Mayor’s Weekly Focus Group Seeks Citizen Input

Mayor Mallinson meets with (clockwise) Tracy Wagner, Eva Steinman, John Olinskey, Leigh Ann Little, and Fritzi Hazelrigg.

      Where do you go when you leave Sugar Creek?  Mayor Mallinson would like to know.  He’s not being nosy… he’s just trying to figure out what Sugar Creek needs to keep people from taking their dollars to other communities, and looking for ways to bring people to Sugar Creek to spend their money here.

  Every Wednesday at 3 p.m., Mallinson invites residents and business people in the community to his weekly focus group, where he poses the question above. In these meetings, which usually run over two hours long, citizens share their wishes, concerns, and ideas not only for the 24 Highway development project, but for improving and developing Sterling Avenue, the River Front, the Bluff, and any part of town that needs attention and improvement.  The ideas for each group are compiled into a master list, something for city planners to work with as the development goes forward, so as to make sure that the desires of the citizens are not overlooked.

   Restaurants, recreation, and a grocery store that offers a lot of variety seem universally wished for amongst Sugar Creek residents. 

   The mayor also wants to know what people DON’T want in Sugar Creek.  Payday loans, pawn shops, and tattoo parlors are widely frowned upon.  Most people agree that the city doesn’t need any more “beer joints,” although a more upscale drinking establishment has not been ruled out.