I didn’t arrive in Spencer yesterday. I have been here for a long time. I remember Spencer prior to November 1991, the year Buddy Gettys was elected mayor. One of the few vehicles the town owned was a little blue truck the superintendent drove. It smoked and rattled going down the road. The garbage truck leaked water from the compressed garbage and you could smell it from the curb.
Junk cars, dilapidated houses and problems with absentee landlords, broken sidewalks and water leaks plagued the community. The uptown business area was worse. Even the Park Plaza didn’t look so bad in those days. Most businesses were boarded up. Whatever track we were on, it wasn’t the right one, and we were certainly not going anywhere.
Buddy Gettys moved into the mayor’s office three weeks prior to the new year of 1992. He surrounded himself with people who developed a vision and a strategic plan. Since that time, with support from various board members and employees, he had done his dead level best to implement those plans. Most of you who served on the board in the past decade should be proud; you helped turn Spencer around. It was not easy. People who yelled at you and criticize you now for not doing enough didn’t have a clue or even the hope of starting the process 10 years ago. Buddy Gettys not only deserves to be re-elected, but Spencer continues to need his leadership, his talents, his determination and his vision for our future.
— George Suwalski
Spencer
Today's News
