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Show 4 . ) .'' ); i , ...... j and was rather up to date on what was going on. You've got to be kidding me! There is no way I would run for public office after I have seen and heard all the problems they have to deal with day after day. In fact, I am surprised that anyone runs for office in their communities for those very same reasons. I think about what if you had to deal with all of the whole nation's problems like our U.S. presidents do. What it all comes down to is that some people like to serve their communities because they like living, in a nice place and "they enjoy being involved. They deserve our thanks and appreciation for all that they do. After going to city council coun-cil meetings since 1973, 1 have learned a thing or two and one is that the council members live here, too, and they pay the same bills that we do, and second, sec-ond, they love this community by Marcella Walker Over the past many years that I have been attending city council meetings, I have gained an appreciation for the city council members because of their love for the city, their willingness to serve when many of us would rather not have the hassle, and their devotion to duty in the face of hostile city folk. When you work for a town's weekly newspaper, you go to a lot of meetings, you meet a lot of nice people, and you learn to appreciate those valiant souls who run for election , work for little pay, work their regular jobs, take all kinds of abuse and not too many thanks for what they do, and take the time to listen lis-ten to the concerns of their fellow fel-low citizens. These residentscouncil members ran for office to give service to their community. They often choose to run for office again because they enjoy the interaction with the citizens and city employees. Pleasant Grove used to be a relatively small town with a population of about 5,500 in the mid-70's. Now this lovely little town of ours has mushroomed to about 34,000 or more. I can hardly believe how fast time has gone and how the city has grown. When our family was still at home, my husband and I worked hard to make ends meet and we had to "rob Peter to pay Paul" as my mother used to say when hard times hit. Sometimes a city is the same as a family. There are more demands than there is budget and a growing community has to have new roads, new utility lines, more library li-brary services, more police services, ser-vices, more fire protection and the list goes on and on. People have often asked me why I don't run for public office since I go to a lot of meetings and give of their valuable time to try to keep the community running in good shape. In fact, they do keep it running in excellent ex-cellent shape. I just would like to say to the council members and mayor may-or that they are deeply appreciated appre-ciated and to keep up the good work! (Noting that "work" is what it really is!) And I am sure most of the citizens agree with that. |
