Fayette Middle School sixth-grader Kateleen Kyle took the honors after winning the city’s annual “If I were mayor I would …” essay contest. Kateleen’s family was on hand as her winning entry was announced at the April 18 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council.
In her essay, 11-year-old Kateleen described her aspiration to provide more parks for recreation, to help secure more jobs to benefit families and to promote law enforcement with the aim of helping make the city a safer place to live.
But perhaps it’s best to hear directly from Kateleen.
“If I were mayor of Fayetteville I would do so many things. I would try to get more parks that were closer to the city. I would also try to get more jobs in our town. I would try to promote the police department and keep crime off the streets. Most of all I would try to keep my citizens happy.
“First of all, I’m 11 and I always wanted as a child to have a park closer to home. Imagine how other younger kids feel about the fact that they have to go a long way to a nice clean park. As a mayor I think the first priority is to make sure your citizens are happy and this would help ensure that they are. Overall that is the actual reason we choose a mayor. Anyway, that is the first thing I would do.
“Second of all, and I think this is so important, that citizens would have more jobs. We all have families and we need to feed and take care of them. How can we live if we don’t have any money, and how do we get money? From our job! The point is we need to be happy with where we are and that’s all I would want for my citizens.
“Last of all I would promote the police more and make this city safer. Also this would tie in with the jobs and how we need them. It is very important that we feel safe where we are and where we live. An important part of being happy is knowing that you’re safe.
“That is what I would do if I was mayor. I think all these things I would do would make us all happy. And I think we all like to be happy. Don’t we? I do and I think the citizens of Fayetteville would, too.”
For his part, Mayor Greg Clifton thanked Kateleen for her entry, adding that two of her targeted areas were also two of the issues he ran on during his election campaign.
Clifton said he appreciated Kateleen and the other sixth-graders for taking the time to put their thoughts on paper, for offering worthwhile suggestions and for caring about their city.
The “If I were mayor I would…” contest is an annual event promoted by the Ga. Municipal Association.
For her winning entry Kateleen was awarded four tickets to the Southern Ground Amphitheater upcoming concert featuring the Swingin’ Medallions and Wet Wille.
