I have lived in Covington for the past 28 years.

Not only have I experience Covington as a resident, I have also experienced Covington as a business-owner of Wagner’s Crafts for 17 years, as a volunteer on the Covington Economic Development Council for 15 years, as a Covington Chamber of Commerce board member for around seven years, and as a city council member going on 13 years now. I am honored to now serve as your mayor.

I am proud of the city I call home and you should be, too. Covington has come a long way in the past few decades, especially since incorporation in 1997.

At the City Council’s most recent strategic planning summit, where we review the past year and plan for the next, we resurrected the vision list we created back in 2007. What we discovered is that this list is a testament to how far we’ve come.

At that 2007 summit meeting we asked ourselves what do we envision for Covington in the next five to 10 years. What should Covington be like in 2017?

The list that resulted was comprehensive and even included things that seemed unattainable but that we still hoped for. It is amazing how our vision has stayed on track and how many items on that list we have achieved and are currently working on.

Knowing that growth was coming, our vision list included a lot of items related to development. We could not stop growth, so we identified what would help direct it. These are the items from our vision list that we have accomplished or are currently in the works:

• People can live downtown – two apartment complexes are nearing completion.

• Public-private partnerships are helping achieve the city’s goals.

• Develop stronger relationships with state legislators.

• Maintain and strengthen relationships with other agencies and jurisdictions.

• Institute mandatory garbage service.

• Grow the number and scale of community events.

• Improve communication with citizens.

• Widen Kent Kangley – widening from Jenkins Creek to 185th is in the works.

• Develop a park in the downtown – The plan for SoCo Park is progressing.

• Help traffic by building a by-pass road – Plans for the 204th Connector is underway.

There are a few items on that list we are still striving to accomplish including developing more stable revenue sources and becoming a “green” city.

I’d like to remind everyone that all meetings of the City Council are open meetings. If you have a message you would like to bring to the City Council or just want to see how a meeting works, we meet every second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

I hope to see you soon.

Jeff Wagner

Covington Mayor