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.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Update: August 11, 2010

Good Afternoon MJ:

Welcome to this first posting for August. City Hall has been pretty busy the last few weeks, so this update will cover quite a few topics.

I’ll begin with relaying how proud I was of MJ last week when the remains of Specialist Michael Stansbery came home last week. We received notice late Tuesday night, but with the help the City’s IT Director and members of the MJPD, several Nixle notices were posted and a continuous loop message went out on Channel 3. Deputy Chief Hambrick and I spoke with Michael’s parents on Saturday and they asked me to pass along to everyone how truly wonderful it was to see the crowd lining South Mt. Juliet Road. Bringing just a little gladness in the midst of this tragedy was an exceptional thing. Thanks to all who were there in person or spirit.

Mt. Juliet was just named a “Playful City” by Kaboom Corporation, the nation’s largest manufacturer of outdoor playground equipment. For the last four years, Kaboom has surveyed thousands of cities across the county to recognize and reward municipalities that appreciate and take steps to improve exercise and recreational activities. This year Mt. Juliet was just one of 134 cities in the U.S. recognized by Kaboom as a “Playful City” and the only city in Tennessee so designated. Since 2008, nearly $4m has been earmarked in grants to “Playful” communities, so MJ has a conduit to some of those funds. Many thanks to Mr. Rocky Lee, Assistant Parks & Rec Director, and Team member Kat Cook for making this effort a reality. Well done. While on Parks and Rec, there are a couple upcoming events for your calendar. First is our end of summer “Movie in the Park” which takes place at the Charlie Daniels Park Amphitheater, on Friday, 27 August, starting at dusk. The film “Rudy” will be shown, with an added feature, Special Guest Defensive End Ross Browner, former Notre Dame Player and 2 time All American Trophy winner will be there for autographs. There will be prizes and concessions available. The next day, Saturday, 28 August, has been proclaimed as “MJ Play Day”. From 2:00 to 6:00 come join us at Charlie Daniels for a variety of athletic and recreational events, including water pistol fights with some of MJ finest. This free event promises to be a great time for the entire family. I hope to see you there.

Some financial news for MJ: New Housing permits took a nose dive in July with less than half the number of permits issued compared to June. So far, August seems to be improved with 14 permits as of last Friday. On the sales tax side we received some good news with July’s data showing the city’s share was slightly more than $557k, over $100k up from July 09. This reflects the same positive results seen throughout Tennessee with this July being the first month in over two years to exceed sales tax projected revenue. Remember: Shop Mt. Juliet.

Remember, LOCK YOUR CAR!. Last Monday, an MJ neighborhood was hit with a string of car burglaries. I don’t want to compromise an on-going investigation, but suffice to say every one of the multiple cars broken into were unlocked.

Check out a couple of the newest features on the city’s home page. The first addition is our new chipper truck notification menu located at the top right corner of the homepage. This item will allow customers to keep track of chipper services and know when the Chipper Truck will be in your area. The attached map outlines the various zones of the city, while the other icon allows the user to sign up for automatic weekly alert messages notifying the recipient where the truck is located. We’ve had several positive comments about this initiative and encourage customers to register. The second addition is oriented towards the our business development and real estate community. Under the city’s “Economic Development” menu item on the left, there’s now an “Available Properties” section which allows individuals to peruse commercial properties available throughout the city. Mr. Kenny Martin, the city’s Economic Development Director, will be regularly updating the information, so if you’d like to get something posted, give Kenny a call at 754-2552.

While our Nixle subscriber’s roster continues to grow, we know there are still many out there who would like to receive these messages. If you know of anyone interested in community, weather or police updates that are automatically pushed to their email or smartphone, refer them to the instructions on the city homepage. Click on the “Nixle” icon at the bottom left of the page.

BTW: The metal framework going up just north of the McDonald’s on SMJR is a Cheddars Restaurant. Cheddars is one of the fastest growing dining establishments in the county. The MJ Cheddars is looking for a late October/early November opening.

If you haven’t checked out the summer edition of MJ’s Citizen Update, you can easily do that by going to:
http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/mtjuliet/published_documents/Administration/Quarterly%20Newsletter/SUMMER%202010.pdf
There’s some timely and informative articles in this edition. Please let your family and friend know.

Thanks to the Chamber, Wal Mart and many NMJR-based businesses for the support and positive comments on the recent installation of “NMJR is Open for Business” signs place at the intersection of Division and NMJR, and further north on NMJR. The signs, paid for by Wal Mart, look fabulous and speak loudly that despite the construction noise and dust, nearly 100 store and business owners along NMJR are there to serve you. Think about them the next time you’re shopping.

Take care and God Bless MJ. Stay out of the heat.

R. Robertson
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)