If you are fond of Arthur C. Clarke's award-winning
books about the future, you know that 2001 is a watershed year for Humankind.
Certainly, in Prospect, 2001 was a year in which we not only accomplished
much, but laid the groundwork for things which will affect all of us in the
future.
While a couple of familiar things
dominated City activities - most notably "the" bridge and the work
on the expanded City Hall and Reading Center - other issues took seed which
will have a major impact on all of us in the coming years.
One of the things we really sought
to do eight years ago when I first became your Mayor was to bring the community
together and to provide open, public and participatory decision-making. The
fact that our Neighborhood Meetings and our Community Events - the Fourth
of July, Pun'kin Paintin', Light Up Prospect and the
3-on-3 basketball tournament - all set attendance records indicates these
activities have really come into their own. We see the opening of the
It is vitally important that we
have a sense of community and place in our City. Of all cities of any significant
size at all, Prospect grew faster than any other in
None of this would matter in the
least if we did not have a sense of purpose and of community - both among
ourselves and perceived by those with whom we interact in the State, the County
and in other Cities. The bridge issue is a prime, and present, example, but
there are other projects on the horizon which will greatly affect the quality
of life for all of us in Prospect - a quality of life we are repeatedly told
is the reason people move to and enjoy living in this special place.
For example, the new merged government
which will come into being in less than a year now will provide both challenges
and opportunities. I have written and/or spoken with all the announced candidates
for County Council District 16. There are two themes I have expressed: that
we are underserved in the far eastern portion of the County and we must continue
to have the revenue sources we now use to pay for the premium City services
you receive.
Both are major concerns. We have
to drive an inordinate way to renew a license plate or borrow a book from
the Free Public Library; while projects continue apace for other parks, Hayes
Kennedy Park seems to be the step-child of the County system; our voting precincts
are so confused as to location it would be laughable if it were not such a
serious issue.
At the same time, according to reports
in the media, the new County government will start off faced with spending
more money than it has. There is reasonable concern this may cause the new
government to look longingly at some of the traditional sources of revenue
which has historically been the fiat of Cities. If this happens (despite protestations
from every candidate you speak with) your City would be faced with cutting
services to you or raising taxes to do so. We wish to do neither. Indeed,
a multi-year projection of expenses and revenues will be made to the City
Council this year. But any projection must assume the City's sources of revenue
remain the same.
Another issue of huge concern to all of us
is traffic on U.S. 42. The same projections made by the Kentucky-Indiana planning
body which recommended building an east end bridge also show traffic through
our main throughfare toward Louisville will outgrow
any reasonable improvements to the highway in the next 20 years. This will
necessitate another solution to get the majority of this traffic - primarily
coming from
"The"
Bridge Redux (Again)
If I had only $1 for every time
I have written or spoken the word "bridge" in the last eight years,
it seems I would be challenging Bill Gates for the title of
I do not intend to dwell at length on this
issue here. Each of you recently received a copy of the City's official response
to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the bridge.
The bridge "story" is
one of those good news-bad news things.
The bad news is that while the City
firmly opposes construction of a bridge in any far eastern corridor because
we believe there is no demonstrated purpose nor need, the ultimate decision,
as best we can determine, is that one will be built. Sometime.
The good news is the originally-planned
route for the bridge, which would have cut Prospect in half, has virtually
no chance of being approved. The additional good news is that the route the
City favors, A-13-15, is the most likely to be selected and will have the
least impact on everyone, even in Bridgepointe.
How did we turn this around? With community effort.
While it certainly helps that I,
as your Mayor, have a good relationship with every decision-maker in
The
We are extremely excited about the
opening of the
Thanks to an anonymous donor, the
Prospect-Goshen Rotary Club and the Kroger Co., we will open with approximately
500 childrens' books and 500 "current"
books for adult and young adult readers.
The childrens'
books are really impressive. For the adults and young adults, I think you
will find that if it is on a best-seller list, it will be available at the
Our
Police: A Class Act
One of the most positive strides
we made in Prospect during 2001 was appointing Marvin Wilson to be Chief of
Police.
Chief Wilson was Deputy Chief of
the Louisville Police Department before his retirement two years ago with
20-plus years of service.
While we have been justifiably proud
of our Police Department in the past, Chief Wilson has brought a level of
professionalism and "can-do" attitude to Prospect that you, as residents,
expect.
We were very proud to be able to
raise more than $4,000 for police and fire widows and orphans in
The Department also added two new
officers, Stacy Bruce and Travis Cook. Bruce is a veteran of the Jefferson
County Police Department who also retired after 20 years of service; Cook
was one of the brightest young deputies at the Jefferson County Sheriff's
Office. They, like Chief Wilson, have been welcome additions to Prospect.
Little
Things Mean A
We believe a primary reason Prospect
is special is attention to the "little things" in our City.
Sometimes those "little things"
require a great deal of work on the part of your elected officials and the
City's staff and Police. It is not an accident that, as soon as we can find
them, you will not see the roads and telephone poles littered with signs of
all descriptions. We keep after them.
I challenge anyone to find a pothole
in the City that rears its ugly head for more than a day or two. While, for
a variety of reasons, there will always be a missed garbage pickup or two,
we even come in on Saturday morning to call in those misses so they don't
linger through the weekend.
Sometimes the little things are
big things. The final building plan for the new McDonald's was only approved
after a couple of months of back and forth. The result, however, is that the
McDonald's, like the Dairy Mart, is unique in the entire area. I was told
it is the only restaurant in this huge chain which has tinted windows to keep
"light leakage" down. You may also note there is a sidewalk leading
from the store to U.S. 42. When the highway is widened there will be sidewalks
all along the area - and this one will provide easy access to
That widening is currently scheduled
to take place in 2006, but we hope to now advance the date thanks to U.S.
Rep. Anne Northrup, who secured a $600,000 appropriation
from the federal government for the work. That is just one grant we have received
from various sources. It may be interesting to you to note that Prospect has
received almost $1 million in grants and appropriations from agencies of the
federal and state government. In the 20-some years prior to my becoming mayor
in 1991, we never got a dime.
Its The Economy . . .
The horrifying events of September
11 last year have had their impact here. The Police Department routinely gets
advisories from the FBI and other agencies about potential dangers. I can
assure you they are handled with dispatch.
But while we, thankfully, have not
been touched directly by these terrorist activities, they have had an effect
on the City. One only need look at the number of retail locations which are
empty in our shopping areas to acertain that September
11, and the national economy in general, are being felt right here.
As I and a number of members of
our present City Council warned back in 1990 when the zoning change which
resulted in the construction of
Let me say that Monty Helm and a
number of his tenants, especially Kroger and Republic Bank, have been the
kind of corporate citizens any city would give its eyeteeth to have.
We have been working with Helm and
the owners of Prospect Point,
While on this general subject, let
me once again say thank you to Dairy Queen, the Merchants of Prospect Point,
the Merchants of Prospect Village, Rumpke of Kentucky,
Republic Bank and Kroger who were all prime sponsors of our community celebrations
in 2001. Those events would be considerably scaled back were it not for their
generosity.
Thank
You
The running of the City is a day-to-day
voyage which would be impossible without a magnificent crew.
Without
It is a good thing that
Cathie Parrott joined the staff
as deputy City Clerk and bookkeeper and we're glad to have her. She's extremely
efficient and protects your money like it was her own. Anne Brunner, your
City Secretary, is the force behind so many projects and also makes a great
Frosty the Snowman.
We increased
Finally, thank all of you. Prospect
is a City that works. It does so because it has so many wonderful residents.
It is a joy to be your Mayor.
2002