Message from the Mayor
A message from Mayor Patrick Kelley
During the November 6th, 2018 City Council meeting, Mayor Glanzer announced his resignation. As I, Patrick Kelley, was serving as President of City Council representing Ward 2 during this time, by state statute have become the new Mayor of the City of Milford.
I am excited to serve the community in this capacity.
I first settled in this community in the late 90s to attend Southeast Community College. I had just completed close to 2 years of basic training and MOS schooling in the United States Marine Corps. I continued my service to the country in the Marine Corps Reserves while completing school and venturing out into the workforce. I spent a couple years in the workforce before going back to school to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. I have spent over a dozen years traveling to all parts of the United States both for work and through the Service. This has given me insight and perspective. I am married with three children, two of whom attended Milford Public Schools from K-12 and are now both off at college. My wife’s family has been deeply rooted in this community for over 100 years. I have been a volunteer for many groups around Milford for over 10 years which has included coaching youth sports, assisting the leaders of FCA, serving on the Mens Ministry Board at church and served on the City of Milford Recreation Board prior to being elected to City Council.
Some highlighted accomplishments from the past 2 years serving as a Council Member, representing Ward 2 include:
Pool Renovations to bath house and new diving board
Council liaison to Pool – reduced operating expenses of just over 7K in first year
City Hall – Present for Educational, Architect, Engineer & Contractor meetings – Delivered on a bid within budget after receiving bids several hundred thousand dollars over.
Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS Mapping)
Fiber Internet to the downtown district
City Auditing of Accounts Payable & Payroll
Re-developing city rec youth basketball which has risen to a participation rate of over 85 children from grades k-6
Council liaison to Recreation department – Improved youth sports participation in soccer, baseball, basketball. Increased revenue in this department.
Working with community members on drainage issues
Continuous work with Property & Housing developers
Continuous work with Seward County Chamber & Development Partnership (SCCDP)
1. 2018 Strategic Planning
2. City of Milford Leadership Certified Community Designation
3. Restaurant Recruitment
These accomplishments would not have been possible without the hard work and partnership of my colleagues on the council. It was a pleasure to work with Councilman Baker, Councilman Kral and Mayor Glanzer. Thank you Mr Baker and Kral for your service to this country and all of you for your service and dedication to this City. We wish you well!
It is an exciting time to live in the City of Milford. We live in a safe & family friendly community. We are continually working to upgrade services to our community members. By upgrading our mapping system to GIS Mapping, we have positioned ourselves to many benefits that include better decision making, cost savings with economic development, greater efficiency, improved communication, and record keeping. Bluestem Network is a fiber internet company that is currently being installed in our downtown district. We have partnered with Verizon Wireless to add a cell tower onto our water tower to provide better reception in and around our community. This will be completed near the spring of 2019.
As your Mayor, my commitment to you is that I will continue to work with our city staff to ensure we strive to provide quality water, sewer, clear snow, and take care of our streets better than we did the day before. We will take more pride in our city buildings and property. We will work to improve our city parks. I will work with our elected officials to bring new amenities to our community while preserving our history and character. I will work with current and future businesses. I will work closely with the council to implement a plan to carefully and strategically extend our city boundaries, that we may find new housing opportunities, while not disrupting our quiet and peaceful way of life.
Lastly, I will say I am honored and grateful to be considered your Mayor. Let us work together to improve our quality of life here, in Milford. If you would like to schedule some time together, please contact City Hall for an appointment. If you see me in the streets, please stop me, let us have a conversation. Some topics could include but are not limited to Community Activities ideas, Housing, Infrastructure, and or Economic development. If you are interested in community involvement, we have many committees you can be apart of.
Sincerely,
Mayor Patrick Kelley