Mayor Thompson delivers state of city address
A tumultuous economy and threats of war affected many communities nationwide in 2002, but where exactly does Logan stand heading into 2003?
“We are in pretty good shape,” Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said during his annual State of the City Address on Wednesday during the Logan City Municipal Council meeting.
Thompson recapped highlights that Logan has experienced in the past year, including the Olympic torch ceremony held in February at the Spectrum, where valley resident Brent Carpenter carried the torch into the arena.
In his speech, Thompson spoke about a core values process the city has been involved with.
“We have looked at the history of the city and asked historically, ‘What values have been important to the citizens of Logan?'” he said.
The mayor said it was determined that Logan residents want to keep the city a place they can call home.
“The core purpose is not something you invent; it’s something you mine and discover, something that is already there,” Thompson said. “The City of Logan exists to sustain an enhanced life for Logan citizens.”
Thompson listed a number of expectations that Logan residents have for the city government and detailed how Logan is performing in each area.
One expectation he spoke about was thrift.
“They [residents] expect us to get the very best bang for the buck,” he said. “One great example of that is our new emergency services trailer.”
Thompson said the city constructed a trailer with Internet capability, warming area, meeting room and television and video capabilities, all for $30,000. Other communities have purchased vehicles with similar capabilities for more than $300,000.
While the city will remain thrifty in its spending, the mayor said, Logan will continue to offer first-class city services as it has since it was founded.
“When the first light bulb was lit in the Capitol Building, it was lit by power from First Dam,” Thompson said. “We have decided as a city that we will pay a little extra to have a library that is an example to everyone in the state.
“Another example of first-class city services is our LTD bus system,” he said.
The mayor praised the services the city offers that are consistently among the best in the nation.
Thompson talked about the public process and the importance of public involvement in everything the city undertakes.
“We have got to make sure that the public is involved in our process,” he said. “The annexation process right now has been a public process and will continue to be so.”
The mayor said an example of the public and government working together is the Logan Parks and Recreation department.
“It’s been planned with public input; it’s been financed with great effort from the public,” Thompson said.
The mayor also spoke on the city’s current financial status.
“We’re quite good,” he said. “In today’s economy, that’s not bad at all.”
Thompson said the revenue projections for the city are about where they were expected to be. He said it is now time to look to the future.
“I think the future is about the same, but we’ve got to keep our eye on the ball,” he said. “I think we can maintain as we are, this next year’s budget will be very, very flat.”
In a time where the economy is struggling, Logan is playing its cards the best it can.
Thompson said the city has positive retail growth, the lowest unemployment rate in the state and, thanks to entrepreneurs and Utah State University, is poised well for economic recovery.
Looking into 2003, the mayor said there are areas for improvement.
“We can always do better,” Thompson said. “We can communicate, and we need to do a better job.”
–str@cc.usu.edu