JACKSON CITY COMMENTARY: JACKSON'S PROGRESS, GROWTH FEATURED IN MML PUBLICATION

The City of Jackson will be featured in the February edition of the Missouri Municipal League magazine. This publication is sent to thousands of people around the state who are involved in appointed or elected positions in Municipal Government. Jackson is very proud to be featured, as only cities that are incurring progress, growth and positive changes are selected for this publication. As many smaller cities around the state are struggling, Jackson is thriving. The article will describe some of the improvements that have taken place and also feature several photos of our city. Everyone in Jackson should be proud that we are being recognized around the state for our progress and for living up to our slogan, "The City of beautiful Homes, Churches, Schools and Parks."

A second joint Jackson-Cape council session was recently held in the Jackson City Council Chambers. A good spirit of cooperation continues to exist between Jackson, Cape and Cape County Commission.

We recently updated our police car fleet by purchasing two new patrol cars. Cars that are taken out of service go to other non-emergency departments in the city. We always want to keep our newest most reliable vehicles in the emergency service departments to better protect the citizens.

I recently received some interesting year-end facts concerning our city swimming pool and its programs. A total of 21,622 people used the pool last year, and 1,134 people of all ages took some sort of aquatic class at our pool.

Our K-9 Unit continues to do good work in the community. Some 29 searches resulted in 12 arrests during 1998. Stadt (the dog) and handler, officer Wes Jordan, are also going to the schools and other groups for demonstrations and to explain the dangers of drug use. The K-9 unit has proven to be a very positive addition to our police department and to the community.

Everyone knows how busy the intersection of Highway 61 N (Hope St.) and Main Street can be at certain times of the day. The city has contacted MoDOT many times about this problem and we have offered to participate in any change (possible lighted signals) that would improve traffic flow. So far MoDOT has declined to make any change and because this is a state highway we cannot make any change without its approval. We stand ready to fully cooperate with MoDOT on anything that it approves to improve traffic flow at this intersection.

During a recent visit to the Colorado State Capitol, my family and I had the pleasure of meeting with Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers. Keep an eye on Colorado in the future as I believe a very friendly, down-to-earth official like Rogers has a great future as a public servant.

The Council meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in Jackson. Your ideas and suggestions are always welcome.