Area mayors high-light opportunities ahead in 2020

The New Year brings a new sense of anticipation for community leaders.

While city governments operate on a fiscal scale, from July to the end of June the following year, officials still welcome the turn of the calendar as a chance to restart and refocus.

The Hampton Chronicle recently sat down with the mayors of Latimer and Hampton to get their thoughts and goals as communities venture into the New Year. Following are their answers.

Russell Wood, Hampton Mayor

Formally elected in November of 2019 after being appointed earlier that year, Russell Wood will begin his first full year as Hampton’s mayor. He said that he’s optimistic about the year ahead as he, and other Hampton councilmen beginning their first full year service, along with reelected leadership, are focused on working together for the betterment of Hampton.

“One of the thigns that I’ve seen, just from the elected official perspective, is that I feel the citizens have chosen a good team of individuals to serve them,” he said. “The group works really well together and I think they have a common focus and goal and that is to make Hampton a pleasant community to live in.

“We have a focus on the council of looking at the community as a whole,” he added. “Even though there are six members of the council, one from each ward and two at-large, they look at the city as a whole and not just their own ward. They look at how this benefits the citizens of Hampton…when we make decisions and I think that’s very important.”

Wood said that one issue he sees as a focus of the council moving forward this year is addressing the blight assessment. Last year, a study found that 43 percent of residential properties in Hampton had a blight issue.

“The blight assessment that we did last year will allow us to look at more economic incentives that we can offer to people to do property improvements,” he said. “We have opportunities to work on grants to help people improve their property. I think those are very positive.”

Additionally, Wood said that citizens can expect to see additional road improvements and more projects completed in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

One thing he said he hopes to see accomplished or discussed is a mayor’s youth council in the schools. He said this would give students the opportunity to develop skills and leaderships while allowing them a glimpse into how government works. Wood said 2020 would be a perfect time to incorporate the youth council, as it is an election year.

“In an election year, you’re looking at kids in high school, some who are eligible to vote,” he said. “Getting them more involved understanding what government does and providing leadership so they’re aware of issues around them I think creates a more educated electorate.”

Wood said he’s excited to begin the new year because of the opportunity to start with a clean slate, a fully established council and the chance to tackle new projects.

“There’s a lot of optimism on the part of the council that we have resources to be able to bring for improvements in residential properties, infrastructure and community development,” he said.

Mark Johansen, Latimer Mayor

While the planning for the Latimer Splash project began more than three years ago, Latimer Mayor Mark Johansen said that momentum and encouragement to work together from that project will continue in 2020.

“It was a good partnership between public and private and I think it got people thinking about other projects,” he said. “I think that’s gotten people thinking about other projects

Johansen said potential projects in the vein of the splash pad include new soccer fields and a wellness center. He said that anyone willing to undertake projects such as those are vital to a community the size of Latimer’s

“We’ve got a lot of good, positive people in this town,” he said. “Knowing we’re not going to have every little need covered in the town, getting the basics is important.”

He added that he also anticipates continued work by the local development organization to bring new businesses and industries in the community. He said the city has identified senior housing as a possible target for development in the near future.

Going into the new year, Johansen remarked that the City of Latimer is fortunate to have the same councilmembers as they have in recent years. With all incumbents earning reelection in November, Johansen said that experience is important to continue to build off of existing success.

“You’ve got to have continuity,” he said. “We’ve had some turnover since I’ve been on...but it’s good to have that continuity there. You need to have that knowledge of what’s happened in the past.”

Overall, Johansen said the new year presents endless opportunities to not only start over new, but look ahead to the coming months. He said the winter provides a sense of optimism to spring, when projects can go into full swing.

“You can start thinking, ‘Do we need to put a slide in for the kids, do we fix this street or do this repair project?’” he said. “It always gives you a sense of excitement that we’re going to have better weather coming and you can do some of those projects you’ve been talking about during the winter.”