By Sam Hosler
Mayor, Town of Kearny
When my two boys were school children, they used to call “show and tell” by the name “bring and brag.” Well, I have a new name for the frantic days before Christmas, which we used to call the shopping days but now persist in calling the holidays. The new name is “get and grab.”
So let the real holidays begin now. The “get and grab” is over, the real Christmas is here, and now we can give, not only gifts, but thanks. Now we can live in a renewed hope. As a Christian, I have renewed hope in Jesus. Whatever your spiritual beliefs are, Christian, Jewish, Native American, “vaguely spiritual” or other, may we dwell on all that is positive and good.
The New Year is also close at hand. As it begins, our town has much to think about that is good. Our aged water system will, in the next few months, be repaired to the point where it is much more workable. Ray Camacho, our Director of Public Work, and our town crew are well on their way to assuring that the wells and filtration plant will be in tip-top shape, and the new improvements at the water treatment plant are complete and ready to go on line.
At the last council meeting, our accounting firm brought in an early preliminary report showing that few towns or cities can meet the quality of Kearny’s handling of monies. Soon there will be a new budgetary report which will enable the Town Council to be more fully aware of our financial dealings.
The last meeting also introduced Richard Corso as our interim Chief of Police for the next six months. He is well respected by the department, and will use these six months to establish goals and methods based on the improvement of the last year. At the end of the six months, he may become our new Chief.
Our Town Manager, Anna Flores, our Town Attorney, Steve Cooper and I have been meeting with people in government agencies and with ASARCO to develop a secure water supply for Kearny’s future. We have been in a legal limbo for several years now, and it is time to make our future secure. Working with the Mayors of Hayden, Winkelman, and Mammoth, we are developing a unified approach for economic development.
Then, every ten years the State of Arizona requires us to develop a public plan for Kearny’s future. The time is ripe with all that has been happening. The people of Kearny will be fully involved, beginning with an economic survey which is necessary to secure government grants. You will be receiving a letter from me soon, and I hope you will answer the questions, which will be fully confidential with the details made available only in an aggregate form.
Finally, we are beginning our year of a Journey for a Clean Kearny with the great clean-up day on Saturday, January 17. With all this, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.