It’s a new year, which means an opportunity for all sorts of new beginnings. For the City’s government, it means a new City Council here in Tucker. We have never had so much turnover as what we’ll experience after the new year; Virginia Rece took her seat immediately following the special election and, in January, we’ll swear in Roger Orlando, Cara Schroeder, and Alexis Weaver. You’ll get to know them over the coming months, of course, but I want to take this opportunity to let you know that each of these individuals brings their own set of experiences and unique expertise to governing our city. We’ve already begun an “onboarding” process with each of them to help them have everything they need for a fast, productive start to their service, and I’m excited to work with each of them as we all strive to keep moving Tucker forward.
The election season we just endured was like no other in our brief history, and unlike what most small- and medium-sized cities expect. There have been lots of lessons learned for those paying attention, and we’ll find out soon enough the effect those lessons have on future elections. City elections are different from almost every other type of election; for a lot of good reasons, they are non-partisan and held in odd-numbered years, apart from all other elections to drive home those distinctions. They’re over for now, but in less than two years, we will have three council seats up again. Pray that the lessons learned include an ever-increasing respect for, and understanding of, their importance and their purpose.
In the meantime, we have more elections immediately ahead. In 2022, we will elect every member of the Georgia General Assembly, both the House and the Senate. We’ll also elect every member of our congressional delegation from Georgia, and all of those elections will take place with newly re-drawn districts. And if that weren’t enough, we will also elect a U.S. Senator and a Governor for our state. The primaries for all those races will be in May, already less than six months away, and the general election will pit the resulting nominees against one another all the way until November. It’s sure to be daily news for practically the whole year. It’s my hope the campaigns will be helpful in selecting the right leaders, and not just a lot of acrimony, allegations and name-calling that broadens the artificial dividing lines so many would draw between us.
It’s also my sincere hope that 2022 will be a time when our community and its leaders, whether elected, volunteer, or those who’ve earned a kind of moral authority, will continue to set the example for public discourse and political problem-solving. May we be examples of civility and decency that others in our community can mirror. May we remember that elections don’t define us, our actions and our relationships do. It is this mindset that makes Tucker so special, and will help Tucker to thrive in the new year and for years to come. I’m looking forward to the future. We, as city leaders, have so much on our plates that we have no choice but to look ahead.
