Pardon me for quoting the Grateful Dead on an occasion like this, but, "What a long strange trip it's been . . . "
    There aren't many places in the world where an ex-hippie-anarchist with a physical disability and an unusual nickname can get elected mayor, but as we have just demonstrated, such a thing is possible in Lawrence, Kansas, and that's one of the reasons I love this place so much. Lawrence was founded by people who came to Kansas to fight against slavery, and tolerance and diversity have long been very important values here. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as mayor of a community that has such a long history of fighting for justice, and I am proud to be a citizen of the only place in Kansas that stood up last week and said NO to writing discrimination into our state constitution.
    I would like to congratulate my fellow commissioners on their swearing-in. As I've said before, it's better to be sworn in than sworn at- the beauty of this job is that you get both. We have an amazing depth of experience on our current commission- my fellow commissioners have between them 22 years of city commission service, 4 years of service on the county commission, and 4 mayoral terms. I suppose it's not that surprising to have 3 former mayors on the commission- as I've heard Commissioner Dunfield say from time to time, "Throw a rock on Massachusetts Street and you'll hit a former mayor." The first time I heard that I was kind of shocked- I thought, "You mean they keep throwing things at you even after you're mayor?" I don't think that's exactly what he meant, and I'm sure that won't be true in his case. David, I would like to thank you for your six years of service on the commission, and for being well-reasoned and articulate so I didn't have to be. We will miss you, but you have certainly earned some time off.
    Mike Rundle- What can I say? I really admire your commitment and dedication to this city. You have been a very thoughtful and energetic and responsive mayor, and it will be a hard act to follow.
    Sue Hack- Getting to know you has been one of the real pleasures of my first two years on the commission and I look forward to working with you for a few more years. I really appreciate your attention to making sure that people get recognized for a job well done.
    David Schauner-- We don't agree on everything, but I very much appreciate your commitment to Lawrence's neighborhoods, and I'm very glad that you are back to join us.
    Mike Amyx- I also admire your longstanding dedication to this community and your willingness to serve on the commission again, even though you have a good idea of what you are getting yourself into. I look forward to having more conversations with you where you're not talking to the back of my head.
    Before I go any farther I would like to introduce a few people who are very important in my life. First, the woman without whom none of this would be possible, my mother, Norma Highberger. My sister Deanna Hattemer is here, with her husband Terry Hattemer, and their sons, my nephews, Alex and Travis Hattemer. My uncle Gene Highberger is here. Gene is a county commissioner in Anderson County, the other half of the Highberger political dynasty. I figured if the Kennedys can do it and the Bushes can do it, why not us? And my housemates Brenda Frankenfeld and Mike McKinney and their children Cypress, Estrella, and Oliver. I see quite a few other people out there that I'd like to introduce, but I think we'd all like to get out of here tonight, so I'll stop, but not before thanking John Thompson in advance for providing the accordion music for our reception later tonight.
    I try not to make promises I can't keep, but I will promise that it's going to be an interesting year. During my term as mayor, I intend to resolve the question of the South Lawrence Trafficway. I think the outline of a solution to this problem has been clear for a long time-- what we need is the will on behalf of all the parties to sit down together and come to an agreement. With the Kansas Department of transportation getting ready to start construction of a 4-lane US-59 coming into South Lawrence, and with plans for K-10 to be expanded into 6 or even 8 lanes in the east, those who have opposed the trafficway I think will agree that the no-build option is no longer a viable alternative for our future. Conversely, those who support the trafficway need to accept that this road will not be built through the Baker Wetlands or next to Haskell Indian Nations University. In the very near future I will convene a meeting of all the stakeholders to identify a route for a southern connection between US-59 and K-10 that will meet our traffic needs for the next generation over a route that has the least possible environmental and social impacts. Unfortunately, that's the easy part. The real challenge will be to find a way to pay for it. But I am convinced that if we can identify a route that is acceptable to a broad majority of the community that we can find creative and innovative ways to obtain the funding to make it happen.
    During my term as mayor we will complete the adoption of our new zoning and subdivision codes, and will move toward adopting new rules that will allow traditional neighborhood development to happen again in Lawrence. We will continue to take steps to make sure that the city leads the process of growth in our community, rather than just responding to proposals for disconnected strip malls and subdivisions. We will encourage the building of neighborhoods with a sense of place, neighborhoods that are designed to foster a sense of community, neighborhoods with a mix of people of different backgrounds and incomes, neighborhoods where you don't have to drive a car to meet all your daily needs, neighborhoods where your children can safely walk or ride their bicycles to school and to the park, and, last but not least, neighborhoods where we won't have to come back in a few years and install traffic calming devices.
    During my term as mayor, I intend to initiate a community visioning process that will bring together people from all parts of this city, to work on healing some of our long-standing divisions, and to identify the values that we share as a community, not just to talk about what we want Lawrence to look like, but what we want Lawrence to be. I see this community visioning as building on a number of efforts that are already underway, such as the civility workshops organized by Leadership Lawrence, and the Community Housing Assessment Team project that will be taking place here in May. My goal is the that the process itself will help bring us together as a community, and the outcome will help guide our local decisionmakers as we continue to balance increasingly greater demands for limited resources.
    We will also continue the work that the previous commission has started. We will implement the recommendations of Mayor Rundle's Homelessness Task Force and move toward a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem of homelessness in our community. We will implement excise taxes to pay for the cost of new growth as recommended by the Public Improvements Task Force chaired by Commissioner Dunfield. We will implement the recommendations of the Business Retention Task Force chaired by Commissioner Hack. We will move toward identification of a site and approval of plans for an expanded downtown library as championed by Commissioner Schauner. We will continue the process of identifying land for industrial growth and open space preservation as recommended by the ECO2 committee. We will expand our efforts to work with KU and the Chamber of Commerce to create and attract bioscience jobs in Douglas County. We will, I hope, establish a stable long-term funding source for after-school programs in Lawrence. We will address the problem of affordable housing in Lawrence, and will work toward the goal of making it possible for everyone who works in Lawrence to be able to live in Lawrence. We will continue to work on improving the facilities for the Lawrence Farmer's Market and continue work on the Burroughs Creek Rail Trail. We will continue to do our best to provide excellent city services, and to improve our budgeting for the long-term maintenance of city streets and other city facilities. (I'm not sure what we're going to do with our spare time, but I'm sure we'll think of something.)
    As you can see, we've got a lot on our plate, but thanks to our hardworking and dedicated city staff we will be able to move forward on all these projects and more. I think that this is an exciting time to be in Lawrence, and again, I am humbled and honored to be your mayor this year. I look forward to working with all of you, and I remain confident that together we can and we will build a city that our grandchildren will love.

    Thank you.