A new year and a new beginning to assess our accomplishments and our failures and conclude what must be accomplished within this time frame of 365 days, analyzing the anticipated outcome and establishing goals and objectives to implement our road map for intended success.

Ponder this as a correlation---- When you are traveling by automobile on a vacation, one of the first things I do after making a determination of the destination, is map out the route; checking the distance, the anticipated time of arrival, and possible stops along the way to refuel both the car and weary travelers. Of course the next step should be securing accommodations, insuring comfort and all the amenities. Then once all that is determined I move along into the preparation of our mode of transportation, such as oil change, check tread on tires, wiper blades, emergency supplies, etc. Next the fun stuff; packing for the trip making sure I have every possible piece of clothing, shoes and other accessories that I might need, as well as all the other health and beauty supplies, snack, drinks, and of course, the kitchen sink. Now that we have completed the prep work, it’s time to embark upon arriving at the desired location. Once we’ve successfully maneuvered through the traffic (avoiding an accident or the possible pull over for a speeding ticket), made all the necessary stops for refueling, conducted several discussions about major life and world issues, hummed a few tunes (even been caught singing at the top of our lungs), snoozed off and on (hopefully not the one at the wheel), and finally, successfully managed to arrive at the chosen destination.

Now we set out on the journey experiencing all the intended sites, sounds, smells, tastes, entertainment and recreation with all the enthusiasm that we can muster, until the time as lapsed and once again return successfully to home base to continue about our day to day, mostly normal existence, until yet another road trip is planned.

Well, did you correlate all this to making plans, setting goals, and maneuvering through 365 days? I did, and this is how I began 2007 as your Mayor in a second term of service to you and our city. It takes planning and preparation, setting goals and objectives and then maneuvering through the process, implementing our programs and providing services to our citizens. We have embarked on our journey into 2007 with enthusiasm and high expectations for a positive outcome for our City’s future.