Greeting residents of Mount Rainier Maryland.It has been four years since I campaigned and asked for your vote to elect me as Mayor of our City. Although it seems like yesterday, it is that time again, and I am writing to ask you to allow me to represent our City another four years.
What have I done during the past four years you might ask, and that is a very fair question. So, listed below are a few highlights that I believe has happened in our City since you elected me as your Mayor.
1. Your Mayor and Council has acted in a professional manner. There has been disagreements over various issues, but through it all your Mayor and Council remained professional. We debated the issues in the public forum. We did our homework by researching the issues, turning to the experts, and following the will of the people. We set the tone for behavior at our Council meetings, and you our residents acted accordingly.
2. Your Mayor and Council increased the flow of revenue in the City from difference sources of funding. We went after grants and partnerships that benefitted our community. Our partnership include two MOU with the Town of Brentwood for a regular police officer and a community police officer. This partnership in particular allowed our police officers to cross borders to follow and stop crime running in and out of our City. A few major arrests were made that increased the safety of our citizens and those in Brentwood without any additional cost to the City. This partnership also resulted in the increase of police officers for Mount Rainier that resulted in a high net return from the State of Maryland on the number of officers working in our police department. It also resulted in an increase in the City's budget by Brentwood paying for our services through a Community Legacy Grant ($90,000 and $70,000)from the County, and the Town of Brentwood voting to allow the City to provide one full time officer exclusively for their community. This partnership also resulted in two new police cars to patrol our streets that did not come out of the City's coffers.
3. The City has had high visibility from Governors, Lieutenant Governors, our delegates, and other legislators as well as from the media. Mount Rainier has become a destination for many who are seeking homes, entertainment, and just a day away from home. This is not at the level the Mayor and Council would like, but it certainly does not feel bad to be one of the best places to live in the Washington area. Need improvements? Absolutely, and the Mayor and Council are geared up and working constantly to keep this momentum up. To bring visitors to our City we are participating in the Maryland Municipal League's Geocaching program. If you have not heard about it you will hear more over the next few months. It is a cool way to get visitors to come and shop at our stores, and visit our City as they search for hidden treasures and seek to win a very prestigious medal that is numbered and registered at MML.
4. The City has been represented at each of the Legislative session on legislation that was of importance to the City for grants, bonds, public safety and a host of other legislation. This representation is important, if we are to compete with other municipalities for the scarce dollars that become available through those sources. Our delegates need to know what we want, what we need, and our help in telling the story to other delegations. Your Mayor has been active and visible, at home, at the County, in the State and with our Federal delegation. Meetings have been attended, letters have been written, telephone calls made, and emails sent as needed to ensure Mount Rainier's place at the table.
5. Recreation was also one of the winners during the past four years. Residents asked for and your Mayor and Council dug deep and came up with resources to make recreation a priority in this City. Basketball came back. The children continue to show their appreciation by being on the new court almost every day. They are not hanging out on the apartment stoops and value police time is not being used as often to chase them away. The skate park is not up and in use and the Mayor and Council had hoped, but valuable hours have gone into making this a reality. The Mayor and Council continue to work with Maryland National Capital Park and Planning to get the $175,000 spent for the park, and because of the diligence, the park should be completed by September, but no later than December. Summer programs and after school programs have been ongoing and increasing.
6. The City has won at least three additional awards for its creative approaches. The City won an award for the Tool Shed that provides residents with tools to use without having to purchase them for that one time use. The City won an award for its Bicycle Coop that provides youths and residents of all ages an opportunity to own a bike, learn how to fix them and use them to reduce the use of cars on our City streets. The City also won the Banner City award two years in a row for its ability to promote itself through meetings, networking, and attendance at various events. The City did not get the award, but for the first time in our history, the students at Thomas Stone Elementary won first, second, and third place in the "If I Were Mayor Contest for District 9. This program was promoted by the Mayor and Council in our two elementary schools with the fourth grade classes. This is an honor because the City gets the publicity for good schools, interested municipal officials, and newspaper coverage.
7. Better communication at all levels. There continue to be a vacuum in communication, but it is getting smaller every day. Every available resource is being used to help our residents know what is going on in the City. We use our two public channels (Verizon and Comcast) to provide up to date news about what is happening in the City; our website to provide information about the rules and regulations governing our City as well as other information that can be used to help our residents. In addition, the City publishes monthly its Newsletter that is distributed throughout the City at a cost of about $8,000. The City has reached out to businesses, and community groups to provide information. The Mayor and Council continue to look for avenues to increase citizen awareness and participation.
8. As in any community public safety continue to be high on the list. Since taking office, the City's police force has gone from 12 to 18; the Chief of Police is in almost everyone's ' living room with useful tips on safety, the Chief's Blog, and Chats with the Chief. Although not yet transparent, our police department has moved into the twenty-first century with information sharing with our residents. The hours of operation have also been increased to better coincide with our downtown needs. Mutual agreements have been worked out with some of our businesses to curb the sale of alcohol, and as was noted by one of my colleagues, the number of places that sale alcoholic beverages has been cut in half. Patrols are regular and visibility of our officers is at its highest in 40 years. Residents feel safe and a part of the City's public safety program.
9. The City's financial situation has improved drastically over the past four years. When I returned to the Council, the City was spending upward to $30,000 to get its audit done. The audit t was more than 18 months past due. The State was hounding us for continuing to be late, and our financial state was anybody's guess. Working with the Mayor and Council we hired a few people to get our books in order without immediate success. However, the Mayor and Council took a leap of faith and expended the money necessary to hire a real financial person to handle the City's financial affairs, and today, our audit cost less than $15,000, and is usually done within one month, and always filed with the State in a timely manner. Our finances are in order! Revenue and expenditures are adequately documented, and easily accessible to all. Our financial standing is good in the financial community. Because of our improved financial standing, the City was able to raise the funds to purchase the old Bass building, and will soon raise it for future development. The City's coffers are not running over with funds, but we were able to reach out and help some of our seniors and others by giving a tax credit for two years in a row. The tax credits did not exceed $15,000 total, but meant a lot to those who received them.
10. The staff of the City was placed in better financial standing through increases in raises, health benefits and retirement benefits. Some of the major complaints of staff prior to this Mayor and Council was the inaccuracies in their pay checks, the lateness in the payment of their benefits, the quality of the benefits that were offered by the City, and the frequent lateness of payroll. This Mayor and Council has been diligent in making sure that these complaints were addressed and corrected. Payroll is on time, and is accurate. Health care and pension benefits have been greatly increased. Disparities in wages have been aggressively been dealt with and corrected. Personnel and have written guidelines to follow, and are treated with decency and respect by Mayor and Council. Because of these changes our turnover has been reduced, injuries on the job are fewer, call outs are lower and because of these changes, our insurance rates have gone down helping with our financial bottom-line. With better financial management in place the City has been able to take on and overcome challenges that in the past had kept us from moving forward.
There are lots of other improvements and changes that have occurred over the past four years that can be seen in our City. These changes came about because you have a GOOD Mayor and Council in place. Men and women that are not only residents of the City, but leaders with a vision.
I have been and continue to be proud of this Council, and would appreciate greatly the opportunity to continue to work with them. Being Mayor is a challenging job. There are NO special perks. I only get one vote. I cannot veto or override any decision of the Council, and I don't have special dispensation to run the staff. The only differences between the Mayor and other Councilmembers is that the Mayor gets to run the meetings and call special meetings as necessary. Well there is one other difference, the Mayor is paid $6,800 a year, about $2,000 more than the Councilmembers. Outside of those differences, we are the same under our Charter. Any three (3) votes of the Mayor and Council passes or defeat a motion or an action.
Make no mistake, under this Council I have been given the privilege of attending to and addressing most issues on behalf of the Council, but that is because, I believe, the working relationship that we have established. There is a level of trust that exist, and has been continuously nurtured. Even when we do not see eye-to-eye, we respect the other person's position and views. We have managed to eliminate name calling and profanity. We have been able to share the authority that you the people have given us to run and manage our City using our skills and expertise. This is a different approach to government, but it has worked for us in Mount Rainier, and I am asking for another term of office to represent you and this "great" City.
City elections will be held on the first Monday in May at the Mount Rainier City Hall. You are encouraged to come out and vote. If you are not registered to vote, you may get voting information at http://elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/application.html. You must be registered by close of business on or before April 3, 2009. If you voted in the last November's election for President Barack Obama, you are registered to vote in Mount Rainier's City election.
I surely hope that you will vote, and that you will vote for me as your Mayor.
Malinda Miles
Mayor
Mount Rainier Maryland
