1. This won’t be a “blog” per se. It isn’t meant to be a place to post all commentary or opinions. Everyone is invited to send in a note, but don’t be offended if it isn’t posted. There’s other sites that are perfectly content to drag through what they believe to be wrong with every issue at every turn. This is about what was done, why and where do we go from here. We won’t talk about two and three year old issues. If the desire is to engage in those discussions then look somewhere else.

2. This isn’t the Board of Commissioner forum. MJ has a City Manager form of government. The Board makes policy; the staff implements. I’ll be happy to pass your comments along to the Board, either good or bad, but the intent of this medium is to address how we could better enact policy and improve city services.

3. The narratives will be directly from me, your city manager. I won’t hide under some pseudonym or other persona. My name is Randy Robertson. My phone number is 754-2552. I am your City Manager. If your issue or concerns involves another department of the city (Public Works, Police, Animal Control, etc.) I will invite the appropriate team member to provide some comments, but it will still be done under the auspices of the City Manager.

4. I will try and be as timely as possible, but this is another one of the “additional duties” for which civil service is renown.

5. The City Staff is here for you. The desired outcome is for us to have a positive relationship with the citizens we serve, but we all know that always won’t happen. Everyone has an opinion. It is the staff’s responsibility to work through the opinions and emotion, meet the requirements of the laws and rules under which we operate, and hopefully serve the greatest number in that process. It is not an exact science. The more we have a relationship with you, the better we can meet your expectations.

6. Finally, this is about telling our story. Hopefully you will be able to sort the myth from reality or see the issue through a different set of lens. I hope you will find this of value and participate.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Update: 08/11/09

Good Afternoon MJ:

I want to extend this special invitation to all our citizens to join us tonight at 6:30, at the auditorium at Mt. Juliet High School, for a “Town Hall” meeting on the North Mt. Juliet Road (NMJR) widening project. It promises to be a unique opportunity to not only hear from City and State representatives but also officials from TDS, Piedmont Gas, MTEMC, West Wilson Utilities (water), and Comcast. We plan to open the floor to hear from you so come prepared with your questions. Whether a business owner along NMJR, a resident or just a commuter, this endeavor promises to be the largest and most challenging infrastructure initiative in our city’s history. We cordially invite you to be part solution. I hope to see you there.

Some good news. The state reports sales tax numbers about two months in arrears. We received our June figures and once again Mt. Juliet continues to exceed expectations. The city’s share for June 2009 was over $431k, a 12% gain from June 2008 with a reported $383k. We want to thank all our citizens for shopping Mt. Juliet first, and for the large and continually growing list of businesses that have their opens open to the public.

I visited the Animal Shelter today and want to share a great data point with readers of this blog. Despite the challenges facing other municipal and non-profit institutions the population numbers inside the MJ Animal Shelter are very, very low. That’s absolutely great news. Aside from a new born litter of kittens we had less than 30 pets in our control. Thanks to all of you who either have adopted an animal or who volunteer to make our shelter the best in Tennessee. Keep up the hard charge.

Speaking of great things inside the city; check out the first and only skate park in Wilson County, right here in Mt. Juliet at the Charlie Daniels Rec Center. Saturday’s ribbon cutting was flawless; the weather was great, there was a spectacular crowd, and the fellowship was phenomenal. What an auspicious beginning for our newest recreational program. If you were one of the hundreds at the park that day you also noted the tremendous progress being made on our new Rec Center expansion facility. The latest report is we might take possession in mid-to-late September. Speaking of the parks, we hope you are able to join us at Charlie Daniels Rec Center this Friday evening, at dusk (about 8:00 p.m.) for our first “Movies in the Park” showing. The feature presentation is Madagascar 2: Return to Africa. It promises to be a great evening; a free movie, great company and lots of refreshments. Our final note on Parks and Recreation is our first ever Mt. Juliet Super Flea Market, on Saturday, 20 August, Charlie Daniels Park, starting at 7:00 a.m. and running till about noon or later. Interested in getting rid of some of those household “treasures”. $20 will buy you a booth; basically the size of two parking spaces. Come on out and buy those one of a kind items, or simply make an offer the owner “can’t refuse”. There’s lot of new things going on inside the Mt. Juliet parks and Rec Department. Come be a part of it.

Well another school year started and despite the occasional local naysayer, the traffic flow to the HS worked great. A tip-of-the-hat to Principal Mel Brown and his staff for the great coordination they had with the MJPD. For those who haven’t been out there is the last couple weeks, the first let of the “Reverse L” is up and operational; significantly enhancing traffic headed to and from the high school. From the city side a personal thanks to Mr. Shannon (aka: Cajun) Joyner for his superb work on this project.

Finally, another plug for our emergency email alert system, Nixle. If you were haven’t signed up for Nixle yet I would strongly encourage you to do so. To check it out go to the city web page.

Until next time take care and talk with you later. Sincerely . . .

R. Robertson
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