Mayor’s Corner-January 2022
Happy New Year Eaton Rapids!
Your City Council has already been busy in this new year. First, we welcome new Council Member At-Large, Stacee Robison, as well as returning Council Member William Steele, who represents Precinct 3 and is also our new Mayor-Pro Tempore. Susie Politza is your representative for Precinct 1, and we approved the appointment of Ken Nicholas as your representative for Precinct 2. It feels great to start the new year with some fresh faces and ideas!
We are also making history in Eaton Rapids! First, you elected me as your first ever female Mayor, and on January 17th, we welcome Susan Montenegro, our first female City Manager. We are all excited to serve this great city and to represent YOU!
One of our priorities this new year is to bring you more information and transparency about our city government. We are working on a new website that will be easier to use, and we are working to broadcast our council meetings online, not just through Facebook. This will make our council meetings more accessible to more people. The new website should be up and running by early spring and we hope to bring easier access to the information you need.
Another important decision City Council will be making soon is the allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). You have probably heard of this in the news, and from other local governments. The city received approximately $560,000. While that is a lot of money, it’s not a lot when you can only use it for specific tasks. We can use the funds to replenish loss public sector revenue. We can use it to give a one-time payment to essential workers, (Police, Fire, DPW). This is because these folks could not work from home during the pandemic; they had to keep our city safe and operational. We can also use the funds to invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. I think it’s important for our residents to know about this and rest assured, your City Council will work diligently and responsibly to make sure these funds are used correctly, and that we can get the most value for the funds. We also only have 2 years to obligate these funds.
We have several board positions coming up this year, so if you have been looking to get involved, let me know! I’d love to speak with you and see where you could help our community. There is always something to do, and even if it’s not a board position, please let me know where you’d like to help. Don’t forget, our service clubs are always looking for new members. These clubs, such as The Lions Club, Rotary, Business & Professional Women, Women Working Wonders and several more, were also greatly impacted by the pandemic and are working hard to keep going. These clubs do so many great things for our community that without them, many services would not happen. If you are looking to get involved, please also consider joining one of these very important and necessary clubs.
As always, feel free to reach out to me at pcolestock@www.cityofeatonrapids.gov if you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or you’d like to learn more about getting involved in our wonderful city. Feel free to also join us at our Council Meetings. We meet the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month, both at 5pm and 7pm. We’d love to see you!
We wish you a very Happy & Safe New Year!
Mayor Pam Colestock
