Henderson Mayor Pete O’Geary called yesterday’s meeting of the Henderson City Council a “special council meeting” because of the presence of member Mary Emma Evans.
O’Geary said that prayers had been answered by her attendance. His remark met with general applause.
Evans has been absent from the past several council meetings due to hospitalization for ovarian cancer. She announced during last week’s meeting of the Vance County Board of Commissioners when she received the Community Hero Award that she had been sent home from the hospital because there was nothing more that physicians could do to treat the disease.
Quoting the opening passage of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, O’Geary compared the setting of the classic Victorian novel with the current era in Henderson. Although he noted that the current economic recession has been difficult to our local economy, he said that he prefers to think of the glass as “half-full”.
O’Geary said that 500 jobs have been created since 2009 and that the Economic Development Commission is “hard at work”. He also stated that although property taxes have remained flat and sales tax revenue has decreased, the city has received $3.6 million in federal and state grants to fill the gap.
The mayor told members and the sparce audience that Henderson has a need for improved housing and for cleaning up dilapidated housing, and that much progress has been made. He said that 21 houses have been demolished, and that the city now has a signed agreement with HUD to pay for the demolition of the former Beacon Light Apartments complex.
That demolition should happen sometime in 2011.
The mayor also told those assembled that “nice downtown apartments” are now being rented as a result of Hope VI grants. According to O’Geary, Henderson was one of the first cities to receive such a grant.
O’Geary stated that the city saw a reduction in crime in 2009 of 16%, and offered thanks to Henderson Police Chief Keith Sidwell and the Henderson Police Department as well as Crime Stoppers and the Community Watch program.
Admonishing that the “reason for the season”, the birth of [the] Christ must be remembered, O’Geary said that Henderson began celebrating Christmas on November 30 with the lighting of the Christmas tree and the singing of carols downtown.
“I say to everyone, a very merry Christmas,” the mayor said.
O’Geary finished his remarks by reading a poem in honor of Evans penned by Henderson City Manager Ray Griffin.