Kalamazoo mayors keep high profiles as a matter of duty, but this time of year -- issuing the State of the City address -- they get extra attention.Hopewell's upbeat message this year -- that we will be remembered for "our coming together and our innovative spirit to creating the possible" -- is part of his plan to accentuate the positive while addressing the well-known challenges of the city.
"I realize I may just have two years, so I'm going to do what's in my heart," he said privately regarding the community role that has taken its toll on an already busy schedule. In addition to responding to citizen requests and attending scores of public events, Hopewell is also reaching out to other private and governmental leaders to see what they expect from the city, and to see what he can do as mayor.
He has shown a particular interest in the neighborhoods and the schools, regardless of their formal association with the city government. "We either rise together, or fall together," he has been saying.
Hopewell is mindful that his predecessors, Hannah McKinney and Robert Jones, were exceptionally positive in their approach to city issues, and accepts the fact that a mayor has an informal leadership role in the larger community.
As he has said to audiences of late: "I believe our will and tanacity gives us every possibility to make this place we call home . . . even better."
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