Reflections on the holidays
I hope you enjoyed this holiday season and took some time during the hectic to and fro to reflect on the real reason for the season. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the festivities that we forget that; “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. May His peace be with us all now and for the future.
New decade
The 2010’s are over and we now begin the 2020’s. It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago we were all so fearful of what a new century might bring, we now begin the 3rd decade of that new century and instead of being fearful, I am feeling excited and very hopeful for what this decade has in store for Hillsboro!
As I said in my last column, City Leadership will be meeting this month to begin the visioning process that will help guide us into this new decade. There are many things that need our attention, most importantly is continuing to make Hillsboro an affordable and family-friendly place to live. As I say many times, Hillsboro doesn’t have a jobs problem, we have a people problem. We need to make Hillsboro a place that attracts new residents and makes people want to stay that are already here.
How do we do that? Well, that is why we are having these meetings. To figure out how we best do that and to prioritize those things so that we can plan and financially manage the process.
Still getting around
We are still working on the process of passing a new ordinance that will allow for UTV’s (Utility Vehicles), ATV’s (All-Terrain Vehicles), golf carts and other motorized vehicles to be operated on the streets of Hillsboro. We have had some great input from several citizens and city personnel. We will be discussing this at our meeting next Tuesday at 4:00 PM and I invite all interested parties to show up and be heard. This is taking some time, but it seems that we need to take time on issues like this to make sure that what we decide is truly in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Hillsboro.
Census 2020
As a reminder, to keep this important event “Top of Mind”; the decennial (10 year) census will be happing in 2020. It’s a very important event because governmental programming is based on the count and population demographics that it represents. We are still working to put together a committee to assist in ensuring that Hillsboro has the most accurate and complete census count possible. The next ten years will be affected by the results. I will try to keep you informed e on this as we move forward in the process.
Hillsboro has a bright and exciting future ahead, so be ready to join in where needed to help move us forward into an exciting 2020! Until next time, I’m on City Watch!
