On the Mayor's Mind: Happy Thanksgiving!

Shoreline Mayor Shari Winstead

From Shoreline Mayor Shari Winstead

It’s my favorite time of year, in fact my favorite week of the year. There’s lots of reasons for this - besides the quieter paced, short work week at my regular job - I really love spending time with my family, the planning and cooking process of the big get-together, and of course, the one time a year when I eat Pecan Pie.

But there are other great reasons, too. Over the last eight years, I have been involved in the budget process of government, which is quite different from the private sector. The budget process is actually happening all year long. The City Manager presents the recommended budget to the Council in mid-October. The budget is then vetted by the Council, and the public - each department’s budget is presented, week by week.

We hold public hearings, and hope for public comment. It’s very important for the Council to hear your thoughts before we adopt the budget - it’s how we determine if the funds are hitting the right priorities. This year we heard from a number of people regarding the financial need of the Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center.

Last Monday, and it’s almost always the Monday before Thanksgiving, we adopted the City’s budget. I’m proud to report that the Council supported funding the Senior Center with an additional $26,000. We also designated an additional $19,600 to Hopelink, for their utility and rental assistance programs. There are always many great non-profit organizations offering important services to our citizens, that need a hand with their funding.

The budget season is a busy, intense time, with thousands of pages of reading over five or six weeks, and it’s always great when we pass a budget that not only takes care of the essential needs, like police and street maintenance, but is able to give a little extra help to our citizens in need. We all care very deeply about the health and welfare of our citizens.

I’m also happy to report that great things continue to happen in Shoreline. In 2015 we’ve seen new businesses sprout up in North City and Ridgecrest, the newest being the Ridgecrest Public House at NE 165th and 5th NE.  

Located across the street from the Crest Theater, it offers a cozy place to meet and hangout with friends and enjoy a beer. Although they don’t yet have a regular food kitchen, they’ve scheduled food trucks to make regular appearances, which makes it an even better experience, because dinner is a surprise, rather than the same old menu.

The owners are Shoreline residents who have chosen to invest in their community, because they saw a need. These are exactly the type of businesses we hope to attract, creating neighborhood nooks of places for people to go and socialize. Hopefully you’ll soon have one of these cool neighborhood businesses near you.

Don’t forget to swing by the Aurora Corridor completion celebration. Saturday, December 5, 2015, come and help celebrate the entire three miles of improvements. The celebration is at City Hall, beginning at 9:30am with a program commencing at 10:00am.

Hard to believe but it’s true, after all these years, the Shoreline portion of Aurora will finally be complete - and boy is it beautiful! I hope you will come celebrate with us. We all put up with some inconvenience during the last 15 years, but the one thing we can all agree to celebrate (besides the final removal of the traffic cones) is the tremendous decrease in traffic accidents. That is a very good thing!

I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving, and a holiday season that is filled with fun, love and peace.