I can think of a lot of fun interesting things I would like to do if I were Mayor for a day. I also know that being Mayor is a more difficult job than you might think. So if I were the real Mayor for a Day, I would like to improve the morale of our community. I think that improving the morale of the community can be accomplished by giving people a chance to be heard, creating an environment that encouraged everyone to get along more often, and promoting our youth and children.

First, if I were Mayor, I would want to insure that everyone felt like they has a method that established times for citizens to speak about ideas or concerns that bothered them in the community. Often citizens do not understand how to go about the correct method to be heard at meetings. Regular citizens often cannot make it to meetings or they feel they are not capable of saying what they need to say there. So I would create a call in line or a blog or webpage that gave the community time to talk or speak up. Maybe even once a month or quarter hold call in talk shows like the football teams do. I feel if people could just express genuine concerns, I would be able to listen and make helpful changes.

Second, if I were Mayor for a day, I would want to create more community events that promoted families to be able to interact with other families and just get to know their own community. We have sack lunches around the square now, but we need more activities that go beyond lunchtime. We have a large University. I can think of a lot of ideas that could come to mind for fun family times which could easily incorporate our college and big businesses. I feel if our community had more time together, they would understand and appreciate each one more and there would be less community fusses.

Last, our youth and children are parent’s loves. If I were the Mayor, I would look for ways to make sure that our children and youth had many extra school activities to keep them safe, healthy, and involved in out community. We do not need to lose any more lives in this community from guns, bullying, or lack of self-esteem. We need to find encouraging activities and speakers that will show our kids that they matter! As Mayor, I would not give up on this issue!

There are many important issues on a Mayor’s agenda I fully understand, but if I were Mayor for a day, I feel right now improving the morale of our community is the most important job!

John Baxley Sanders is a middle-school 8th grader at Charles Henderson Middle School was selected as a winner for ‘The Mayor for a Day’ contest. This is his winning essay.