Mental Health
Weekly update #324 4/5/2026 to 4/11/2026
Musician Adam Ant had this to say about mental health, "Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo, and it needs to be faced and dealt with." Before I explore this topic though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
This week, at the Board of Public Works and Safety, we announced the award of a contract for road work on 14 segments of Seymour streets, funded in part by Crossroads Community Matching Grant funds. The CCMG award totaled about $830,000 with a total project cost of just over $1.7 million. Since the start of 2020, we have been able to receive 97% of possible CCMG dollars here in Seymour. When you mix in the federal grants that have funded five of the O’Brien Street projects, which are in various stages depending on when they were approved, we have been able to turn $15.4 million in local tax dollars into $56.3 million worth of road work on Seymour streets. Thank you to the Indiana Department of Transportation for all your help as we have worked on these projects, and thank you to our local team that has put in the effort to accomplish this.
Every year, I deliver the State of the City in February. I then have several chances to deliver an abbreviated version to local organizations during the next few months. This week, I shared what 2025 looked like with the Seymour Evening Lions Club. I am always amazed as I look at the previous year, and even six weeks later, I still find myself in shock at how well Seymour did in 2025. Crime was down for the eighth year in a row, park visits were up over 600,000, transit rides requiring the wheelchair lift were up over 110%, and so much more. Thank you to all of our Seymour team for all you do, and I can’t wait to see what 2026 looks like when it is done.
Congratulations to the Seymour High School students who were pinned as Certified Nursing Assistants recently. The 16-week program gives them a jump on work or college depending on what path they choose after high school.
This past week, for my department visit, I spent several hours one evening with the Seymour Police Department. A portion of the time was business as usual. Officers headed in different directions taking calls and what seemed like a constant chatter on the radio related to traffic stops. We patrolled a few neighborhoods looking for anything out of the ordinary. One call, though, was what my thoughts are stuck on. While I had been on a similar call a few years ago and probably wrote about it in that week's update, this one seemed to be more intense. I am sure the officers involved would gladly tell you they were just doing their jobs. I was again amazed at the professionalism and compassion exhibited over the course of several hours. I won’t go into detail on the call, but I will share that we need to start talking about our mental health. We need to find a way to have open and honest discussions about where we are at mentally so we can lose the taboos about mental health. I know this weekly update won’t change the world, but if it opens up the door, we can start the process of facing and dealing with it as Adam Ant said, "Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo, and it needs to be faced and dealt with."