~State of the City Address~
January 2, 2006

Thank you all for joining us here today for this new beginning and to welcome the 248th year of Johnstown's history. 

I would like to acknowledge and thank the other elected officials of Johnstown:          

Members of the City Council:
   -Joe Salamack, Council Member At-Large
    -Cindy Lakata, Ward I
   -Chris Foss, Ward 2
    -Kay Cole, Ward 4
City Judge, Tom Walsh
City Treasurer, Mike Gifford
The Fulton County Supervisors and other elected officials

All of these individuals have and continue to make a commitment to improve our community and quality of life.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the love and support of my friends and family. These folks understood my vision and enthusiasm for Johnstown and they worked tirelessly to help me make these dreams a reality. I would especially like to thank my husband, David, and my children. All of you have been my inspirations.

The ceremony we just witnessed is historical in nature, but also reminds us of the great things this City has to offer.

The historically significant bible signed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton connects and grounds us to our earliest roots. In the next four years it is this city government that must meet the challenges of today but also must vigilantly provide for the future of Johnstown while being very mindful of preserving and enhancing the quality of life for all the residents.

It is my belief that the City of Johnstown is at a very crucial time in its development. We are experiencing the last phases of industrial dependency and moving toward a much more technically based economy as evidenced by the continual expanded growth in our industrial park and commercial growth within the city boundaries. Johnstown also has a changing employment base, newly defined neighborhoods and a much more diverse population.

In order to accommodate these dramatic changes we must move with a sense of urgency to update the nearly forty-year old ordinances. This should he followed by the rewriting of city zoning definitions and regulations and after that by enactment of clear and concise preservation and conservation legislation for historic sites. Foundation documents such as these will give us the underpinning necessary for future growth. We can not move logically in any direction without them.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote extensively about "solitude of self" and the importance for all individuals to have the capacity to stand alone through careful preparation. It is my belief that one might extend this thought to government. We can only be truly successful as community leaders if we work to create a government capable of self-sustaining attributes. That is not to say that we hope to operate totally independent of other local governments, but rather that we have established inner resources if needed.

Sound initiatives are the best way to control events of the future rather than letting them control us. A proactive approach can minimize continued reactive governmental proceedings. It is a goal of my administration to forge ahead with these initiatives and I anticipate this will take at least two and perhaps three years of hard work to bring them to fruition.

It is vitally important that the City of Johnstown seek and maintain countywide cooperation with community agencies and governments. At this time Johnstown is fiscally sound but to maintain our efficiency, we must continually give consideration to joint ventures and shared services.

I also will he working very hard to establish a land management program to deal with properties, both commercial and residential, that the city presently owns, and work aggressively to complete timely foreclosures on tax delinquent properties with the end goal of putting them back on the tax rolls.

It is my full intention to initiate and oversee the demolition of the unsightly West State Street flatiron building, to complete the rail-to-trail bridge, to repair the library steps and entrance, to do extensive sidewalk repairs in the downtown park, to secure a much needed snowplow and to sustain beautification efforts throughout the city.

I look forward to the challenges of the next four years and working with elected officials, the talented and experienced department leaders, department employees and the new appointees.

Together we can live up to the very high standards the citizens of Johnstown have come to expect and certainly deserve.

After there is a motion to adjourn the first City council meeting for the year 2006, please join us for light refreshments downstairs and a tour of the Johnstown Historical Society on South William Street across from the Johnstown Post Office. Noel Levee, our city historian, will be there to lead the tours. The Society is featuring newly updated rooms and displays. There is an entire room now devoted to ECS and another room featuring Johnstown’s famous leather industry.

As a final note ...

I would like to say a special thanks to Dan and Julie Ehle for coordinating the events of this ceremony, to Noel Levee, our city historian, for historic input and to Jim and Linda Hinkle for handling the invitations, and for providing complete support of this event.  

Thank you again for joining us today and may 2006 bring positive change and developments for this great community that has and will continue to have so much to offer its people.