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<br />~'7wvV ~tee~l GQ*y' .t9t~j/~* Ut,~i~ii r~r,
<br />President Kennedy, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that
<br />this report tonight will be somewhat lengthy. The good news is that it is my Last report
<br />to City Council. ~cu-- ~_ ~ -(,~. ~r..~ `,~ ~ ~ ~- ~'r~'"°'`~'~
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<br />V I begin this report~with an apology- to ~ to tie members of Counci~l,,~,~ the Mayor ~'
<br />v and his Directors, and to the voters. ran I think that this is wh~~~ery elected "~`S
<br />official should do upon leaving office. It is such an honor and high responsibility to
<br />serve as an elected official in America-at any level of government. We in America live ,y
<br />both in the greatest democracy on the face of the Earth and in one of the most ~~,~
<br />challenging times facing that democracy. That being so, if we as elected officials just ~ q~,~
<br />show up for work, if we just earn our paycheck, if we just perform our duties, and even if ,~ ~
<br />~~ always honor our oath of office, it's not enough; we haven't done enough. If we can't
<br />say that on each and every day that we served we made a real difference as elected
<br />officials-and in my case, to say that for each and every day of my service, I .provided you
<br />with all the legal advice and guidance that you needed to perform your duties as elected
<br />officials at a level of excellence, then we've come up short--I've come up short, and an
<br />apology is appropriately owed. After reflecting upon my eight years in office as an
<br />elected official, I know that I'v {come up short and so I begin by apologizing to all of
<br />you. ~ ,~,~ +~.~ ~~tc.~~~ u.~ ~.C~t~r~lirxe,
<br />There is value in an apology not just in that it helps to cleanse one's soul, but also
<br />because it may help other elected officials.present and future to profit from the
<br />shortcomings in your service and thus it ay help these officials to serve better in the
<br />future and to thereby better protect an promote both our City and the wonderful
<br />democracy in which we all live. ~ ~~ ~~
<br />When I decided to run for this elected position some 9 years ago, I sincerely wanted to do
<br />things that would improve upon the service of my predecessor, Mike Gareau, Sr.,
<br />who had served North Olmsted as Law Director at a level of excellence for 28 years. I
<br />knew very well-better than most, that Mike Gareau, Sr., would be a very tough act to
<br />follow. Mike hired me as a law clerk way back in 1978, and, after I completed a 2 -~ .
<br />clerkship in the Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals, he hired me again as `assistant
<br />law director in 1981. I would serve him and the City for the next 20 years in that
<br />capacity befo ecomi Law Director myself in 2002. Mike Gareau, Sr., thus became
<br />and was fore yearly mentor in the practice of law, and more particularly
<br />municipal law. Mike Sr. taught me my profession and showed me by his own
<br />performance how a municipal lawyer should serve his municipal clients and the public.
<br />Mike Gareau, Sr., as Law Director, was-he actually still is, a skilled politician, a
<br />passionate lawyer, and a man of reat morals and principles. Like I said, a tough act for
<br />anyone to follows ` ~~~~~"~.-~ .
<br />~ As high as Mike had set the bar for others that would follow him, perhaps because of my
<br />background as a high school and college high jumper, I thought that I could set the bar
<br />even higher and clear this new height during for my time as Law Director. I hoped to~iar
<br />t improve upon the service of Mike Sr. by, as I called it, institutionalizing the City
<br />Law Department. I knew that it was unlikely that another Mike Gareau would come
<br />around to serve the City in the future (I obviously was wrong about that), and so my first
<br />~.:~: ~,.
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