The “shot heard ‘round the world” on April 19,1775, marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, but the seeds of revolution and our liberty started years prior in places like Faneuil Hall and the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston.

A movement in our city of Surprise started up some years ago that led to greater citizen involvement in city affairs and council meetings than had been seen before. It was rooted in a desire to make life better for the citizens of Surprise — whether advocating for sound placement of building developments in our neighborhoods or the related unsafe traffic was snowballing in the northwest corridor along Grand Avenue.

That participation evolved into addressing other topics of concern like inflated budgets and municipal sales tax increases. Whether you agreed with the opposition or not, it was exciting to see this level of engagement, and you’d be quite blind not to recognize the sway it had in our local election on July 31, 2024.

As the results came in, our citizens felt a sense of hope that the voice of the people would be better heard and heeded in council chambers. However, not even a month later, on Aug. 20, 2024, the “interruption heard ‘round the world” in Surprise City Council Chambers put our population of under 200,000 on the map with national and international headlines.

The interruption itself wasn’t so unexpected, but the refusal to listen, the assumed authority, and the pursuant force against that speech captured the attention and empathy of millions of freedom-loving people within days. The alleged speech crime: complaining that one of the highest paid officials in the entire Valley, our city attorney, might not be so deserving of another big salary increase.

The enforcement: That’s what placed permanent traumatic scars on one of our citizens and impelled a freeze on the voices of many others — even in that very room.

Thankfully in the following weeks, Surprise citizens and surrounding neighbors were not afraid to speak again and again. Policies were revised but the damage this event left in its wake was untenable. It is unimaginable to those who haven’t been able to probe deeper into the case and understand its long-term effects on the people involved, including a young child.

A formal declaration or proclamation may not be immediately forthcoming by our city on the one-year anniversary of this event that shocked our city and the world, but I do hope that in our minds and in our hearts we reflect on what one person and her family had to endure and sacrifice to prompt a greater call to freedom — a local revolution, if you will — in Surprise.

The big challenges for us here haven’t ended. The stakes are high with more projects ahead threatening us and our smaller neighbors, like the BNSF one you’ve all read about here lately. While not under the direct control of our city to make decisions regarding that intended project, our leaders can and should make stronger declarations in writing on their opposition, like I saw D29 State Senator Janae Shamp, do recently.

Just as the Revolutionary War was long, costly, and many times extremely discouraging, so too will the efforts to make our voices heard take more time, more energy, and many, many more moments of discouragement. As Samuel Adams said upon hearing of the battle at Lexington that day, I hope we too, the citizens of Surprise, can collectively wake up and say, “What a glorious morning for America!”