Meet the new mayor of Brandenburg
One day this past week, I spent an hour or so interviewing David Pace, the new mayor of Brandenburg, discussing his future plans as mayor. Do you envision any big changes at city hall? No. I’m close with Ronnie (Mayor Joyner) and the only change on city council is Ronnie taking Bradley Johnston’s place. I’ll be able to work well with city council and I think the city council and mayor have done a good job. The city is financially sound and I plan for this to continue. Do you have any specific plans you can share with fellow taxpayers? I think we should continue to extend sidewalks. When the side walk out Old Ekron Road was first proposed, I didn’t think much of it. But, now that it’s complete, I think we need more sidewalks. I’d also like to seek volunteers to be a part of a beautification committee. There once was such a group and it needs to be revived. This group would work with the planning and zoning commission, the mayor’s office, and city council. It would assist residents as well as be a communications tool between residents. At this point, my questions became more of a conversation than question and answer. When queried about ideas on growing the largest urban area within Meade County, we discussed emulating a program in Madison, Ind., known as “small business incubation.” The city, perhaps in a partnership with Fiscal Court, could assist small businesses in getting started by providing low-cost rental space, advertising, and utilities assistance. This would take place in a city incubator and businesses would start up there. Eventually, each business would be pushed from the nest and would need to be profitable on its own. It’s an interesting concept for how the public sector can assist the private sector in the creation of local business, while generating jobs. We then discussed the critical art of planning for the community’s future. Over the course of this part of the conversation, Mayor-elect Pace demonstrated a complete knowledge of the large property owners within city limits and the prospects for planned growth inside Brandenburg. I asked specifically why over the last 20 years Meade County had grown and Brandenburg had not. He then proceeded to explain how big chunks of land within the city limits were tied up through various circumstances and beyond the scope of subdivision and the expansion of residential opportunities. With so much of the useable land unavailable for development, the price of what is left has driven development elsewhere. Thus, large subdivisions have grown just outside the city limits. The most controversial topic we discussed was annexation. He stated he had no plans to annex property outside Brandenburg. When I asked how he felt about metro government or the unification of city and county governments, he seemed surprised. He answered that he was intrigued by the idea, but also felt it wasn’t realistic at this time. The subject then migrated toward his chairmanship of the Meade County/Brandenburg Industrial Authority. He didn’t express any desire to resign from that position, but, had talked with Judge Executive-elect Harry Craycroft about seeking professional assistance in marketing the county’s industrial properties. He specifically mentioned the successes shared by Taylor and Bullitt counties with the hiring of professional consultants. Residents of Brandenburg generally voted to maintain the course set by the prior city leadership, while county residents as a whole opted for change in the county government’s leadership. Throughout our conversation, Pace expressed his desire to conserve much of what he considered good about city government, while demonstrating his openness to new ways of getting this job done. The mayor also plans a state of the city address in January to discuss one-, two-, and four-year strategic planning, and he will announce the date and time during the first city council meeting, Jan 8. Learn more about the performance of our mayor and city council by attending their monthly meetings, the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
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By JOE REDMON