The Spice of Life
One thing that I'm sure the other members of council would agree on – this is not a job that is ever boring. The scope of topics that fall within the responsibility of council is pretty wide, and we always have multiple options to consider and discuss. In fact, if we don't take the time to consider new and different ways of approaching old problems, we're not going to make any headway on some long-standing problems. As Dr. Phil might say, if you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting.
The scope ranges from the basics of making sure that drinking water is clean, that streets get plowed, and that garbage is picked up, to the longer range concerns about how to encourage economic development and finance big expenditures.
To give a few examples of the variety of topics that we'll be dealing with over the next few months, as we develop the budget:
The airport is one of the topics that I think needs much more public discussion, to figure out how we can make it a more attractive amenity. For instance, the land is owned by the city, and the current users out there have leases. I think that we should discuss the option of selling some of the land, so that businesses that choose to locate out there have some incentive to make capital improvements. Right now, it's almost a lose-lose proposition, with the city not making much money, and businesses out there reluctant to make major investments to improve their properties, and thus the area, making it more attractive to other businesses.