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.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Update: 2/16/09

Hello Mt. Juliet:

It is President's Day, and on behalf of all of on Team Mt. Juliet, for those who are on a break we wish them a safe and restful day as we commemorate and pay homage to our nation's senior leaders.

As I mentioned in my last entry, we received a great piece of information a couple week's ago, with the approval of a TDOT 50-50 grant approval for the Eastern Connector's Reverse L section of road. Our thanks to all who made this possible, but especially to the diligent leadership of Senator Beavers and Representative Lynn. They have been stanch supporters of this initiative and have done a tremendous job in keeping Mt. Juliet's needs at the forefront during these times of tremendous state budgetary pressures. We anticipate requests for bids for the Reverse L to be out within a few weeks, with a contractor selection hopefully in late March or early April.

Another bit of good news this week . . . December 08 sales tax receipts were up nearly $100,000 over 2007! With the current state of the economy, all of us in City Hall were very apprehensive about what the Christmas-time report would look like. The challenge is MJ is getting a larger portion of a shrinking pie. We hope our residents will continue to recognize the value of keeping their tax dollars here by shopping in Mt. Juliet.

Finally, to the over 160,000 visitors who checked out the city's web page since it was unveiled just 7 months ago, we encourage you to share your feedback with us. Travis Taylor, our Director of Info Technology has done an absolutely fantastic job at building one of the finest web sites in municipal government. Check out Travis' work to promote the furry, four legged residents at the new MJ Animal Shelter. Got a ticket? You can pay on-line. Want to report a crime, but do it anonymously? You can do that through the MJ website. Thanks for all you do Travis!

Take care and talk with you later.

Sincerely,

R. Robertson
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