Blazing trails

Noblesville Deputy Mayor

It has been my privilege to serve the Noblesville community during Mayor John Ditslear’s final term in office. Six months ago, I announced to friends and co-workers that I planned to step down from my appointed position. Now, as we prepare for a new mayor to take office in January, I’d like to share some thoughts on some key successes our city has accomplished during these past four years.

Professionally, I’m looking forward to moving on to a new challenge, where I can apply my public affairs and communications background to build communities in new and exciting ways. Personally, I will miss having a direct role in the completion of many Noblesville NOW initiatives that have only begun or are still in the planning stages.

Rather than slow down during his final term, Mayor Ditslear and team have made great progress and blazed trails (literally) on dozens of high priority initiatives since 2016. Below is a handful of initiatives I have had the honor of working on as well as others our city employees have achieved through their hard work, dedication and professionalism:

• Securing the public-private partnership for the Finch Creek Fieldhouse;
• Attracting 300 high-wage jobs with the BorgWarner Tech Center;
• Completing the western leg of the Midland Trace Trail, the southern phase of the Levee Trail, and connecting the Riverwalk from the White River Greenway Bridge to Southside Park;
• Opening Federal Hill Commons urban park and amphitheater, starting construction of Finch Creek Park and investing in improvements for Forest Park, Southside Park and Seminary Park;
• Championing the Levinson downtown apartments and a 300-space parking garage now under construction;
• Setting in motion a new pilot to improve downtown parking with modern technology and better communication and outreach;
• Achieving a 36-percent drop in violent and property crimes;
• Maintaining stellar response times for emergency medical services even as our population has continued to grow with new residential developments;
• Completing the fourth of five phases for the Long-Term Control Plan to remove unwanted stormwater from the sanitary sewer system;
• Building, resurfacing and maintaining miles and miles of new and existing roadway, and laying the groundwork for future infrastructure projects such as the five roundabouts planned for State Road 32 and State Road 38.

In addition, I am very happy to report that Noblesville has made good on its promise to bring the trains back to Forest Park. Meanwhile, the clean-up effort following the ITM’s departure continues with a brighter future on the horizon that will be worthy of our city’s oldest park. And I hope everyone will take the time to support the new Nickel Plate Express that is helping preserve our city’s railroad heritage and inspire a new generation of railfans.

For me personally, one of the most rewarding initiatives has been representing the city with the Noblesville Diversity Coalition. Since forming in 2018, our coalition has stood up against acts of hate, and through several public forums, inspired bold conversations within our schools, our homes – and with our upcoming training on implicit bias – within City Hall as well. Noblesville is stronger because of our diversity, and I look forward to what we can accomplish as we continue to grow in celebrating and respecting all residents.

As we look now to the future, I’m truly excited to see the vision of the new administration come into focus. I believe no one is better suited than Chris Jensen to move Noblesville NOW forward. From expanding Pleasant Street to constructing a new Police Headquarters, I’m optimistic that many of the city’s long gestating projects will finally get underway before setting the new priorities that our growing community will surely demand.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in my role serving the city, who gave freely of your time to share an idea, a perspective, a criticism, an encouragement, a lesson. As I join my fellow citizens again, I will continue to use all that I’ve learned to help Noblesville blaze even more trails into the future.

See you on the square.