Last Tuesday night, Council approved a two-year contract extension for me through February of 2024. I am honored and humbled by this and by the support given to me by Council. As I stated in the meeting, there are three things that have kept me here, despite a myriad of other opportunities.

First, we, as a City staff, have just begun a journey towards a vision of community focused exceptional service; to be the very best in city governance and to be laser focused on dedicated service to community as the core purpose of work. I felt it important, given what I’ve said to our staff, that I stay true to my words in my deeds and continue helping to lead us on this path. I am so proud of our staff, and the team we are building. I try to pass some of that on to you when I can, however, to truly impress upon you the incredible dedication, hard work and commitment I see every day would be impossible. I do encourage you to introduce yourself to our staff when you see them out and about. Many are fellow residents. Building those relationships is so important. We are your public servants. When you get to know our staff, I believe you will see more clearly just how fortunate we are. Also, when they get to know you they will see just how fortunate they are to serve in such a special place.

Secondly, I feel I owe that same commitment to this community. The community that has risen up to the challenges, the truly extraordinary challenges, of the pandemic with grace and dignity. Certainly not with perfection, as that simply will never happen. But a community that, more than any other community I have seen, has stepped into the challenge and gotten stronger through it. The recent Crown Communities award is a good example of that, I think. I am proud of this community and am honored to continue to carry forward our vision.

Finally, the ability of our Mayor and Council to work collaboratively in the best interests of the City has made my job as City Manager more effective, and quite frankly, more rewarding. I am thankful for a Council with five very unique personalities who manage to work so well together to accomplish things and move this City forward. It is a pleasure to serve them, and appreciate their leadership and partnership and, again, they make it an honor to serve.

We have a great deal of work ahead of us, but I have great faith in this amazing team of staff, community and electeds to get the job done and to achieve our vision. I hope you will join us.

Please take note that the Parks Master Plan Update is our big item scheduled for City Council on Tuesday, February 15 at 6 p.m. I encourage you all to watch and be involved in this critically important opportunity to create a better future for the community. The meeting agenda will be available at https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas on February 9.

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