Elected
Mayor in November of 2007, Sue Murray serves as the city’s chief executive.She previously had served twenty-five years
as the Director of Community and Social Services at PutnamCountyHospital.
Murray
and her husband, Dave, who runs the NationalCenter for College Costs,
raised their three children:Bryan,
Molly and Kate here in Greencastle.
Before
becoming Mayor she had spent two terms on the City
Council, representing the 3rd Ward, and twelve
years on the Greencastle Board of Works.
The Mayor,
elected in 2007, is the city’s chief executive and
is responsible
for the overall operation of city government.
The Mayor’s term
of office is four years with no restrictions
on the number of
terms served. A candidate for Mayor must
have been a
resident of Greencastle for at least one year.
Once elected,
the Mayor must reside within the city.
The Mayor’s
Duties and Powers
·Enforcing the
Ordinances of the City and the Statutes of the State
·Recommend Action to the
Common Council
* Providing a statement of the finances and general
condition of the
City to the Common Council at least once per year
* Providing any information regarding city affairs that the
Common
Council requests
* Calling special meetings of the Common Council when
necessary
* Serving as the presiding officer of the Common Council
meetings
and voting in order to break a tie
·Supervise subordinate
officers
·Ensure efficient
governing of the City
·Sign all bonds, deeds
and contracts
·Appoint Department
Heads and conduct monthly department meetings
·Prepare the city budget
for Council review
·Appointment members of
the Board of Works
·Appoint members to
Boards and Commissions
·Solemnize marriages
2009: A Year of Challenges, Creativity
and Cooperation
2009 provided the City of Greencastle,
the State of Indiana, the United States
and the world with the most difficult economic times since the Great
Depression. We have had to work more
creatively and identify new partnerships to try and keep up with uncertainties
and decreased revenue, while still providing much needed services. As we end 2009, in the black, I am most proud of our employees and our department heads,
who have looked to further streamline budgets while maintaining their
commitments to the community they
serve.
Before looking into this new decade, I would like to recap
some of what did happen, outside of "normal operations", much of which was a
challenge in and of itself.
·The new Ivy Tech campus has opened and our community rose to new levels of financial giving to
help make it a reality.
·We took possession of a new fire truck, built a
Frisbee golf course, butterfly garden and a crematorium. Construction of the North Jackson lift station was completed as was a burial
section for infants at Forest Hill. More parking spaces at Big Walnut Sports Park
are now paved.
·12 blocks of streets were milled and
resurfaced/surfaced. We were able to
invested over $100,000 in sidewalks and in making more of our street corners compliant
with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
·The Sustainability Core Committee finished its
recommendations and the Council has established an ongoing Sustainability
Commission to carry on its work, as part of city government.
·Our Farmer's Market was revitalized. We will
continue working on a community
garden for 2010 planting, as well as an energy challenge in the Greencastle
Community Schools. We've coordinated efforts with the Chamber for an aggressive
Buy Local campaign, and have been able to bring protein (ground venison) to the
tables of hundreds of families through the efforts of Local Food for Neighbors
in Need.
·We received the Green City
of the year designation from IACT (Indiana Association of Cities and Towns) for
the second year in a row.
·We met in each one of the wards to discuss
public infrastructure in their neighborhoods in our city, a Community Forward initiative.
·Rural Transit's usage went up from just over 900
in its first month of service to over 4,000 transports per month.
·We have finished the survey component for our
Youth Engagement Summit (YES), another Community Forward initiative.
·Investment in our downtown has continued with
new street furniture, plantings, and weed control. New decorative banners are now being enjoyed
by all thanks to the generous donation of the Sunkel family.
·All of the land was purchased and preliminary
agreements are signed for the long awaited Albin Pond and Safe Route to Schools pathways.
·Preliminary engineering work was authorized to
begin on the South Street
extension and refurbishment of Percy
Julian Drive.
In 2010 our continuing challenge will be to
provide the many services and level of quality the community
has come to expect. This is our goal but how well we are able to achieve it
remains uncertain. Presently the state
is predicting a deficit of some 1.8 billion dollars. The effects that will have on municipalities
we can only begin to imagine. What I do
know is that we cannot continue to postpone indefinitely the purchase of needed
capital equipment and system upgrades. We will have to be more resourceful.
One of the lessons we have learned about Greencastle over
the last twelve months is what amazing things can happen through the creative
efforts and work of our citizens. The
Sustainability Core Committee, and now permanent Commission, are constant
reminders of what our collective efforts can accomplish. During 2010 we will work to invigorate and
engage the young people in our community
to help direct our destiny. We will
partner with our educational institutions to try to maximize the resources and
opportunities we have to create a brighter, more responsive and enhanced
quality of life for all of our citizens.
And we will look for every available funding source to help us in our
efforts to attend to our infrastructure, eliminate abandoned and unsafe
buildings, expand our park and recreation options and keep our equipment and
most especially our employees cared for, to the best of our ability.
At this time last year I promised that 2009 would provide us
with a most unique opportunity to demonstrate our strengths and resiliency as a
community. My friends, the opportunity is no longer
unique, it continues. We are a strong
and vital community that has looked
for ways to continue to enhance our quality of life and opportunities for our
future and we will persevere.
