I am very humbled to have been elected mayor of Swanton and to serve with this council. I don’t know how many men and women have served on this council in the past or as mayor. What I do know that all those currently serving and all those who have served in the past have served because they have a passion for this community, want to see it prosper and want a community that all residents can be proud of.
Let me share bit of information. There is a saying “Did you get your dollars’ worth?’
Look at the men and women that have been elected to this council. They all are accomplished individuals and bring unique and complimentary skills. They have put in many hours working on village issues and will put in many more and for that they are compensated.
When you wonder if you are getting your dollars’ worth remember that they are not in this for the money. They are each paid 81 cents per year per resident. They are doing this because they have a passion for this community. And they have done a good job.
We have a very good administrative and management team. We have dedicated employees in every department that work very hard to provide the services required for this village. However, we do have many challenges. Many of those challenges relate to budgets. Vehicles need to be replaced on a regular basis, employee and staff training needs to occur, roads need to be maintained and repaired, sewers need to be separated, water needs to be treated, the list is a long one. And all of this costs money and costs will only increase over time.
As a village of about 4,000 the cost burden falls on all of us. This council, the Fiscal Office, the Administrator and I need to balance the needs vs. the budget. I have also read all 283 pages of Village Ordinances. Not very exciting stuff. I have found some ordinances to be very outdated. Many have not been updated since 1992. Some are completely obsolete.
Some are in conflict with others. A couple of examples: a sign ordinance requires business pole signs to be at least 10’ above grade level. Many new modern signs are now at close to ground level and are both attractive and create less sign clutter. Another example of an obsolete ordinance is the Park and Recreation ordinance.
The Park and Rec Board was dissolved many years ago when the School and village levies were eliminated and replaced with the Village Park Levy. We no longer have a Park and Rec board comprised of School District and village representatives. This ordinance should be repealed.
I have also had the opportunity to review the Capital Improvement Plan and there are many positives to be gleaned from it. I have also had the opportunity to review the 2020 budget.
All of this has been quite a bit to digest and I have a lot more to learn. I will be asking a lot of questions of the administration and the department managers and of this council. Hopefully the learning curve will be quite sharp.
I would like to see us, the council, administration, and me, develop an economic development plan that would include plans for business growth, business retention and the marketing of Swanton. I’d like to see us grow so the cost burden on all of us is lessened.
Will we attract a Fortune 500 company – NO. But we can grow incrementally. We have opportunities to attract home buyers and small business owners. We have an opportunity to attract visitors that will spend some of their disposable income here.
If we can attract new businesses, new residents, new housing, and even visitors we can spread the tax burden over a larger universe. We have an opportunity to become an even more attractive community for both residents and businesses.
During the next four years I ask for this council and administration to continue to do the good work they have done in the past and double their efforts related to growing the economy of Swanton. I look forward to focusing my time and energy towards moving this village forward.