Message from the Mayor
Happy winter to all. With the new year, I’ve started my 4th term as Mayor. After a three year absence from the role, it’s good to be back.
We are so fortunate to have an excellent City Council of generous, committed neighbors. I am very confident that among us we can make good choices and decisions for our City.
We started our work in December with the annual goal setting session. At Council in late January, the City Manager presented us with a compiled draft of the goals and objectives for the upcoming year. There are several first-tier priority projects that staff and City Council will be focusing on over the next two years:
- Zoning Code Improvement
- Westside Urban Renewal District Formation
- Heights Streetscape Plan
- 780 Rand Road – Phase III
- Racial and Social Equity
There are second and third tier projects as well. For more details, check out the agenda from our January 23rd Council meeting at cityofhoodriver.gov.
Of course, much of staff’s time is occupied with ongoing City operations and business, so there is always an important balance between day-to-day and longer-term strategic progress.
In addition to this list of larger projects, topics in the first month have ranged from sewer rate adjustments for some industrial users, committee assignments for councilors, and deciding how to manage the rules for food carts and parklets post-pandemic.
I would invite you to swing by your City Council meeting sometime – we meet at 6 pm on the second and fourth Mondays of each month – and we post a short bilingual summary video online.
Onward!Adelante!
Mayor Paul Blackburn
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