Mayor's State of the City Address
April 2, 2003
Citizen Responsibilities
Good evening and thank your for the opportunity to address you this evening.
It's a pleasure to be able to share with you my thoughts on this past year that I have served as Mayor of your community. It has been a very exciting year for me and for the Lawrence community. It is hard to believe that one year has passed since I became mayor and that I will finish my term next week when the commissioners elect a mayor on April 8.
I would like to begin by thanking my fellow commissioners for their support and for the energy they have contributed. I have learned so much from you and have great respect for all of the time and energy you put into this very important job. I also want to recognize the city staff for all their hard work that goes on every day, night, and during holidays and weekends to provide the valuable city services. The professionalism, vision, creativity and teamwork of our staff are critical in meeting the community’s needs. I have relied on your information and guidance and am very proud and honored to have had this chance to work with such an extraordinary group of people who are so committed to this city of Lawrence. I would also like to thank you, the citizens who have provided valuable input and thoughts on the numerous issues that we have faced. I appreciate the concerns and ideas that you have brought to the city commission.
It is your responsibilities as a citizen of Lawrence, Kansas that I would like to address this evening. We are very fortunate to live in a community that values our children, encourages participation in civic decisions and experiences the benefits of the many past successes and hard work of those individuals that have cared so deeply for our community. It is imperative that we recognize the contributions that are necessary to continue our heritage. As citizens of Lawrence I encourage each of you to be aware, be involved and support our youth.
These three elements will help fulfill our citizen responsibilities: awareness, involvement and youth support. Let me explain what each of these elements can mean for the Lawrence community.
First, awareness or knowing how your community operates and the factors impacting the community. Because we live in such a wonderful community, we have high expectations of the services that the City provides. We are accustomed to beautiful parks, plentiful recreational opportunities, safe streets, excellent sanitation and a multitude of other services. Each citizen needs to understand the cost associated with our expectations.
Key to helping generate the funds needed to operate our community is the presence of businesses. By broadening our tax base with a variety of businesses, we will see increases to the tax pool of funding available to the community. We must be mindful of the fact that commercial and industrial entities pay a far higher tax rate than that of individual homes and properties. Continuing to attract new companies to Lawrence as well as encouraging expansion of existing businesses will lessen the tax burden on individual property owners.
Job creation is vital to our future in Lawrence. The competition among communities for business that provide employment is intense. Communities are actively supporting economic development and we must do the same to come out of the downturn in the economy. In Lawrence, we all need to be aware that it takes a lot of work and cooperation to bring new businesses to our community. It takes as much work to retain businesses in our community and the same effort is required to expand existing businesses in our community. Economic development has been a focus for the City Commission during the past year and we have experience some successes. The location of Serologicals in Lawrence is a tremendous success. The benefits of bringing a business that will provide good jobs and investment will be experienced for many years to come. There are other memorable accomplishments in the economic development area during the past year including enhancements at the Lawrence Municipal Airport, the expansion of Prosoco, and the new facility for Classic Eagle Distribution.
Awareness of our community also means understanding that numerous factors impacting the ability to provide services and respond to changes. The current financial situation in the State of Kansas has lead to reductions in funding being received by the City of Lawrence. One of our challenges in 2003 and subsequent years will be to hold the line on tax increases, while continuing to provide quality services and programs for our citizens. Several factors contribute to the deficit in our budget. Revenue from sales taxes and property taxes has slowed during the past few years. And while revenue has slowed, our community's residential areas have continued to grow, creating increased demands for services. Once again, this emphasizes the need to grow existing business and attract new ones.
We are working very hard to reduce expenditures and generate revenue to cover the shortfall. However, with more than 1.3 million dollars removed from the budget for the first six months of the year, we are certain to experience even tougher budget decisions in the future. My goal has been to identify the demands of our community and place the limited resources to support those areas. Really the only future certainty with the budget is that we are sure to survive. There is little comfort to be found in the current budget situation, but we may be consoled by recognizing that many communities and states are facing a similar and in some cases more dismal situation. I call up on each of our citizens to be resilient and endure the condition.
We have so many things to look forward to in our community. We have opportunities to celebrate all of our success and come together to function as a community prepared to face the challenges of the future and embrace the achievements. Individuals need to be aware of the city’s effort to build and secure a successfully functioning community.
The City of Lawrence takes its responsibility to provide adequate infrastructure very seriously. Staff has worked to plan for future growth in population by planning for streets, sewers, sidewalks, accommodations for bike and public transit was well as planning the municipal facilities such as libraries and recreation centers. There are so many behind the scenes efforts that go on every day by city staff, advisory board volunteers and individual citizens that we all benefit from. On occasion we need to remind ourselves that a lot of work goes into making Lawrence a great place to live.
During the last year, we have expanded the water treatment capacities and have nearly completed an expansion of the waste water treatment capacity. Projects such as these take long-range planning and foresight to be prepared to carry us into the future. Also, the City partnered with the Kansas Land Trust in the first time in the State of Kansas where a conservation easement is held by a nonprofit organization on public land.
Other instances of planning for the future provision of city services include the opening of Fire Station #2. The location plays a critical role by aligning resources for future growth of the community while maintaining high levels of performance. The master planning process that began last year for the more than 1500 acres east of Clinton Lake Dam is also preparing the park land, a valuable resource, for future uses. It is the need to make decisions now about how to best provide for our community in the future that is such a valuable part of the support our city provides. The list of projects and activities that have been undertaken, continued or completed during the last is long. We opened our fabulous new Arts Center, expanded our budget process to include outside agency and departmental hearings, added resource officers to our junior highs, received a grant for a traffic unit, started or completed several storm water projects, and with help from many in the community and our staff conducted the Employee Survey and the Image Survey. Things such as continued joint meetings with the county and the school board; studies such as Adequate Public Facilities, Transportation 2025 and the 23rd Street Corridor are important pieces of our future.
When we look at all of those items on that long list, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the operations of this city. Not all of you feel the impact of these events. In fact Not everyone gets excited about that infrastructure, planning and preparation that goes on behind the scenes in our community. However, I do know that everyone has an interest, talent or skill that should be shared within our community. It is that interaction or community involvement that is the second component of our citizen responsibilities. Your individual involvement is very valuable for the Lawrence community. Participation is your civic duty but it also is key to your future. There are numerous opportunities for you to contribute in all the wonderful events and programs that make us a unique community. In 2004, we will celebrate 150 years as a city. We need to turn to our history to focus on the events, attitudes and individuals that have delivered us here. By getting involved in just one community aspect, you have the power to affect the future of Lawrence.
Involvement can occur on many levels and on many schedules. Whether it is being actively involved in our schools, participating in church or volunteering at the numerous agencies that depend on the generosity of citizens to give both their time and commitment, you can contribute to our future.
We have so many programs and services that support our community and they are viable only because volunteers are willing to contribute time and effort. I couldn’t possibly list all the opportunities we have to volunteer in Lawrence. The list is so long that I would certainly omit several, but I want to give you some solid examples of giving back on a small scale.
On the United Way Day of Caring, I joined the city staff and spent several hours at the Humane Society, my fellow commissioners and I spent a Sunday morning planting bushes and flowers and a new Habitat for Humanity House, we spent several hours at the Salvation Army as a part of keeping the shelter open on some very cold days. These examples are not extraordinary, they are a part of what many of you do for this community on a daily basis. I applaud you for your involvement in this community and encourage those of you who are not now volunteering, that it doesn't take special skills, just a commitment to make this community better.
Also in the last year, the Lawrence community had the opportunity to gather together and honor the lives lost on September 11, 2001. The events of 9-11 have brought changes to our nation, our state, and our community. Coming together at the 9-11 commemoration event was an opportunity for us to remember those who lost their lives and feel the support of those around us to help move forward. Attending community events and joining others in remembering or celebrating or supporting is an act of involvement that strengthens our community.
Now that you are more aware of the impacting factors on the community and its operations and you have made a commitment to get involved, I want to share with you the third element that will help fulfill our citizen responsibilities. Youth. You have heard it so many times - the children are the future. That statement is repeated in many arenas and in numerous platforms through out society. That is because youth will be guiding us in the future.
We need to embrace children and youth, and support the initiatives that keep them healthy, safe and happy in the future. Young people of ages, from infants to the university students deserve our care and our support.
In January, the Mayor’s excellence in education award was delivered for the first time. The award was created as a way for the City to recognize the contributions that educators make in the lives of students. By recognizing Lawrence educators who demonstrate excellence in education, leadership and community, we are recognizing the value of their efforts, dedication and even sacrifices. We will have a brighter future because we have so many fine educators working with our children and youth.
If you don’t have children in your everyday life, I encourage you to look around at the youth that you are close to you. Young people or maybe just people younger than you can benefit tremendously by your support, interest and concern in their lives. And remember, supporting youth can come in many forms. By simply considering the impact on children when we look at new projects and endeavors and focusing on their education, health, and welfare, we can be assured that they will be strong citizens in the future.
Reflecting on these three elements – awareness, involvement and youth support there are things that all of us can and must do to insure that Lawrence continues to be a great place to work and live. I know that from time to time we all become overwhelmed with the events that surround us. We live in challenging times and it is easy to think that there is nothing the individual can do to make things better. I hope that after listening to this you know that your contributions do not have to be major – they just have to be there. Each of us has a gift to be shared and how you use you gift is your choice – you just must make the effort to be involved in this community.
Several years ago, I heard a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt, which I think is particularly appropriate for this occasion. I would like to share it with you because I think it sums up what I have been talking about tonight.
The Arena":
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." T.R. (Paris Sorbonne, 1910)
Thank you again for the honor of serving as your mayor for this past year. It has been an experience that I will not forget.
