TUCKER, Ga. (July 1, 2021) – Tucker Mayor Frank Auman delivered his fifth State of the City Address today, offering reflections on the pandemic as well as an optimistic view of the City’s future. In remarks streamed on Tucker’s social media channels and posted to its website, Auman described how Tucker came through COVID in a position of strength.
“Even when the obstacle was a worldwide pandemic, we didn’t lock it down and ask ourselves, ‘What’s the least we can get by with?’” Auman explained. “We asked ourselves, ‘What can we do to keep pursuing our mission, and how much can we do without undue risk or damage to the public?’ If good sense or the law didn’t prevent it, we talked about ways to make it happen.”
Auman dedicated a large part of his speech to recognizing some of the accomplishments of Tucker’s city staff over the past year. Specifically, he called out the Parks and Recreation Department for their dedication of Rosenfeld Park. The park, located in Tucker’s Smoke Rise community, is named for former City Councilman Bill Rosenfeld, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year.
“We lost Bill as a friend, a founding member of our City Council, a neighbor and a leading businessman back in January,” Auman said, “and this is our way of ensuring that his memory and his example live on.”
The speech also touched on societal issues that have come to the surface over the past year, including racial strife that engulfed the nation. Auman applauded Tucker residents and businesses for how they expressed themselves during a very tumultuous time.
“It was a year that called for empathy and patience, and Tucker showed its true colors,” he recounted. “Not only did we have to deal with the pandemic, but we had serious tragedies that exposed lingering racism in parts of our country, even some close to home. When it came time to express themselves and advocate for change, Tucker did so peacefully, and many of us were proud to participate in public demonstrations, with a diversity of our neighbors, in the center of our community. There are lots of ongoing conversations about how we should treat and relate to each other, and together we’re learning and creating a bright future for our hometown.”
Auman is Tucker’s first and only mayor. He was elected in 2016 after Tucker first incorporated as a city then, following that abbreviated term, was re-elected in 2017 to serve a full four years.
The full State of the City speech is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mmVRc8abHI.
