December 16, 2021

Dear Mountain View Community:

I am writing you today to wish you the joys of a holiday season, and to tell you a little about recent happenings and what you can expect in the coming months.

Thank you for electing me as your Mayor. I will do everything in my power to help our town, and I plan to work hard to deserve the honor of this position.

We have unfortunately had a difficult time with the transition after the election—we lost access to the website, two servers crashed, and we had a very difficult time hiring an essential front office person. I ask for your forbearance and patience as staff and I work to get all the pieces in place that allow for the orderly and reliable running of things. The Mayor is responsible for running the administrative functions of Mountain View in addition to being the ceremonial head of government. And I am resolved to improve all aspects of how Town Hall fulfills the mission of representing your interests.

We held our first Council meeting this past Monday and appointed Catherine Colwell as the newest Council Member. She ran as a write-in candidate in the recent election and received a fair number of votes so I was pleased when she applied for the vacancy and was appointed by Council.

Our Town Clerk, Margy Greer, will be posting invitations to residents to apply for the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, which is mandated by our Charter and which makes decisions about when to allow exceptions to our building code. We will be sharing more information and seeking applications for this board towards the end of January.

Please watch for announcements on your doors (and your email if you have joined the list) from Mountain View United, our residents’ group. This group will initiate community projects of all types. From helping neighbors who need a little assistance, to helping residents stay informed about the Council meetings, the group will be a good way to get involved for those who want to stay engaged but don’t have a lot of time to attend meetings. Resident Leal Algiene is leading the effort and you can reach her by phone at 303-399-2715 or email at [email protected] if you would like to be included.

Regular communication with residents is especially important to me. On the third Wednesday of every month, I will hold “Community Office Hours” at my home (5461 W 41st Ave) from 10am to 1pm. Depending on the weather, we can sit outside on my porch and talk about whatever is important to you at that moment. Most months these “Community Office Hours” will fall just a few days after that month’s regular Council Meeting. So, if you weren’t able to make the meeting, I can share the agenda and the decisions that were made. We can also talk about things you’re hoping our town can accomplish or issues you’re concerned about.

One of my biggest priorities is to get the website into better shape. I would like the website professionally created and maintained. Council approved and budgeted this project several years ago. It’s essential that it is complete and up to date. I know many of you (myself included) are dismayed at the website at the moment. We would like to be able to rely on the website as a place to go for information, but no staff have been trained on keeping it up to date. Ideally, we should be able to securely pay our bills online, but there is no such feature for this on our website. We need our full Town Code and our historical archives on the website, but these have not been properly maintained. All of this will take time, but it is a big priority and we will get there.

One large physical infrastructure project is already underway and in the coming months, you’ll be getting notifications about work on our curbs and gutters along W 41st Avenue, and at several other necessary places throughout town. This work is in the conceptual stage at the moment. We don’t have final drawings of the job and it hasn’t been put out to bid yet. It will be paid for by a grant from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) that our Public Works Director Gene Bird and Mayor Levy were responsible for obtaining.

Other projects that Council has budgeted for 2022 are redoing the playground structure and creating some entryway signage for town. The budget for 2022 also includes at least one additional radar speed sign for town and funds to do a larger remodel of Town Hall. Initially, we will be undertaking some minor “beautification” of the interior of the office in order to make it more functional work space.

Lastly, I would like to thank Chief Davis for applying for and receiving a grant to put a body camera on each of our officers. We will be seeing town officers wearing these cameras in February or March at the latest.

Thank you again for electing me as your Mayor. I look forward to serving you for the next four years and I hope to get to know each of you, and to work with you in whatever ways you desire to be engaged with your community. We have lots of work to do and we will have a lot of fun along the way. Mountain View is a very special place and I know you cherish it as much as I do.

Merry Christmas! I hope your Hanukkah was filled with unexpected blessings. From cold and dark to warmth and light, happy Winter Solstice. Joyous Kwanzaa—I wish you the most beautiful fruits of the harvest. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sincerely,

Emilie Mitcham
Mayor