myself not running, not because of the job, but because of my obligations of being a husband and father. My family has been extremely flexible and understanding of my crazy schedule, but sometimes I feel that what I'm asking of them may not be totally fair, either. But that's down the road. For now, I'm your mayor, and I'll keep doing my best.
I've learned a lot about things. Mainly that Waukon is still a good place to be mayor, raise a family and call home. I hope you feel the same.