Mayor: Olathe has much to celebrate, look forward to, this holiday season

The holidays are here, and that means the hustle and bustle of big celebrations. As you decorate your home, bake your cookies and wrap all those presents, I encourage you to stop and remember that you’re doing much of it for your family.

Family can mean many things to many people, and in Olathe, we’re proud to celebrate them all.

We have the best neighborhoods in the region, with neighbors who are like family, watching out for one another as our kids grow up together.

In this thriving business community, I hope you’re fortunate enough to have co-workers you consider family, spending much of your day together to accomplish a shared goal. And no doubt our award-winning schools are a critical part of our family, with teachers, administrators and fellow parents all playing a role in our children’s development.

The value of family has always been a key component to what makes Olathe so great. What we do each day at City Hall isn’t just about us, or about today. It’s about tomorrow. We’re preparing our great City to be ever better for our children, and for their children. Thanks to your support, we’ve had great success in that effort this year.

Families across Olathe have new places to enjoy quality time together. This summer, thousands visited the new beach and marina at Lake Olathe, splashed in the water on our sprayground and creek, or hiked to see the artwork and waterfall.

This fall we opened the doors to a state-of-the-art library experience unlike any other in Johnson County. Inside the Indian Creek Library, families can learn together, create together, play together, and of course, read together.

More and more people are coming downtown to spend time together as well. This year our streets were packed with families on Fourth Fridays and Old Settlers Day. But on any given day you can find kids grabbing a cookie at Park Street Pastry, colleagues enjoying a drink at Kansas Coffee or co-workers strolling down Kansas Avenue before and after work.

Downtown is just one of the ways Olathe is committed to investing in your family’s future. We also work to make the most out of your tax dollars by ensuring your city remains one of the safest in the country. We put school resource officers in every Olathe School District middle and high school.

We’re investing in fire station No. 8 and a new fire training center. We’re prioritizing improving your roads, so your drive is not only safe but also as efficient as possible. We’re working with our state and federal partners to bring you a new and improved 119th and I-35 interchange. That’s what you told us you want for your family, and so that’s what we’re working on today for your children tomorrow.

In fact, family is much of the reason we believe in the value of a future-ready vision. Work is underway to execute Olathe’s second 20-year strategic plan. Under Olathe 2040, what your family loves about Olathe today will be even better in 20 years.

We must maintain our quality of life, prepare our infrastructure for the technology of the future, build on the already strong economic foundation we enjoy today, and, of course, continue to deliver the exceptional city services our residents have come to expect.

Year after year, you tell us Olathe is a great place to raise a family. In large part, that’s due to the fact that our city’s staff treats you like family. Our team is committed to going above and beyond. From your water service and trash removal to your street maintenance and parks and trails, we know we aren’t just working for the City of Olathe. We’re working for you, for your children, and for our future.

Already our future is looking bright. We’ve had a lot to celebrate in 2019 that is setting us up for even better things to come. We’ve welcomed IT Renew, Faith Technologies, CarMax, HomeAdvisor and Wesco to Olathe this year. That’s 3,000 new or retained jobs for our families. Meantime, we continue to support the expansion of our top companies, particularly Garmin, which is on pace to employ 6,000 people in Olathe.

We must remember, not everyone in Olathe is fortunate enough to share in this prosperity. And not all of our residents share the same joy of family. There’s no better time than now to look for ways to help your neighbors in need.

Olathe is full of big-hearted people who spend their days making others’ lives better. The Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund is dedicated to supporting these efforts, to ensure Olathe’s families have their basic needs met.

As for my family, my kids are home on winter break. That means my house is again full, and so is my heart. Trust me when I say I’ll be paying closer attention to every story, every laugh, and every smile my family gifts to me over these few precious weeks of their vacation. For you this season, I wish the same warmth of great company, full of love today and hope for tomorrow.

Michael E. Copeland is the mayor of Olathe

This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Mayor: Olathe has much to celebrate, look forward to, this holiday season."