Last night was the annual State of City address, given by new Mayor, Joe Hardy. In the crowd were Sonny Vinuya, representative from Governor Joe Lombardo’s office, former Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, Mayor Michelle Romero and Councilwoman Carrie Cox of the City of Henderson, former mayors Kiernan McManus, Rodney Woodbury, and Roger Tobler, former council members James Howard Adams and Judith Hoskins. Also attending last night’s event were all of the current City Council members, including Cokie Booth, Matt Fox, mayor pro tem Sherri Jorgensen, and Steve Walton. Various city officials were there, as well as community leaders and residents. Rabbi Goldstein gave the invocation and Sergeant Tiffany Driscoll of the Boulder City Police Department sang the National Anthem.
City Manager, Taylour Tedder, opened the evening with a few remarks to introduce the mayor. He listed the many accomplishments of the current mayor, including his previous public service as a city council member from 1999-2002, his election as state assemblyman from 2003-2009, and his work as a Nevada state senator from 2011-2022. Mayor Hardy is also a licensed family medicine physician who was awarded the Nevada Family Physician of the Year award in 1998 and 2010. Mayor Hardy and his wife, Jill, are parents of eight children.
Mayor Hardy began by introducing various dignitaries in the room. He also presented former mayor, Rodney Woodbury, with a street object marker, similar to the ones recently installed along San Felipe Drive to warn motorists of nearby obstructions. This lighthearted “award” was accepted graciously, as Mr Woodbury has been vocal about the signage along the street.
This year’s theme was “Together We Serve” and his speech reflected the many ways that the city has helped to serve residents. He introduced each department head in a series of slides outlining the work performed by that department. Most of the department heads were in attendance at the event and were acknowledged with polite applause during the remarks. Mayor Hardy also talked about the various citizen advisory committees where residents volunteer to serve and help advise the city council and city staff on the best practices and courses of action. He also spoke about the binder he received when he was first elected that contained the names and photos of each city employee. He wanted to become familiar with the names and faces of the people that help keep our city moving forward and addressing issues of concern to residents.
What was unique to this particular State of the City was Mayor Hardy himself. Instead of presenting from the podium behind the lectern he walked amongst us in the audience. His tone was in his folksy way of warmth, humor and storytelling even as he talked about the issues that lie ahead for the City.
Mayor Hardy concluded his comments with a challenge to all present: find a way to serve the Boulder City community. He listed a number of organizations in town that use volunteers to carry out their missions. Some of these included Emergency Aid of Boulder City, Lend A Hand, Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, Boulder City Library, the four Clark County School District schools, churches, youth volunteer organizations, and more. He encouraged residents to find small ways to serve, including being kind to neighbors and visitors, joining service organizations, volunteering for various committees and charities in the city, and wherever there may be a need. We all have things we can do to make our community better. “Together We Serve” is a motto we can all support.
