The New Year is traditionally known as a time to reflect on the past, count your blessings, make resolutions and look toward the future. As I begin my term as your mayor, I think of the same things for our great city.

The past year has seen growth in our police force, sidewalks along Asbury Road under construction, new equipment and service vehicles, annexations, new sub-divisions, development of a new city park underway and an assessment policy has been adopted. Some things to look forward to in 2008 are continued residential development, adoption of a sidewalk plan for selected areas of the city, a strong emphasis on economic development, improved relationships with area governments and agencies and a celebration of our 75th anniversary.

One pledge I have made is to enhance communication between citizens and the City. We will continue to reach out to all with our present modes of communication and then go the extra mile to inform individuals when events, issues or policies will impact them directly and look for new and better means of communication. Im excited to announce that City staff has already come up with one great idea. They are working on a plan to send email notifications in a timely manner for such things as meeting agendas, snow emergencies, water shutoffs, changes in refuse pickup, special events etc. If you would like to receive these, please send an email to c.asbury@mchsi.com.

As for counting our blessings, Asbury is fortunate to have a dedicated and experienced staff, a council that is focused and committed to success and enthusiastic volunteers, all of whom embody the spirit of Asbury, More Than You Can Imagine!

In closing, Id like to recognize the efforts of my predecessor, Rick Anderson. Rick has done an outstanding job of leading our city in the right direction the past four years and leaves a strong legacy. His success would not have been possible without the help of out going council member Craig Miller. Thank you to Craig for his commitment and diligence. I also ask your support of the new council. With veterans Bob Blok, Deb Roth and Bob Reisch and rookies Jaime Nedved and Andy Kindle, we will a have diverse, energetic council whom Im confident will keep Asbury moving forward.

Sincerely,

Jim Adams

Mayor