Meet the New Golden Valley Mayor: Part III

Tonight is the last City Council meeting of the year. Both outgoing members of the council, Mayor Linda Loomis and Bob Shaffer, will be honored with an informal gathering of friends and cake in the room across the hall from

A similar get-together will take place right after the first council meeting of the year, Jan. 3, to welcome new council member Joannie Clausen and the city's new mayor, Shep Harris.

Harris also takes office that day. mayoral election and has been meeting with city staff, members of various committees and several schools and neighborhood groups ever since.

Both before and after the election, Harris has emphasized what he sees as a need for the city with its residents. He puts that at number one on his priority list. Number two, he said, is "a creative approach to problem-solving."

When asked about what he would have done differently if he were mayor, he cites what happened to the North Tyrol Park area.

The playground equipment and the trees at the park were destroyed, and the neighbors started emailing each other about how they could contribute to restore the park to what it was.

The neighbors were told that FEMA dollars would help with the clean-up efforts, so the neighbors backed off. However, FEMA money doesn't cover things like trees or other landscaping efforts.

"(Going forward), if this were to happen and neighbors were offering to help out, we absolutely don't push them away. We invite them to be part of the conversation," Harris said. "When we know how much money we're getting from FEMA, we meet with the neighborhood and ask what they want to see. We find out how they want to contribute. Instead, they're left with half a solution, and they're once again talking about pooling resources to fix the park—six months later."

Harris said he doesn't know how much the city pushed for FEMA dollars, but he said he would do what he could to get that money increased.

Whether it's tornado damage or other big city projects, Harris said he doesn't want to rely on one source of funding.

"This is another way we've got to be creative," he said. "The fire department does a great job of applying and getting grants for their various needs. Are we looking at grants for all of our city's needs? We need to work within a budget, but we don't have to rely on taxes as our only source of revenue."

Residents have responded well to this kind of thinking, but one of the things people have questioned both in public and in the comments section of various Patch articles is Harris' idea to bring an amphitheater to Golden Valley—especially when the economy is in tough shape.

"True, it's harder and harder for a city to live within its means. And to a degree, Golden Valley has done a good job of it," he said. "But that's not a reason to shy away from investing in our future."

Harris said the city is divided by two school districts and by several highways. He said having an amphitheater would unite the city and make it a destination for more than just the 30,000 people who commute here every day.

"Will it be possible this year? No. But let's work to find a way to make it happen," he said. "Can we work with ? Can we make this part of a 2013 bonding bill?"

He again pointed to using federal, county or local grants as a way to fund the project.

Harris admits he's got high hopes for what he can accomplish as mayor—especially in just four years.

"I'm learning so much each and every day, and not everything I propose is going to happen. I'm OK with that," he said. "But if there's a really good idea on the table—whether I've proposed it, the council proposes it, or it comes from an active citizen—we've got to exhaust every possible way to make it happen."

Editor's Note: To learn more about Harris' thoughts on the election, see , posted two weeks earlier. For how he plans to do a better job of communication, see .