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OPINION

JBW: I want you to help me keep the ‘paradise’ in Town of Paradise Valley

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As some of you may know, our town was recently named the sixth-best place to live in the country by a national publication.

And, for the first time, this year an Arizona municipality --- our great town --- moved into the U.S. top 100 list for highest median home value. Of course, in our hearts, Paradise Valley is clearly No. 1. But it’s very nice to know that our amazing town is being recognized around the country and the world.

Before I was elected mayor in 2018, I promised you that I would stay committed to ensuring Paradise Valley remains an exceptional place to live and that we honor the town’s values that elevated the town, to begin with.

I firmly believe that these and other excellent results over this year clearly show that we’ve continued to build on our extraordinary foundation. I’m very proud of the town’s achievements over the past year, and I’m excited to share with you that I am running for another two-year term of volunteer service as mayor.

I am confident there are many more great things to come for the town in 2020 and beyond.

As I recently discussed with my fellow council colleagues, I believe that those of us who serve the town must continually seek opportunities to improve, in conformity with our bedrock values and traditions, or we risk falling behind and significantly diluting --- or even losing --- our town’s cherished identity. Over the past year, I am especially pleased with the further actions we have taken to increase transparency and meaningful community involvement.

These include: Providing improved opportunities to hear and truly consider input from the public, stakeholders, professional staff, and council; soliciting the valuable insights of our talented town volunteers; and, recognizing and involving our young community members (and future leaders) during our Council meetings.

Our work continues. For example, I have prioritized enhancing customer service and encouraging even more innovation and taxpayer savings by the town. At our last council meeting, Town Manager Jill Keimach presented to the council several new proposals aimed at achieving these goals, which the council embraced.

These relatively low-cost/high-impact measures will include easy and quick ways for town customers to provide important feedback, as well as a process for council to review and recognize steps the town’s various departments have taken or recommend to increase service levels and innovation, and ways to increase efficiencies and savings.

The council and so many residents we hear from truly appreciate and value our outstanding professional staff, and it’s terrific that we will be promoting their efforts, as a high-performing organization like our town should.

Most of all --- whether with regard to laws on short-term rentals or other matters that impact our neighbors and neighborhoods – your elected town leaders must remain dedicated to protecting our town’s unique residential character and values, safeguarding public funds, and staying intensely focused on public safety. I look forward to continuing to work on your behalf to lead the way on these and other key issues.

It’s a tremendous honor to serve as your mayor, and I continue to appreciate and highly value your support and feedback!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me: jerry@jerryformayor.com.

Editor’s note: Mr. Bien-Willner is mayor of the Town of Paradise Valley