I come into this year, and my contemplation has led me to be humbled by my 6 years of service. City service is full of ups and downs. Economic conditions have not allowed some of my initial vision for our city to come to pass in the timetable I would have liked. We have many projects that are still in limbo, many of which are a symptom of a few years of a city council with a split vision.

A great thing happened in the last election: the people of Lawrenceville overwhelmingly gave support to our vision of a great Lawrenceville, which is poised to launch itself toward the future. It is a vision that city government is more than just picking up trash, paving roads and providing services. It is about working together to build a place that engenders pride and that brings together community for all our enrichment. I don’t believe that it is enough to simply get by, but I believe we should strive to prosper and flourish.

Lawrenceville will continue to offer the best garbage service in the county, provide affordable and reliable gas, water and electric service, but we will also strive to provide top notch customer service through training and technology. I believe we should continue to expand our well water resources as a supplement to Lake Lanier and to hopefully bring down the rates that Lawrenceville pays.

We will remain vigilant in our fight to protect Lawrenceville from commercial expansion at Briscoe Field Airport. I would hate to see any of our many successes voided by the noise, traffic and pollution that a commercial airport would create.

My goal is to carry on our united vision that Lawrenceville is a regional leader. I believe that our citizens deserve investment in infrastructure that will improve their lives and draw new neighbors that contribute to the positive growth of our city. I believe that our development regulations and ordinances should be followed.

In the past nine months we have made initial steps toward all these goals, and I intend to continue the push toward a better Lawrenceville. However, just better isn’t good enough, our goal is greatness, and I believe that greater things are still to come.