The candidate interviews The Chronicle published last Tuesday were very informative.
I agree with Joyce Barnes that we want to keep our small town feel, but we aren’t going to keep that feel by just wanting “what we already have.”
Commercial and residential developments are coming to Centralia, quickly. The only way to preserve our small town feel through this growth is by active planning and implementation of a strategy to promote our neighborhoods and in-town connections.
Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston is already months into this strategy guiding city staff and a wide group of citizen volunteers working on a way to absorb the growth without destroying our small town feel. Her leadership has been, and continues to be, essential in this work. Right now, the best thing anyone could do to help maintain our small town feel during all the development and growth would be to vote for Smith Johnston.
Scott Horner
Centralia
