COLUMN: New year brings fresh perspectives to city commission

As you begin to think about changing your calendars from 2013 to 2014, at City Hall, we too begin planning for the upcoming changes in our local government. The Swearing-In Ceremony will be held on Monday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

I am looking forward to my new role of mayor, and I will be joined by Jill Southerland from Ward 2 and Ken Siler from Ward 3 in their first terms. Todd Erickson from Ward 1 will be returning for another term. John Campbell (Ward 1), Stephen Turner (Ward 2) and Dan Morrison (Ward 3) will continue with their terms through 2015. I think we have a good mix of new people to bring fresh perspectives, while having experienced Commissioners to provide stability and history.

I look forward to working with the commissioners and the new city manager, Mark Shrives. We are heading into the eighth year of the city manager form of government here in Polson, and naturally there were challenges with making this change. I think we have learned over the years, and have the right mix now to effectively and successfully utilize this structure.

According to the City Charter, the City Commission is the legistlative and policy making body of the City. These seven individuals are charged with directing overall policy, and voting on ordinances and resolutions to guide the city manager in the day-to-day management and oversight of the City of Polson.

The mayor’s role is as the presiding officer at the commission meetings, and acting as the representative of city government for ceremonial purposes. In order to effectively operate in any organization, I believe all members need to understand their roles. I look forward to my responsibilities of  leading our organization through the challenges and opportunities that are addressed at each council meeting, and to be an ambassador for our city.

In addition to working with the commissioners and the city manager, finding ways to inform and receive input from the community is another important element to me. We are already working on some new ideas for this.

I also want to grow relationships and collaborate with governmental entities and other organizations in the community. I believe working together yields the best results for a succesful future.

Let’s do great things together!