Wonder
Weekly update #266 2/23/2025 to 3/1/2025
Sometimes, my role in our community allows me to look out into the future, and I love it when it looks back at me with wonder in its eyes. Before that though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
Every day this week allowed me a chance to speak to a group in one way or another. Monday, I delivered my sixth State of the City address where I had a chance to look back on 2024 and look ahead to 2025 and beyond. In 2020, I had 22 items in my futures section, and we have accomplished 18 of them to date. Some like O’Brien phases two and three are getting down to months instead of years away as we should go out for bids later this year. When I first spoke of these projects in 2020, we had pitched them but had not been awarded any of them until later that year. Federal Aid road projects like these typically take around five years from award to the start of construction with even more time if you count the work put in to even get the award. In all with the addition of this year’s new future items, 74% of them have been completed from the last six State of the City addresses. If you would like to see the full presentation you can check it out on the Seymour YouTube channel.
I had a chance to meet with Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales one day this week. While we have overlapped at a few functions in recent months, we haven’t had a chance to chat since 2023. As we shared stories from our roles serving we enjoyed a few laughs and some hopes for the future. We talked about items related to voting, various bills in the State House, economic development, and more. One key item that sticks in my memory is our conversation about the differences in philosophy from around the world when it comes to business practices. Some have no problem being overworked while others frown upon after-hours calls altogether. Thank you, Secretary Morales, for taking time out of your week to swing by Seymour and catch up on what is going on in our community.
I guess it is time to get back to that opening thought. This week, I had several chances to speak to our local youth from seniors in high school across the county to Seymour Middle School students a couple of times. One asked my favorite part of my job, and I shared that it was speaking to our youth because they are the future. Many years ago, my interest to serve as mayor was sparked in a classroom at Seymour Middle School, and I hope that something I share with today’s youth may spark the same for them. Thank you to all the teachers who have the students send questions that I then take and compile before I head to the classroom to have a conversation with the group as a whole. Some topics, like new restaurants, are not necessarily something the city handles, but I share how we can help try to attract investment in our community. Roads are usually a topic for a few, and using my O’Brien Street example from earlier, I shared that we started that project when they were in second grade and will finally get to put a shovel in the ground before they are finished at Seymour Middle School. As I watch the faces, it is a highlight as I see the wonder start to form in their eyes, and I hope they realize they can accomplish amazing things with a little patience and perseverance. Thank you again to the teachers who gave me the chance to share some of the amazing story that is our community. Today, I will leave you with a quote from Thomas Edison, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."