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MAYOR'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE
It is a huge understatement to say that everyone is looking forward to the end of 2020. The COVID-19 virus has created the deadliest year in U.S. history, historic unemployment and a crippled economy. We, as a nation, are battered, bruised and exhausted by the non-ending effects this pandemic has had on our bodies and souls.
It has also been a turbulent year of hard truths, dissenting factions and angry voices. We are a country divided as we have not been for many, many years. Our ability to engage in courteous discourse, to allow others to have differing opinions, or to listen to other viewpoints seems to have diminished substantially.
As everyone else does, I want so much for 2021 to be a better year, a healthier year, a kinder year. We all want to spend more time with our families, not worry about feeding our children or paying the rent. I would hope we all want to see less violence and more understanding between cultures and races. But the truth is, it won’t be a healthier or better year if we don’t make it so. There is no magic switch that is going to turn on and change where we are. This isn’t about political parties, it’s about being better human beings to each other. If we want to make this pandemic go away we all need to do our part to practice public health guidelines and consider the effects our actions have on others. If we want to affect change in this country or if we want someone to listen to our opinion, we need to be willing to listen to theirs.
My hope for everyone this 2021 New Year is that we learn some lessons from 2020; that life is short and precious, and we never know how much of it we have, so we should guard it and appreciate the time we have here with the ones we love; that social inequity cannot be ignored or tolerated, neither can violence or destruction of communities. And lastly, that our prosperity, our health and our ability to co-exist in peace and cooperation in the new year depends on each one of us, and our actions every day to make this a better world. My wishes for all for a happy, healthy New Year.
“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” – Dalai Lama
Mayor Dee Grimm
