Greeting, citizens! The wild rumpus isn't quite over yet...
    I'm Dennis Highberger, otherwise known as Boog, and I can say very sincerely that it has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your mayor this year. I only made one promise when I started my term: that this would be an interesting year. I think that this is another good reminder that you need to be careful what you ask for...
    This has been a year of transitions. The past twelve months have seen the retirement or resignation of four of the city's senior managers: Chief Jim McSwain of the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Service, Utilities Director Roger Coffey, Planning Director Linda Finger, and City Manager Mike Wildgen. These four individuals between them can count 115 years of service to the city of Lawrence. That is a tremendous amount of experience to lose in a single year, but each of these individuals has trained a great staff to carry on after them. It is a testament to their efforts and skills that each of their departments and the city organization as a whole have functioned smoothly and have continued to strive for improvements in their absence. Mike, Linda, Jim, Roger, if you are listening, I want you to know that I admire your service and dedication to this community and it was an honor to have the opportunity to work with you. And we also owe our thanks to the staff members who have filled in after you: Fire and Medical Chief Mark Bradford, Interim Utilities Director Chris Stewart, Interim Planning Director Sheila Stogsdill, and Acting City Manager David Corliss.
    As with any year, there were tragedies, including the fire at the Boardwalk Apartments in which three of our fellow citizens lost their lives and the fatal shooting outside a downtown drinking establishment. And as always, there were challenges and disappointments, such as the damaging winds that struck Lawrence a few weeks ago and the uncertainties over the capacity of our sewer collection system in the northwest area of the city. However, during each of these events, our staff has risen to the occasion and performed admirably. Our fire and medical staff, along with many citizen volunteers, responded quickly to prevent an even greater loss of life and injury during the Boardwalk fire. The Lawrence Police Department immediately responded with extraordinary efforts and were quickly able to identify and charge a suspect in the downtown shooting. Mere minutes after the recent microburst, city staff from Public Works, Neighborhood Resources, and Parks and Recreation were on the street starting to clean up the damage.
    But although there were transitions and tragedies, I think this has been primarily a year of progress and accomplishments.
    Our city staff members received numerous well-deserved recognitions for their outstanding work this year. Lawrence became the tenth community in the nation to attain certification under the National Biosolids Partnership's Environmental Management System program. Our city was the only city in the country to receive the EPA's National Clean Water Act Recognition Award both for Operations and Maintenance Excellence and for Exemplary Biosolids Management. The Federal Transit Administration presented the Lawrence Transit System with its Award of Excellence. The ambulances of Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical were certified outstanding by the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services. And the list goes on. I am very pleased to see that others around the state and around the nation have recognized that here in Lawrence, Kansas, we have dedicated, hard-working staff members who are committed to providing excellent city services.
    In February, Lawrence was one of 8 cities selected by the American Institute of Architects to participate in its 2006 Sustainable Design Assessment Team program. In the fall a team of architects, planners, and other professionals will visit Lawrence to help us start a community visioning process that I believe will help bring us together as a community around the goals that we share for our future. As of tonight, we have finally adopted a new development code, after a 6-year process, replacing our 40-year-old zoning code with a new code that is more user-friendly, is more suited to traditional neighborhoods, and incorporates many of the policies set out in Horizon 2020. We still have some work to do before the July 1 effective date of the new code, but the vast majority of the work has been done. With this step complete, we can move quickly to adopt additional code language that will allow us to grow in a way that creates more cohesive neighborhoods, safer streets, and makes better use of our land and public infrastructure.
    In November, Lawrence hosted a first-ever regional transportation summit that brought representatives from several of our neighboring counties here to discuss how we can work together to meet our regional transportation needs. The South Lawrence Trafficway remains unfunded, but I believe that we have made progress toward finding community agreement on a solution that will respect our environment and our cultural heritage as well as better meet our local and regional transportation needs.
    In January, we learned of plans for the largest private investment in the city's history, the expansion of Berry Plastics, which will create 154 new jobs, all of which will pay a living wage. The Lawrence Douglas County Bioscience Authority has been formed, and this partnership between the city, county, KU, and the Chamber of Commerce will soon start its efforts to help turn KU research into good local jobs. The Economic Development Board has presented a plan to acquire industrial land and open space, and the city and county will soon consider this proposal.
    The city has taken steps to address the issue of homelessness in this community by creating the Community Commission on Homelessness and allocating funds for four new case managers. I am confident that in the coming budget year we will make further progress toward providing adequate shelter space and services to our fellow citizens who are in need of housing assistance. In May, dozens of Lawrence citizens participated in a Community Housing Assessment Team process, which results in recommendations for ways to improve the availability of affordable housing in Lawrence. The newly appointed Housing Needs Task Force will review those recommendations and assess other means for making sure that everyone who works in Lawrence can afford to live in Lawrence.
    We are moving forward with plans for an expanded downtown public library and we should be ready for a public vote within the year. A new, larger location has been established for the Lawrence Farmer's Market, and right-of-way acquisition has begun for the Burroughs Creek Rail Trail in East Lawrence. We have received the long-awaited North Lawrence drainage study, and during the next budget cycle we should take the first steps toward funding the recommended improvements. Lawrence has signed on to the US Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change, and we will continue to make our city more resource- and energy-efficient.
    In our 2006 budget we allocated an additional million dollars for street maintenance, and in our coming budget discussions I believe that we will take even bigger steps to improve our maintenance of city streets. We are proceeding on schedule toward construction of a new water reclamation facility on the Wakarusa River and we are committed to resolving the questions that have arisen about the capacity of our sewage collection system in the northwest area of the city.
    These are just some the challenges and opportunities that we face as a thriving, growing city, but this commission and all of our city staff are committed to rising up to meet those challenges and to take advantage of those opportunities. I think it is finally time to put an end to the false dichotomy between growth and no-growth that we still hear and read so much about. Lawrence is growing and will continue to grow. But we must be sure that that growth is balanced growth, with a healthy mix of residential, commercial, and industrial expansion, and we must ensure that our growth is environmentally sustainable, is respectful of our cultural and historical heritage, and does not place an unreasonable burden on the residents and the businesses who are already here. Although we have our disagreements, I believe that all of my fellow commissioners share those goals. It has been an honor to serve with all of them this past year and I can assure you that we are committed to working together to do the very best for Lawrence during this time of transition in city management.
    Once again, it has been a true privilege to serve as mayor of this wild and wonderful city. Nonetheless, I look forward to joining the League of Former Mayors and I very much look forward to serving under our once and future mayor, Mike Amyx. Under his leadership I am confident that we will continue to make progress toward our common goals and that we will continue with our task of building a city that our grandchildren will love.

    Thank you.