Click here to signup for Paul's Newsletter!

Public Comments - Speeches

Monmouth Mayor's Report
July 1, 1999

It's hard to believe that this is my seventh month as mayor - it's been a lot of fun and a lot of work too. Overall, I think that things are going well; some really good things have happened over the past few months. Since the last mayor's notes we've held two more neighborhood meetings bringing the total so far, to five. In May we began to clean up some language in our land use processes. In early June we held an Emergency Preparedness/Y2K forum so folks with questions could have an opportunity to learn more about the issue. In late June, we planned and implemented the '99 Downtown Sweep, a clean-up day for the business district where over seventy-five folks showed up to help paint benches, weed and plant flowers.

Between April and June we began to put into motion the initial phases of our downtown development plan process. Two public meetings were held and another one will be in a few months. Our annual 'Western Days' was a huge success with a good time had by everyone - all in all, it's been a pretty good year so far. And in addition to these things, the city is moving forward on some policy issues as well. We have worked on our effluent reuse program, a spectrum feasibility study and some internal organizational changes that will allow us some flexibility.

The most heartening thing about this year is that people are reaching out and asking to be involved in a myriad of projects and opportunities. Every week people call me or stop by my weekly office hour at Rick's Place (Wednesdays 8-9 a.m.) and ask if they can play a part. The good news is that the more we do, the more we can do. And I am actively trying to find ways of matching volunteers with projects that need being done; if you know of opportunities, please let me know.

One of these opportunities is a tree-planting event being planned for the fall. This project would plant hundred(s) of trees along the 99W corridor in an attempt to help beautify the area and add something to the color and texture of our community. We are hoping to put this together with a tentative date of October 9th as our goal. It's a simple idea, really: plant trees and greenery along the 99W corridor and 'adopt' out the care and feeding of the young plants to people willing to help give them the support they need for their first three years. Hopefully, the activity will be an old-fashioned community event with hundreds of volunteers helping us out with the planting and the short-term care of the young trees.

Another opportunity for people to help out is with a proposed skateboard park. At our July 6th meeting, the council formally asked the Parks & Recreation Board to develop a plan (within the next two months) for a skateboard park that can hopefully be built this fiscal year. This plan will probably be heavily dependent upon volunteer labor, donated materials and a lot of skateboarder input (so we build what they will use). This is an exciting opportunity for the community to come together and support our youth and I hope that everyone will turn out and make it a success.

If you have any questions about what's going on - or want to be involved in any of the programs mentioned (or in programs that weren't specifically mentioned) then please give me a call (606-2052) and tell me what you want to help out with. Together we really can make a difference, at least in this community. Thank you for helping make these first seven months so good. Have a great rest of the summer.