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The last time I addressed you from this forum I wrote with much anticipation and excitement about the changes we were witnessing in our downtown as a result of municipal building projects. The new Police and Court facility was under construction and the Municipal Complex, including a new city park, was soon to be started. With these projects now completed, they represent the largest single investment in construction in downtown Greer’s history and have set a benchmark for new construction for generations to come. The last decade has provided unparalleled growth in the Greer community and, with that, unparalleled changes and challenges.
As I write this, we face unprecedented challenges and changes of another kind. The crisis in the nation's financial markets is causing businesses, families, and governments at every level to confront pressing challenges in regard to declining tax revenue, home foreclosures, health care/retirement benefits, and fewer permit and license sales. In addition, we face funding cuts from traditional federal and state sources. Faced with these growing problems your city’s leadership recognizes that local government cannot sit by and wait for help but must be proactive in developing new strategies and act constructively at the local level to manage these issues.
The good news is that unprecedented challenges bring about unprecedented opportunities. The opposite of crisis is opportunity, so we can’t allow ourselves to focus on the problems but rather the possibilities. Cities aren’t the cause of our nation’s current situation but they can be part of the solution. Part of the Municipal Association of South Carolinas’ Hometown S.C. initiative has been a campaign to foster understanding that South Carolina's cities and towns are the state’s economic engines and that the health and vitality of our cities is a primary indicator of the health of our state. What an exciting opportunity for cities small and large across our state and throughout the country to strengthen and revitalize our nation. Significant problems require significant change, so while we wait for a new administration to address our current challenges there is no better time than the present for local governments to take the lead in generating new ideas and approaches to the problems we face. As your mayor I embrace this concept and commit to you that your City Council and staff face the uncertainty of the future with the same optimism that we have applied to the challenges of the past.
We are not given a choice of our circumstances, only the outcome. So with your support and help I look forward to leading the City of Greer through whatever challenges lie ahead.
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