Brentwood mayoral candidate Mark Wilson thanks the community

Brentwood mayoral candidate Mark Wilson lists some hopes and disappointments following the campaign in a release to the media and a statement posted Friday night on Facebook.

Our Genuine & Sincere Thanks to the Residents of Brentwood, Mo.

Hello Brentwood,

Pardon me for not being as prompt with this note as I would have liked. I have taken a little time to dedicate to my most devoted supporters, and those who have been most neglected in the past few months, my beautiful wife Lora and my very compassionate and talented son Cole.

There are certainly a number of memories that we will take from this journey; however, the most important is the incredible support devoted to “OUR” collective vision for this fine community that we all call home. The blood, sweat and tears that so many of you dedicated for the betterment of our city is a true testament to the overwhelming goodness existent in our neighbors.

While this was a heartily contested race, my primary take away resonates in a few words:

 Proud:

• I am so very proud of the people in our community who participated and worked so very hard to create a new and better day for Brentwood.
• I am so very proud of the incredibly kind, moral and ethical people that my family has been so blessed to have had introduced into our lives—our lives have been enriched to have shared this experience with you.

Humility:

• We have been humbled by the willingness of good-hearted neighbors, acquaintances, family and friends who have selflessly sacrificed and dedicated themselves towards reaching a community goal in order to succeed for the good of all.
• I want you to know that I placed little value in the title of Mayor. Instead, I placed value in the purpose of our mission and our objective for positive and purposeful change. No matter who serves as our leaders at City Hall, I continue to place value in the purpose of our community’s mission: Professional Management & Respectful Conduct; Fiscal Responsibility, Transparency and Accountability; Thoughtful and Responsible Revitalization of our Infrastructure and Economic Growth; and the inclusion of our residents, our business owners, our schools, and our community groups as part of the process.

Disappointment:

• At what I believe was one of the most crucial elections we’ve had in a long time, we had a voter turnout of only 27%. Though my statement will not be popular, I think this is embarrassing. Over 70% of our community did not participate in a very privileged process. The price of our freedom has been far too high for any of us to ever take it for granted, and the consequence of non-participation in our right to vote is far too great for any of us to ignore.

• Honor & Integrity – Through this process, we heard from a number of citizens who shared stories that reflected that a code of low moral fiber and mean-spirited behavior continues to exist in our city. Too often, disagreement with an issue devolves into an attacks on the person, our people, and this is simply not good conscienable behavior.. No doubt we will disagree and engage in healthy debate of issues, but I encourage us to contest the issue and not attack the person.

Responsibility & Accountability:

• The work has only begun. I know we all care, but we must now involve ourselves and be part of the solution, and not just point out the problem.
• We must set the bar and the expectations high. We must hold our elected, appointed and hired officials responsible and accountable for our leadership’s actions. We need professional, timely and thorough presentations and communications. We have a number of experienced, talented people in Brentwood and we need to take advantage of their expertise.

Hope:

• When we started this journey it was about our hope for change, and we can still have that change.
• Please join me in getting behind our newly elected Mayor and Board, our City Administration and City Hall employees, and our Police and Fire Department–we are much more powerful in unity.
• We must start to heal, we must begin to trust, and we must aid those we have elected, appointed, and hired to run our city.
• I’ve watched months of people helping, supporting and loving others. Now, let’s all help Chris Thornton, our BOA, and our city in order to succeed for the revitalization of our community.

It’s pretty special that a number of you have recognized my affinity for what I believe are transformative quotations. I have been blessed that many of you have shared quotes that have had very personal effect on your own lives. So prior to signing off, I want to share one more quotation that I believe directly relates to our community beginning OUR new day:

“Coming together is the only the beginning, keeping together is progress, but working together is success” – Henry Ford

Thank you Brentwood…With Love & Respect,

Mark D. Wilson & Family