Mayor's Message - April 12, 2023

Hello.  Like most of you, the events that recently happened on our island touched me deeply. Unfortunately, events like this are happening all too frequently around our country. However, when it touches our part of paradise it’s even sadder.

I said this at our press conferences over the weekend, I couldn’t be prouder of our Public Safety staff.  They were proactive by being on the beach before anything happened – unfortunately that didn’t deter some of the visitors involved. As residents, we should feel good about the level of professionalism and bravery of our team. If you see them around the island, let them know how much you appreciate them.

I am also very proud of our business community. They reacted very quickly to provide food for our staff and other first responders that came to assist. This is what being a part of a community is all about – caring about each other.

Our staff and public safety personnel will be having multiple action review meetings to:

• Determine what we could have done differently
• Detail any additional resource needs
• List recommendations to any city ordinances that need to be modified or added to help our team be able to prevent these types of gatherings
• Present to Public Safety Committee a list of recommendations for discussion and possible action

Then, City Council will take up any recommendations that come out of the Public Safety Committee review. We will be thoughtful and measured in any of our reactions or changes as a result of recent events.

Please be assured we will be taking a hard look at our current processes and procedures and resource needs and will implement additional measures to ensure the safety of our community.

Mayor Pounds