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.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Update: 12/26/08

Hello MJ:

Darlene and I want to wish all of you a joyous Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year. We have had the good fortune of visiting our two sons in Washington, D.C. the last few days and are making our way back to MJ. For a large part we consider D.C. our home, with both of us assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other Washington based installations for many years. While there we took the opportunity to walk to the White House and observe the national Christmas Tree and all the beautiful displays. We also visited Bethesda Naval Medical Center and Ft. Belvoir and continue to be awed by the magnificent men and women who serve us.

I thought it might be appropriate to use this forum to provide a short end of year update. To do that I have attached the same slides that were used to brief the members of the Chamber of Commerce at their December meeting. You will see slides on crime rates, businesses (new and soon to come), housing starts, and sales tax. One of the things we talked about at the Chamber was the viability of our local economy. Despite the recession, MJ sales tax has been up the last six months compared to last year. Aggregately we have seen over $180k additional sales tax revenue from the same time period in 07. While we feel this is largely attributable to new businesses, it also speaks to the diversity and strength of our existing stores. The moral of the story is to buy in MJ.

Link to Chamber of Commerce Presentation Slides: http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/mtjuliet/published_documents/City of Mt Juliet.pdf

As the year ends I want to thank the overwhelming number of our citizens who have voiced confidence and support in the operations of your city. While there is always a few that we cannot please, it is gratifying to know we are headed in the right direction. On behalf of all of us here in City Hall, best wishes for a safe and successful 09.

Sincerely,

R. Robertson
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