Rest assured that you – local officials, elected and appointed — make the world go round.
You do the hard work that everyone else tells you to do, thinks you or someone – not they – should do, presumes you will do, and is happy in hindsight to tell you how it should have been done. You do vital work in the public eye and under pressure, at the level of government closest to the people you serve. Polls consistently show that people trust local government more than their state or federal governments. I know why.
It has been the greatest honor of my career to represent cities and towns to state and federal governments and all those advocacy groups who intermittently wake up and realize that they are intensely interested in local government because it makes a difference to their priorities and the way in which the world goes round. You have spent valuable time providing VLCT Advocacy with much needed reality checks, testimony and support in the legislature, information about how policies play out on Main Street, advice on the universe of municipal issues, fortitude, and endless deadpan humor.
Thank you for the opportunity to work for you and for the many congratulatory messages I have received as I wrap up my career with VLCT.
Sincerely,
Karen Horn