Greg O’Connor has been selected to serve his second presidential term on the Noblesville Common Council this year. O’Connor, who was recently re-elected for his second term in November, previously served as council president in 2009 – a year after being elected.
“Mark did an extraordinary job. I’m grateful for his leadership,” O’Connor said of replacing Boice as president.
As a previous president, O’Connor said he has the experience and leadership of running council meetings.
“It helps to be able to see some things coming down the road we might not anticipate otherwise,” he said.
The council will look a little different in 2012, with the addition of Jeff Zeckel, and Rick Taylor beginning his first full-term.
“We’ve got a good group and I look forward to interacting with our two newer members,” said O’Connor. “I’ll bring some enthusiasm to our job of trying to make Noblesville a better place and improve on what we’ve got.”
O’Connor said the council will continue to look at ideas and work with administration to improve quality of life. One specific project he plans to look more in-depth at is the traffic situation in the city, and said he wants to make that a higher priority on the council’s list. He is also looking for feedback from citizens and encourages them to be a part of the council’s decision making. Also key to O’Connor is communicating with the public and explaining, “What we are doing and why we are doing it.”
O’Connor said the budget will remain the biggest obstacle facing the council this year, adding the councilmen need to continue to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars, and look at timelines to determine when projects are slotted to take place.
“I’m going to work with the mayor so we have a unified front,” he said. “Economy is still challenging. It’s starting to head in the right direction, but it’s not going to change overnight. We need to take longer term views of things.”
By Robert Herrington
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