Maitland, FL, Council Meeting
10 January 2022
Leah Molyneux (239 words)

Thank you, Mayor Lowndes, Council Members, Staff, and the community, for the opportunity to offer opening words for this evening’s meeting.

On behalf of the city, I thank you and your staff for their hard work. There is only so much time available to us in life and the fact that you have invested so much of yours in service to your community is remarkable.

We have weathered many challenges in the recent years. When we have a new year, there is a special energy, an optimism, and a renewed hope for bettering our future together. Let us tap into this renewed hope as we begin the meeting today.

Today let us consider the importance of the decisions we make, knowing that there will be new challenges coming our way of which we are not even aware.

May the year ahead provide this council with the ability to confront the challenges and to do so in the best interests of our exceptional city here in the Sunshine State.

Together, let’s embody the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said “The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all of us [human] and, therefore, [family].”

Finally let us incline our ears toward reason, apply our heart to understanding, and seek knowledge we can use to find common ground among the citizens for the betterment of the City.

Thank you.