Annual Theme
Weekly Update #206 12/31/2023 to 1/6/2024
Welcome to 2024 everyone! Do you pick a word or phrase each year? Before I share mine for this year, let me share some of the first week of 2024 serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
To start the week and the year off, our department heads took an oath of office. This year, we have Chad Dixon returning as Director of the Department of Public Works, Chris Engleking returning as the head of the Legal Department, Chad Keithley joining us as Parks and Recreation Director, Jeremy Gray returning as the Building Commissioner, Eric Roll is now officially Chief of the Seymour Fire Department with Anthony Walker as the Assistant Chief, Greg O’Brien returns as the Chief of Seymour Police Department with John Watson as the Assistant Chief, and Jarin Gladstein returning as Director of Water Pollution Control. This group of men and women all have gained tremendous knowledge and grown so much over the last four years. I can’t wait to see what kind of growth they each have over the coming years.
Now that the holidays are over, I had a chance to get back to one of my favorite things and worked alongside the Parks and Recreation crew on Wednesday morning this week. The task at hand was taking down Christmas lights at Crossroads Park and Burkhart Plaza. My part of the role was to get harnessed up and climb in the bucket of the Department of Public Works bucket truck. While I am not nearly as smooth as the normal crew, I did manage to get the job done and snap a few pictures along the way. Both parks are a little less bright after our work was complete, and I look forward to seeing them go back up in about ten and a half months from now.
Seymour Noon Lions had their annual Special Olympics Basketball Tournament this past Saturday at Seymour Middle School and the Boys and Girls Club of Seymour. For me, this is a great event to have two of my groups overlap. Being a member of Seymour Noon Lions, I get to volunteer and help the event happen. Being a member of the Jackson County Special Olympics family, I get to see all our hardworking athletes show their talents to the world. If you have never been to this event, go ahead and mark your 2025 calendar for the first Saturday in January and get ready to leave with a smile because it is always a good time. We would love to have your help as a volunteer, but if that isn’t in the cards for you, we know the athletes love a good cheering section.
So what is your word or phrase for 2024? For me this year I have decided on “Continuous Growth.” I always encourage my department heads to look for ways to improve their departments, and with an underlying thought of continuous growth in my head, I expect it could be a great year for new ideas to emerge. Over the years for myself, I have spent the time to grow as well. Several years ago, I became a Certified Municipal Official via the Municipal Management Institute. More recently, I have finished year one of my Certified Public Manager program at Ball State and am now enrolled in year two coming up in a few months. Last year, I was able to wrap up my Bronze and Silver levels of the Accelerate Indiana Municipalities program with Ball State called the Mayors Institute. This program is a continuing education program to help us continue our growth during our time serving as mayor. I can’t wait to see what all 2024 brings for every member of our community, and I hope they will have a year dedicated to continuous growth. Today, I will leave you with a quote from Rickson Gracie, "Physical strength (hard work), mental strength (perseverance), and spiritual strength (love and acceptance) are the keys to continuous growth."