Jan. 9, 2009
Year on City Council fulfilling, educational
By Councilmember Kevin Hartke
In January 2008 I was appointed to fill the vacancy on City Council left by Martin Sepulveda as he was called to Iraq with the Naval National Guard. It has been an honor to serve the community during that time.
Here are a few observations on the past 12 months I would like to share.
Chandler is a well-run city. We hire well and run on the leaner side of staffing as cities go. We have some of the best employees in the region. I have great respect for our City and admire the way it is run. Amidst our current recession we have seen several significant office projects, industrial businesses and exciting retailers open or expand. Streets and neighborhoods have been improved, parks and a pool have been opened, and our downtown continues to have brighter prospects.
The conservative financial practices that Chandler has employed have served the City well. When other municipalities were banking on greater sales tax revenues and increasing their budgets, Chandler planned for a no-growth budget. While our projections did not anticipate the bottom dropping out of the banking industry, nor the depth of the recession, Chandler’s foresight has allowed us to remain open for business and not cut essential services or employees.
The new General Plan that was approved by voters will allow us to be a sustainable city. This plan gives good guidelines to develop our retail and commercial areas and ensure an overall good mix of commercial, retail and residential development. Our attention to “going green” will help us down the road when operation and maintenance dollars will be stretched.
Having addressed bioethical issues, conservation, the importance of long-range water assurances and noise issues in my short time on the Council, it has been useful to dust off and make use of my education in biochemistry. Listening, building collaboration, learning to do a lot with a little and understanding the role of someone in the public eye are skills that served me well as a community Pastor and hopefully proved beneficial these past months.
There has been a personal growth side to being on Council that I shall always be grateful for. It has always seemed a natural fit for me to be an engaged spokesperson, participate on leadership teams and engage in meetings of all sorts. But the size and scope of the decisions this past year, and being part of a different leadership team has certainly expanded my skills and knowledge. Hopefully, this has allowed me to be a better visionary and manager of both people and business in the private and nonprofit realm.
When I step down on January 22, I will most miss the honor of representing Chandler as a Councilmember. I will miss the working relationships that have been built with other Councilmembers, staff, boards, commissions and private groups. I will miss responding to our City’s residents and addressing their concerns. With that said, I have made many new friends, learned much and look forward to staying involved and serving the City I have called home for the past 24 years. |