As was mentioned in the City News on December 07, 2017, there was a special meeting held on November 28, 2017 by the Grand Terrace City Council to interview and select a new council member to fill the vacant position left by Councilmember Brain Reinarz, who resigned in October of this year. At that meeting the council had a strong pool of candidates to make a selection from, and the council selected Kenneth Henderson a 33 year resident of Grand Terrace and a past Interim City Manager of the city. This past Tuesday, December 12, 2017 the Henderson was installed onto the Council. Before taking his place on the council dais, Henderson made a few remarks from the City Hall floor describing his reasons for wanting this position with the City. Ken Henderson’s general comments were as follows after the swearing in process: “First things first; I want to thank my parents for showing me the way, my wife and life partner for her unbelievable love and support for all the years we’ve been together and the Grand Terrace City Council for appointing me to fill this formerly vacant position.
I want to read a quote that has defined my approach to public service for much of my career. I believe this statement applies both to the City Council and executive management staff in particular: ‘Leadership is the privilege (I repeat, the privilege) to have the responsibility to direct the actions of others in carrying out the purposes of the organization, at varying levels of authority, and with accountability for both successful and failed endeavors.’ As such, her are a few traits, among others, you can expect from me: Preparation, hard work, honesty, transparency, commitment to Vision 2030 (So why the specific reference to Vision 2030)? Because here’s another thing I was taught early in my career: superficial goals lead to superficial results.
I believe in representative government; that is to say, this body was elected or, in my case, appointed to represent the community as a whole. There are five of us who represent 13,500 of you. This important because, when important decisions are made by this body, some maybe pleased with the decision and some, maybe many, not so much. So how should one reconcile varying opinions from all quarters of the community and make the “right” choice that’s best for the community? What would you if your neighbors, family members, friends and others told you to go north, east, south and west…at the same time? For me, the answer involves two things in particular: The first is, I believe in the fair and free exchange of ideas, with the best ideas winning out. The second is, I believe in the Greater Good Principle; that is to say, making decisions that provide the greatest amount of good to the greatest number of people.
I said earlier you can expect transparency from me and, in that regard you should know that the status quo in Grand Terrace and Ken Henderson are no on good terms. I believe in Vision 2030 because I want to enhance the City’s tax base, improve its quality of life, ensure its economic sustainability, strengthen its institutions and provide jobs and homes to live in for its youth and college graduates that, too often, have to look elsewhere for these critically important things. How great it would be if our youth and college graduates could return to Grand Terrace and find jobs and homes waiting for them. Households from newly grown-up Grand Terrace citizens could supplement, and ultimately replace existing households, and this is a characteristic of the most vibrant communities.
When discussing these remarks with my wife, the first thing she said is, “Don’t talk too much”. There’s a hint in that statement as to whom the real brain of the outfit is, so I’ll end my remarks with how I started. Many thanks to my parents, my wife, the City Council and those of you taking time from your busy schedules to attend tonight’s proceedings. Council has a very full agenda tonight and it’s time to get to work.”
Before Councilman Henderson was able to take his place up on the dais, Mayor Darcy McNaboe called for a 10 minute recess to let those family members and residents in attendance congratulate Henderson on his opening remarks and give him well wishes on his future position in government. The depth of his experience in public sector work will be a strong asset to both the council and city’s desire for continued growth and vibrancy.