(Last) Message from (this) Mayor: thank you, good bye and onwards
Posted on: March 29, 2019 - 12:01pm
Fellow Residents;
This note marks my last communication as Mayor: on Tuesday, April 2nd, at 7:30 at Village Hall, I will swear in our terrific new mayor Niki Armacost and the two Trustees Marc Leaf and Dan Lemons, and then head off into the proverbial sunset.
Nothing has stumped me more than what to say in this last communication, after ten years in this position and a previous six as Trustee. I wanted to avoid the hackneyed, and in the end find it hard to do so.
I look back on these years with great affection and gratitude. My most prized moments will forever be those where neighbors responded under pressure and in the face of need. How people rallied together through Super Storm Sandy and other storms that left thousands of us without power for extended periods; the efforts to gather supplies and money to help the less-fortunate, whether it’s the annual Project Share dinner or Hastings Helps the Hungry; the critical role of the Fire Department’s remarkable volunteers; and all those that serve on the innumerable other committees, groups and organizations that give life to our everyday experience here. We are better when we reach out beyond the four walls of our homes and give of ourselves, in time, in money, with love and compassion – when we avoid the culture of tired cynicism and engage with heart. We must do more of that, always.
Very little of what was accomplished in the last ten years was done alone by anyone – rather it is always a collective effort, with good people pulling in the same direction (and sometimes not! but pull we did!), getting so much done because we want to hold fiercely onto this place as it is, while wanting it better for ourselves and our children - and because accomplishing ambitious goals is gratifying and, even, fun. We are all crooked timber, none of us perfect nor nearly so, and no structure built of crooked timber can ever be without flaws. Despite those flaws, we somehow seem to make this thing called community, constructed with all this bent wood, work. Much was accomplished in these last ten years, and so much always remains to be done – a living community is perpetually a construction project where we must work to better it, to perfect. You, collectively, have made this period remarkable through your eagerness to engage positively, desire to do good by each other, and your love of this, what is ours, here.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for these many great years. It has been my deepest privilege and (yes!) pleasure to serve, and you have graced me truly with your trust, your kindness, and your constant support.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor
mayor@hastingsgov.org
Mayor
mayor@hastingsgov.org
(and after April 2nd p.m.swiderski@gmail.com)