This will be my final letter. Thank you for giving me the privilege to serve you. Having had no experience in government, I needed to work hard in two areas: using my experience as a business owner to apply common sense leadership, and then spending extra time at the city learning from the professionals.

I learned from working with the different departments in the city and with mayors of other cities that we have the finest employees in Davis County. In every department, from top to bottom, we excel for the benefit of our citizens. I got out of the way and allowed the professionals to do their jobs.

I learned that there are those who seek power, even at the local level, and in every instance, people are hurt and teamwork is destroyed. We want a government with enough power to protect our rights, but not too much power so that we lose our rights.

I learned that taxes, when used properly, create a better life. Taxes provide safety through our police and firefighters. Taxes bring clean water into our homes and take the dirty water and sewage out of our homes. Taxes provide roads that help us commute to our work, schools, and recreation. Taxes create parks, recreation, and planned neighborhoods.

We have the best city council. Their desire is to serve the citizens and to make the city a better place to live and work.

When I first came in as mayor, I set up the Disaster Preparedness Committee with the idea that at some point in time we could have a major disaster and we should be prepared as individuals and as a city. This committee is functioning well and working with different sections of the city, such as businesses, religious organizations, and ham radio operators.

I set up a new program called “Lunch with the Mayor.” Each month a school with students in Syracuse sent 12 students to city hall to have lunch with me and some of the department heads. They learned how the city is a part of their life every day because of taxes. The students played the roles of mayor, city council members, and leadership staff. I enjoyed this experience that I had with your smart and talented children.

I came into the role of mayor believing that the purest government is the government closest to the citizens. When our founding fathers set up the balance of power between the federal government and the local government, they recognized that power on the federal level must be limited and the rest of the power should be given to the states and the people. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you as mayor on that important local level.

Terry Palmer,

Mayor of Syracuse City