We’re already a month into the new year. Can you believe that? As I reflect on these early years of cityhood, I’m having a difficult time remembering a year that has gotten off to as busy a start as we’ve seen here in Tucker in 2020.
For example, this past month we moved our court services from their temporary home in the City of Clarkston to a new venue right here in Tucker. You’ll read more about it on page 10, but what you need to know is that this is a move that is easier on our residents, more efficient for our staff, and serves as another step forward in our growth as a city.
We also made a huge decision to bring our Parks and Recreation Department under the umbrella of the City.
“Wait,” you say, “Tucker has had Parks and Recreation for a couple of years now.”
While that’s true, our Parks and Recreation staff was provided these past two years through our contract with Jacobs. That public-private partnership model isn’t changing; we are thrilled to continue working with Jacobs in the areas of Planning and Zoning, Code Enforcement, Communications and Engineering. What will change is that we will now run our own programming at the Tucker Recreation Center with our own in-house staff supervising children’s programming. You’ll likely see the biggest difference in our revamped Summer Camp starting on June 1.
We’re also underway with a big sidewalks project downtown, and our first segment of the Path and Trails program to provide walkable connectivity between our schools, parks, churches, neighborhoods and downtown. And, we have several new high-visibility residential and commercial developments that will break ground soon.
Lastly, because when you’re the Mayor they let you brag a little bit, this year got off to a big start on a personal level. Gaye and I welcomed our second granddaughter, Virginia, to the family. We could not be more proud or humbled. I’ll warn you, if you see either of us around town, be ready to see baby pictures. Because when you’re a grandparent they also let you brag a little bit.
We knew 2020 was going to be a big year for Tucker and, I promise, there’s much more in the months ahead!
