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, November 19, 2010

Update: 11/19/10

Good Afternoon MJ:

Here’s some items of interest from around the community:

1. We’ve had a rash of vandalism at all of our parks this week. This week the Mt. Juliet Parks and Recreation Department announced that someone had vandalized the children’s play area at South Park; tore up one of the holes at Mundy’s Frisbee Golf Course; bent the frame and stolen a soccer net from the city’s soccer park on Curd Road, and tore up some of the platforms and defaced some of the signs at the recently renovated Planet Playground at Charlie Daniels Park. That’s mean spirited shortsightedness. Deputy Chief of Police James Hambrick indicated that funds may be available for any tips to who was responsible for these acts. You can get more info on our “Crime Stoppers” program at the city’s homepage, or by calling Corporal Tyler Chandler, our community policing officer at 394-3092.

2. Some better news: the Nashville Business Journal announced today that MJ was Tennessee’s number one business friendly city as declared by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. This is absolutely fantastic news, and speaks volumes to the vision and goals of this community, and of the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of our city. Congratulations MJ! Click below for a link to go to the full story.
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/feature/tennessee-center-for-policy-research.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article

3. Calling all Citizens interested in alternative transportation, clean air, traffic mitigation, healthy lifestyles, and biking. We will be holding a public meeting for Phase 3 of our West Division Greenway project this Monday at 5:00 p.m., in City Hall. To refresh your memory, we should be finishing up Phase 1 construction, which runs from the MJ Train Station to 4th Avenue within the next few weeks . . . stay tuned for an announcement on the ribbon cutting. We learned a couple weeks ago, that we were one of the few communities in Tennessee to be awarded Congestion Mitigation – Air Quality (CMAQ) funding, to push Phase 2 initiatives. Phase 2 will take the greenway/bike path from 4th Avenue to Brookstone. Phase 3, the longest, most challenging and most expensive element of the project, will run from Brookstone to South Greenhill Road. Monday’s Public Hearing is a requirement for future grant opportunities. We hope you can join us.

4. Some upcoming Parks and Rec events: Our first ever Urban Master Gardner program is tentatively scheduled hold its kick off meeting on Tuesday, 14 December, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the MJ Community Center in Charlie Daniels Park. Come join Master Gardner and class leader Johnnie Harper of the University of Tennessee Extension, Wilson County Masters Gardeners Association in the ground breaking (pardon the pun) Parks and Rec initiative. For more info call Jan Litterell, at 758-6522. Stay tune to Channel 3, the city’s web page and the local papers for more info.
Our 2nd Annual Holiday and Crafts Bazaar will be held on 4 and 5 December, at the Charlie Daniels Rec Center. Times are 9am to 7pm on Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Sunday. This Bazaar will feature booths specializing in holiday related items, jewelry, floral, art, crafts, home décor, skin care and much more. We’re expecting over 40 vendors from across the region. It will be a great place to get that unique gift for the hard to buy family member or loved one. If you are interested in a vendor’s stall, call Taylor Bates or any of the Parks crew at 758-5622.
Finally, anticipation continues to build for our 11 December Christmas parade with “Rudy” Ruettinger and Ross Browner as the co Grand Marshals. Rudy is known for the inspirational film about his Notre Dame football exploits, aptly titled “Rudy.” Ross Browner was the fellow who pushed to have Rudy get in during the final game of the season, and who went on to over a decade in the NFL. This promises to be MJ’s biggest parade with tons of floats, marchers, bands, horses and even a nationally renowned bagpiper. The place to be on 11 December is along Mt. Juliet Road, from West Wilson Middle School, north to Division Street; starting at 11:00 a.m.

5. Notice the progress along the North MJ Road project. I had the opportunity to meet with the TDOT leadership and project contractor last week, and they are really pleased with the initiative. Barring major material or weather problems they are looking for an October 2011 completion date; months earlier than originally forecasted.

6. Here's a couple of ways to help support your city:
- The Mt. Juliet Senior Center designed and is selling Christmas Ornaments for $10 each. Proceeds benefit the Senior Center. Contact Pat Gwin at patgwin@comcast.net
- In a similar vein but on a different note, our very own Animal Shelter has 2011 calendars for sale. They are $15 each or (8) for $100. The calendar features animals from our own shelter and has several discount coupons attached. To pick some up, call any member of the MJ Animal Shelter at 773-5533

7. On a final note, if you live or frequently travel towards the southern end of the city, on South MJ Road, there will be some significant traffic changes coming up next week, weather permitting. With help of some technology and some existing asphalt, we’ll be creating a middle turn lane in the South Providence/Publix Number 2 area early next week. This is should be a real boost to commuters and businesses in the area. For more info check out the power point slide on Channel 3.

That's enough for this week. Take care and God Bless.

R. Robertson
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