Negative
Weekly update #311 1/4/2026 to 1/10/2026
In a world full of negatives, I encourage you to choose the positive anytime you can. First, though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
The first full week of 2026 is now in the books, and I would suspect it was just as busy as the next 51 will be this year. This week, I had a chance to meet one of Governor Braun’s newer staff members and discuss the upcoming legislative session, along with various topics from 2025 and how they will impact local government and ultimately the State of Indiana as a whole. During our conversation, I shared that I still have hope that the legislators will, at minimum, take care of some corrections to SEA-1 from 2025. I also shared some language corrections that were shared with legislators back in 2024 before the last session, that didn’t get added to any bills in 2025, and that I hope will sooner or later get a chance to be heard at least in committee. Thank you to Governor Braun and his team for the chance to share my thoughts.
This week, we had a chance to present on two more phases of the O’Brien Street corridor to the Indiana Department of Transportation for funding via federal aid. INDOT has an open window each year asking for proposals. Many cities and counties submit, and then they give a presentation on their proposals in January. Then the waiting period begins as we wait to see if we get funded for any or all of our proposals. The grant is an 80/20 match and gives us a chance to turn $1 or $2 million into $5 or $10 million worth of road work. It is because of this program, along with Crossroads Community Matching Grants, that we have been able to work on over $51 million in road projects since January 1, 2020, with less than $14 million in local funds. Thank you, INDOT, for the opportunity this week to pitch our projects, and I appreciate all the help you have given Seymour over the years.
It isn’t very often the weather is good enough to patch potholes in January, and even more rare that I get a chance to assist when they do. This past week, I had a chance to lend a hand and learn a little bit about pothole repair from the crew at Seymour Department of Public Works. Thank you to the crew for the good conversation and teaching me a few things while we were out.
Time to get back to the opening thought before we are done with this weekly update. Every day is full of negatives, and often, people will knowingly and unknowingly throw them out for the world to see or hear, though we all have a choice. We can make a conscious decision to find the positives. We can decide to create positives. Sometimes, that can be as simple as a smile to a stranger. Who knows, it may be the only one they get all day. I won’t dive down the many rabbit holes this thought provides, but I will encourage each of us to think about it and choose wisely because it does truly change the world around us. To flash back to my daughter’s elementary school days, set out today and be a bucket filler, not a bucket dipper. I will leave you with a quote from novelist Edith Wharton, "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."