As the New Year starts for all of us in the City of Canton, I am very excited and extremely honored to begin my term in office as your mayor. I lo ok forward to working together with citizens throughout the City, the city staff and the City Council as we move forward together. The months of preparation and anticipation are over and it is now time to roll up our sleeves and go to work as a team to meet our goals and plans for our city.
I want the best people in city positions to be able to serve the residents as we face the challenges of a growing community. Our city government must be open and accessible with knowledgeable and courteous staff to serve our citizens. We want to make sure that the City is fiscally sound. The economic situation now facing us adds to the challenge as the building slowdown could mean less impact fees and sales tax for city government. Each proposed project needs to be carefully evaluated as to cost and whether we can afford it. Public safety is a main priority. We have great public safety personnel and as we move forward into the New Year we plan to assess the greatest needs in that area and work to address them. Keeping the downtown area strong, caring for our wonderful old and new neighborhoods and promoting good commercial development are priorities as we move into 2008. Canton is a “Comfortable City” with great City services, shopping, recreational opportunities and the cultural arts; a small town atmosphere with big city amenities. As we go forward through the year ahead, I encourage each resident to get involved, come to our City Council meetings and give us your input. By all working together, the future is a brighter one.
