INAUGURAL PROGRAM

Last night, I had the distinct honor of attending the 2010 Inaugural during which, newly elected and re elected city officials took the oath of Office. It is at times like these that I am reminded of how privileged we all are to live in such a great a country. I know many think that a local Inaugural is really no big deal. However, to the contrary, It is a big deal! I am sure you have heard the expression that all politics are local. Well, it is true that city politics may not be as glamorous as that of the national level, but to witness our local representatives take an oath to the citizens is as important. These men and women volunteer their time and work to make their community a better place to live. Certainly we don’t all agree on how best to achieve that goal, but make no mistake, our City officials deserve our recognition for taking on the tasks which, are sometimes thankless.
It is wonderful that we may disagree on many issues, but still unite behind a common cause.
All of those in attendance were treated to a wonderful rendition of "God Bless America" and the "Battle Hyme of the Republic" sung by the Serendipity singers. There was also a very stirring version of our "National Anthem" sung by the Mayors grown daughters. Below is a text of Mayor Merrifield’s inaugural address.

The new city council met for the first time and I will cover those topics in a future blog, later this week.

Father Gagnon, Members of the City Council for 2009 and 2010, honored guests, family, friends, and fellow citizens of Franklin:

Shakespeare thought that “brevity [was] the soul of wit”, but it is also an indispensible attribute for any political leader. I will attempt to make good use of “brevity” tonight.
During my campaign for mayor this fall, a great friend and supporter said to me that “some things really need to change in Franklin. And some things absolutely have to stay the same.” The trick, for us, is to figure out which is which.
I offer to you that, despite our challenges, Franklin is a very attractive destination. Recall the high school seniors from Merrimack who visited every NH city and town this past summer – and chose Franklin as their favorite! Certainly, we are blessed with abundant natural beauty, great community spirit, and a frugal city government, and you should also know that between 2001 and 2008, property values in Concord rose 71% and in Dover about 68%... in Manchester and Rochester they rose about 66%. In Bow, property values gained 44% from 2001-2008.
In Franklin, our property values rose over 90% - faster than the entire state of NH. People are clearly voting with their dollars for this great city. I plead with our city leadership to recognize that greater litigation, greater taxation, and greater regulation will only reverse this positive trend.
So how do we improve (what I like to call) the “best place on earth”? The city council has taken significant action to address great strategic issues and change the city. These plans will be a large part of their efforts in 2010. They will demand the focus and skill of the best professional municipal team in NH to become a reality. And thank God that team is in place here.
Councilors have invested heavily in a new curbside recycling program that will change the nature of a critical city service. It will require the active participation of our residents to succeed.
With a heavy financial effort from our rate-payers and assistance from outside sources, the city will implement a water filtration system that will improve our drinking water quality, ending a decades-long problem in Franklin.
We will also reconfigure the flow of downtown traffic – opening the Franklin Falls Mill District to auto traffic and subsequent capital investment and economic growth.
On a separate, but I think parallel, track with the Council, I have been very grateful for the widespread interest in the Mayor’s “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Task Force”. Thanks to the efforts of a tremendous volunteer group that seems to grow every day, our city may soon benefit from significant grant funding to combat a long-standing social problem that plagues not only Franklin, but NH and a nation beyond --- and may perhaps make Franklin a dramatic example of improving social health.
Also, a few weeks ago, I was delighted to recognize and proclaim a “sister-city” for Franklin: Pedro Afonso in the state of Tocantins in Brazil. I look forward to working with Mayor Chagas and Governor Enrique Amorim in 2010 – to explore what bonds we can create in science, commerce, and through our schools.
And last year I challenged to the City Council and the Planning Board to contact a successful business outside Franklin and invite them here. I also asked them to adopt a local business and learn their needs.
This year, I would like to expand the effort and really “go for broke”. I want to ask every citizen of Franklin to become an ambassador to a new business. Reach out to a potential employer for our people and ask them to “Choose Franklin”—where the trend-breaking example & our largest employer is Webster Valve…. now celebrating an amazing 50 years of operation and the return of manufacturing jobs to Franklin from China.
And let us all commit to support our Franklin businesses whenever and wherever we can. I hope that 2010 will see a concerted effort by the business community and our citizens to do exactly that, because it will benefit all of us if we do.
And finally, let the change that is coming this year in our school district mark a beginning-- and not an end—knowing always that student achievement is the true bottom line. And that Franklin students are capable of delivering the very best results. We know this to be true.
In closing, I hope you will allow me to rephrase Ronald Reagan a bit, when I say that we are “too great a [city] to limit ourselves to small dreams… Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength… our faith and our hope… We have every right to dream heroic dreams.”
So let’s dream “big” for 2010, Franklin, so that the words of Isaiah about Jerusalem will be true for us as well: “… [That your] heart shall thrill and be enlarged; …[because] the wealth of the nations shall come [to you].”
I wish you all a happy New Year with my best wishes, and may God bless our great city.


-Mayor Ken Merrifield Inaugural Address to the City of Franklin, New Hampshire -January 4, 2010.