Water and Sewer Response

This was my first public response to the West Fork sewer issue. Since this was published, I have worked with our engineering firm, our water and sewer department, local inspectors, and ADEQ in an effort to assure that we stay in compliance with ADEQ directives.  

April 18, 2014

Waste Water Treatment Plant and Pipeline to Fayetteville Treatment Facilities

On April 11 I received a phone call from Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ).  This phone call was a verbal issuance of an Emergency Order of the Director to cease all unpermitted discharges into the West Fork of the White River.  Butch Bartholomew and Robert White, the engineer from McClelland Engineering, presented two solutions to ADEQ to solve the problem.  One was to control the flow of discharge from the manhole at the treatment plant and to send that rain water and sewer discharge through the plant.  The second was to increase the flow of waste water through the plant without compromising the complete treatment and without bypassing any treatment units.  The first solution to divert the flow from the manhole was completed, in operation, and approved by an inspector from ADEQ on Tuesday.  That stopped all untreated discharge into the White River.  At this point we have complied with the Emergency Order to cease all discharge of untreated waste into the West Fork of the White River.  I have asked that our city workers check the discharge area at the manhole throughout the day and about every three hours at night to make sure we stay in compliance with the order. They are doing that and reporting no problems with discharge.  The second solution, to increase flow, was reviewed by ADEQ and was approved on Thursday, April 17. We began that operation immediately on approval.  The second solution, to increase flow through the plant, should take care of the discharge from the manhole on a long-term basis until we reduce infiltration of rain water run-off and complete the sewer line project to the Fayetteville treatment facility.

I have the same concerns about this discharge as you do.  This is a serious problem and the City of West Fork wants to be good stewards and responsible members of the Northwest Arkansas Watershed.  West Fork is two years into the sewer line project to the Fayetteville facilities which is the final solution to our waste water treatment problem.  This sewer line project and process not only includes the pipeline but also the evaluation and upgrading of the infrastructure in West Fork.  Our city sewer system evaluation has been funded, and that process is underway.  We have surveyed the pipeline to Fayetteville, we have been approved for much of our funding and will continue to cooperate with all of the agencies and contractors to expedite this process.  If you find problems or have questions, bring them to me.

Charlie Rossetti, Mayor

My Mom, My Strength, My Family's Heritage

Me, Lillian, and Mom

This is the tribute that I gave to my Mom at her memorial service on September 20, 2003. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Mom, I hope the following words, in some small way, do justice to the life you lived, the influence and impact you had on your family and friends, and to the relationship you had with our Lord. 

Mom spent her life in service to others, and family and friends were always the first to be served and blessed by her generosity, kindness, and love. 

Our family, beginning with John and me, have learned and observed a heritage that has stayed us through good times and bad, easy times and hard, and now celebration and heartache.

Mom was built of those things that came from the tempering of living through the Depression as many of your parents did.  She was molded by the love of her mom and the traditions of her family.  Mom was sustained by the faith she had in God and the abundant prayer life that she lived for 86 years. 

The stories that I'll share today are probably the same stories you would share about your mom in my place.  The motherhood that I will tell you about you could do likewise, and the faith in God and the prayerful life of Mom is your mom's life too. We don't, however, reflect often enough on the gifts our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents give us.

As John and I reflect on what Mom has left with us, please reflect on your lives those similar things.

I remember Mom in the stands at ballgames when John and I played.  Always supportive, always cheering us on, and occasionally getting more excited than she should have.  John broke loose and was running for a touchdown, Mom was on her feet yelling when all of a sudden her teeth few out of her mouth.  She grabbed them before they hit the person in front of her, put them back in her mouth, and cheered John down the field.  She never missed a beat.

Mom would be up at 3:00 in the morning, make Dad's lunch, do some housework before her work day began.  She would have two early customers in the beauty shop, and then get John and me up for school, get us breakfast, and send us on our way.  We never thought much about it then because Mom was always kind and cheerful and never made a big deal of hard work and long days.  A strong work ethic was taken for granted in our household.

Mom made sure that John and I knew where our roots were and the importance of family.  I can recall driving to Aguilar, Colorado, two or three weekends a month to visit Grandma, uncles, aunts, and cousins.  What we may have lacked at home in a traditional family setting, Mom more than made up for with our extended family.  We would pile in Mom's '42 Ford with only two forward gears and no reverse.  Mom was always careful where she parked that old black Ford. I never thought much about that then because I always felt safe with Mom.  There was nothing she could handle and no monster she couldn't protect us from in the darkness of the bedroom.

We spent most of our vacations on the banks of the Red River, Young's Ranch Lake, Eagle Nest, or the Cimarron River.  We would eat sandwiches, cook hotdogs and hamburgers and fish when we caught them.  John caught the biggest trout in all of our outings.

We would walk around the streets of Red River, ride horses, and go bowling at night.  To this day I'm not sure why people go to Las Vegas or tours on cruise ships when they could spend a little time in paradise in the mountains of New Mexico with their mom.  We never knew that we didn't have much and never felt deprived.  Mom made our time together valuable, memorable, the best. 

Christmas was always a celebration of the birth of Christ and the traditions of the Rossettis, the Scuzzaros, and the Cacciatores.  Mom, John, and I would cook our Christmas fudge until that drop we put in the water balled up and sank to the bottom where it disappeared with the other 75 drops of fudge we had tried, knowing it must be ready now.  Mom never argued when we wanted to test the fudge, knowing full well it wasn't ready, but we were young and impatient, and Mom fully understood that.  "Test it again," she would say, "and see if it's ready."  When it was finally done, we would pour it into a pan and put it in the frig to cool.  Mom, in her infinite wisdom, knew we couldn't wait, so out came the spoons, and John and I would share the bowl that we mixed the fudge in.  I don't think Mom had to wash that bowl after we were through with it.

Mom's garlic chicken is a lesson in life for all of us.  She would mix up her sauce of herbs and spices (that have been replicated by no human alive), peel back 75 fresh garlic cloves, and arrange the chicken and cloves perfectly in the roaster pan, put it in the pre-heated oven, and let it cook.  Mom never opened the door to look into the pan to see if it was ready.  She KNEW when it was ready. When Mom took it from the oven, it was dinner time.  I have never tasted anything as good as Mom's garlic chicken.  Even with her recipe, we can't duplicate the taste.  Must be Mom's love. I think Mom did that with John and me.  I think she prepared us, covered us with her mix of herbs and spices, arranged fresh garlic around us, and then let us cook, undisturbed until we were ready and, remembering how John and I were as young boys, I think she had to do that often.

The rest of the Christmas preparations consisted of Mom, Grandma, and our aunts rolling out dough, preparing the stuffing for 5,000 ravioli, cooking nanny goat, preparing a turkey the size of an ostrich, and simmering spaghetti sauce on the wood cook stove at Grandma's house.  There were honey cookies (struffoli), biscotti, patitsa, and pies and cakes.  Whenever a bowl needed cleaning, John and I were there with our spoons, and Mom was always willing to oblige our appetites.  Why both of us didn't weigh 200 pounds at the age of 12, I don't know.  But the memory that holds strong is that all the meals I remember at my Grandma's were a celebration of family, conversation, and time together.  I remember the first time Kay went to Aguilar.  She looked at two little four foot by four foot aunts, Carmela and Mary, and got hugged and smothered with big brea-- women and saw food and quantities of food she had no idea existed.  I love family meals.  Thanks, Mom!

Our friends always had a place to stay or a meal to eat.  Mom was generous to a fault with whoever needed help.  Family came first; friends right behind.  We never lacked for attention or love.  Mom would read us to sleep at night, rub our bellies when they were hurting, and fix us her famous Hot Toddy when we were sick.  A tradition my children like.

Mom never abandoned our needs.  I challenged health, good sense, and even death a few times as a teenager.  By all rights, I probably shouldn't be here today.  I know in my heart that all those wrong turns I took and all those dumb things I did, that I survived because of Mom's constant and fervent prayers for me.  Mom prayed for John and me and whoever else her heart was burdened for every day. God listened to her prayers because she prayed unselfishly. God blessed Mom with the ability and strength to survive abuse, to love her family, to have compassion and empathy, to rely on Him.

Mom's last battle in life was to see Wendy and Curt's new baby.  But she didn't lose that battle.  Mom died before Campbell's birth, but now she can see him and be with him in spirit without the pain and discomfort she had her last days.  The day before Mom died, I was sitting with her, and we were talking.  Actually, I was talking, and Mom was sleeping.  I was telling her about Wendy and Curt and how Wendy was feeling, and then I mentioned Lillian.  Mom's eyes smiled and her mouth quivered slightly.  Mom always knew what was important in life, and right now our youngest members of the family are the most important.

I have been reminded of something else in the past several months as we have had to help Mom make decisions and finally make decisions for her.  My friend, my partner in life, my love, my children's mom and grandchildren's grandma is that same person and more to our children.  Kay has cried with me and laughed with me, and taken care of Mom as though she was her own.  Our children are most fortunate, and I am again blessed.

Dominic was with Mom the morning of the day she decided to leave us.  When Kay and I arrived at Mom's, Dominic was there holding her hand, his eyes swollen and red, and at that moment I was so proud and so glad to see him.  I thought Mom was there alone and worried.  Kay, Wendy, Dominic, Curt, and I spent the day with Mom, and that evening John joined us.  I watched Wendy at Mom's side that day.  Sitting as pregnant women sit, watching Mom with love and compassion, and knowing instinctively when to smile at me and touch my hand.  I was further assured that Wendy had her lifelong partner in Curt as he stood by with all of us.  I was surrounded by the strength of family that seemed inherent in the gifts of character that Mom had lived her life with.  We talked and laughed and cried, and I know Mom was somehow aware of all that was going on in her room and with her family.  She had brought us together into her fold once more.  John and I stayed the evening and held Mom's hand as she took her last breath.  It was quiet and calm as she left to be with our Lord.  She took care of us and sheltered us even in her death.

Thanks!

photo courtesy of Iris Page

I want to thank the voters of West Fork for choosing me to serve as Mayor. It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly, and I will work to represent all of you.  I am especially grateful to the impressive number who came out to vote – even when the weather turned nasty. 

 

I would like to thank my opponent for running a competitive campaign and for sending his message of congratulations. I appreciate our campaign committee and the volunteers who worked so hard. Kay and I are grateful to those who put up and took down signs, wrote words of support, helped with the costs and kept us honest, made us laugh, and fed us on Election Day. We could not have made it through this without the help of friends, family, concerned citizens, and good ol’ boys and girls. We wanted an open and positive campaign, and that is what you helped to accomplish.  As the campaign progressed and we were able to renew friendships and meet many residents, we realized without a doubt that this election was not about just us but about all of us.   

Many friends and acquaintances have commented that they are seeing a better sense of community through the efforts put forth in this election. Let’s continue to be positive, put aside the critical rhetoric and discontent, and portray West Fork in the positive light that we deserve.  Thank you all for using your voice, your vote in this special election; I will do my best to represent all of the people of this community. 

Good Ol' Boys

fineartamerica.com

I’ve read and heard throughout the campaign for West Fork Mayor that my husband, Charlie, is a member of the Good Ol’ Boy Network or GOB Club.  That worried me a little because I just didn’t see it.  My concern led me to do some research.  

According to my first source, the Urban Dictionary, a good ol’ boy can be one of two things. One is that a good ol’ boy

1 – is from the South. New Mexico is south of somewhere, I guess. 

2 – likes cheap beer. Nope.

3 – is a NASCAR fan. Uh-uh. That’s a no.  

4 – follows pro wrestling. Sorry.

5 - drives a muscle car or pickup – O.K., he drives two different pickups, but he sold his muscle cars quite a while ago.

A second possible good ol’ boy

1 – comes from old money. That’s not Charlie.

2 – has a degree from a prestigious Southern college. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado.

3 – wears nice clothes such a collared shirts and khakis. Not often. (They don’t make Life is Good tee shirts with collars, but he does have a nice pair of khaki carpenter pants.)

Just when I was about to give up hope, I ran across these entries from Dictionary.com:

·      a person who belongs to a network of friends and associates with close ties of loyalty and mutual support.

·      a man considered as being trustworthy and dependable because of his ordinary and down-to-earth background and upbringing.

Yep, there it is. Finally.  Charlie is trustworthy and dependable and down-to-earth.  And, in spite of what some have been led to believe, a network of friends who are loyal and mutually supportive is a good thing.

Now I can say with confidence, Vote for Charlie Rossetti in the April 8 special election for Mayor of West Fork. 

He is, after all, a Good Ol’ Boy!

A View From My Window

I don’t like to campaign, but it is a means to the end come April 8.  I do enjoy being mayor of West Fork because this is the way I can help make a difference in the town.  As mayor, I have worked to build trust and confidence within and among city departments. Since November, I have 

• been present at city hall almost every day, in daily contact with the city business manager and the city treasurer, and with the city clerk as necessary. 
•  met with nearly every city employee.
•  kept the website updated and will be adding additional pages, including a historical page.
•  helped facilitate the cleaning and repair of the Community Center and City Hall.

I have had the privilege to work with the

• Chief of Police, police officers, and their Commissioners.
• Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, the city and rural firefighters, and to attend their board meetings. 
• Parks and Recreation Director and Commission Chairman and to attend commission meetings.
• Planning Commissioners, the Water and Sewer Commissioners, the library board members, the Friends of the Library, and the RRC board members.

Within the region, I have tried to be a positive ambassador for the city of West Fork by 

• meeting with regional planning commission and Alta Greenway for the bike and pedestrian trails.
• working with the Mayor of Greenland to lead a group of citizens from our communities as we  discuss the impact of the bike and pedestrian trails on our communities.
• helping facilitate the work of the Ozark Regional Transit project.  (In June we will have bus service to all points in NWA on ORT.)
• meeting with the West Fork Schools Superintendent to pursue avenues of cooperation between the school and the city.
• jumping into the frigid waters of the White River in the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.

All of this has been possible because of open communication and the cooperation of all the players who have offered help, suggestions, and hard work.  We need to continue to unify our efforts.  I will

• support the efforts of the Creating Community Group.
• join those who are working as the city website committee. 
• get involved in the Senior Center activities at the community Center.  A committee is forming. 
• join those who are volunteering to establish a Veteran's Memorial. There are already preliminary plans. 
• establish additional committees as needed: Community Development, Economic Development, Beautification, Arts, and others. 

If elected April 8,  I will continue to do my part for West Fork and encourage input and involvement from all who are willing to participate. 

Counting the Days 'til April 8

We're counting the days 'til the April 8, 2014, special election.  And we're also counting the ways that you can help the Charlie Rossetti for Mayor campaign.  Early voting takes place from April 1 to April 7 at the courthouse.  Voting on the day of the election is at the community center from 7:30-7:30.  This election belongs to everyone. If you are willing to help in any way, please call us at 479-466-3496 or 479-466-4496.  We have been out and about putting up signs, knocking on doors, making calls, and we want you to join us.  It's a great town!  

1. Go door-to-door Saturday, April 5, from 10-12 to hand out brochures - or at a convenient time for you. We have addresses of registered voters. 


2. Make phone calls Sunday and/or Monday before the election.  We have lists with numbers and a written script.

3. Contact my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and face-to-face friends, reminding them to vote for Charlie Rossetti for Mayor.  

4. Use my plane to skywrite "Charlie for Mayor." 





5. Hold a sign at the community center on the day of the election (10 minutes or 10 hours). 

6. Drive people to the polls. If you need a ride or know of someone who does, please call! 

Thanks, Charlie and Kay and the members of the campaign committee

Buffalo Wings

I’m not a politician; I’m a public servant. This race and certainly the office of Mayor of West Fork have little room for deception or for politicking around. What is required is someone who cares about people. The office of Mayor represents all the residents in West Fork: the registered voters and the unregistered voters; those who believe in everything you do and those who oppose everything you believe in; the young, the old, the business people, the skilled workers; the movers, the shakers. This is about community. This is about using all the resources we have available in our employees, elected officials, residents, schools, organizations and businesses, the institutions, the right wing, the left wing; I don’t care about wings, except for the occasional Buffalo hot wings.

Bank of Fayetteville solo cups

Greenland Mayor Bill Groom and
West Fork Mayor Charlie Rossetti
 

I participated Saturday in a wonderful event attended by over 100 area residents where mayors from West Fork and Greenland joined hands for the Polar Bear Plunge, where young and old entered the White River to support the Special Olympics. People joined together for a common cause, for unselfish reasons, for the good of the community. Laughter, applause, handshaking, and brave Grannies dominated the crowd. This kind of unselfish activity is not uncommon in West Fork. There are church food banks available for those who need help, men gather together to cut and split firewood for those who are too old or not healthy enough to supply their own for heat, people supply winter coats for children in need, and it is never an us-against-them attitude. It’s just people working together and offering what they have to make a community. It’s always been this way; it’s West Fork. I can tell you that I will continue to respect all the people, their ideas, wants, and needs...

                                 ... of all ages ... Young and old. 

Granny Dippers
with Fireman Mark Myers and
the rescue team 

Bringing Business to West Fork

Photo courtesy of Mary Smith in WFFOL calendar

Bringing business into West Fork is necessary, and supporting controlled growth will make this effort successful. We’re in an ideal location: a beautiful valley in the mountains, close to all the activities and opportunities provided by the areas to the north and south without the congestion. We have a transit system and bike and pedestrian trails bringing added economic growth and interest.  

My vision for growth is low impact and  “green” businesses, not only green in the sense that they have low impact on energy and the environment but green in that they promote new trends in jobs and business opportunities. These would include opportunities for environmental skills and products, and education to meet community needs such as medical, transportation, retail, entertainment, and recreation. One idea might be to have a small convention center/hotel with perhaps 25 rooms.  This center would specialize in hosting conferences and providing educational opportunities that focus on alternative energy sources, education in new building techniques for energy efficiency, certifying contractors and building officials in new technology and emerging alternatives for energy efficiency, rain water run-off, reducing, reusing, and recycling. 

We have a community in a location that is prime for growth in unique and appealing businesses and services.  We have several empty buildings in our commercial and industrial zones that afford great opportunity for retail establishments and light commercial businesses. Commerce, retail stores, service businesses will come to West Fork because investors are ready to invest in their business and in this community.

We are facing a time that will require all of our resources in planning, and the cooperative efforts of all of our citizens. I recently visited with a group of high school students, members of Business Leaders of America, who said their first priority for West Fork was a fast food place.  This is an example of input that should come from a wide range of ideas from a large group of people so that we can pick and choose the ideas that are viable for our community.  We need to welcome community ideas and volunteer help; we need to recognize and utilize people’s expertise, experiences, contacts, and willingness to share their time and efforts in this growth process. 

I have the desire to work with all of our elected officials, city employees, department heads, and the community.  I have the ability to seek expert resources, investment opportunities, and funding.  I have the skills necessary to help bring all of this together so that we can move forward to preserve our heritage and enhance the future of West Fork and our citizens. I have no other agenda but to serve this community. 

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

I recently attended a Resource Recovery Center (aka Recycle Center) board meeting at the library.  The RRC Board would like permanent information signs for the location of the Recycle Center.  Those signs are now designed, will be colorful, and will also be the general design for other information signs around West Fork for the Library, Community Center, and other points of interest.  In itself these signs are not a big deal. They require a small investment, and everyone in town will see them. The board had a vision, and with a few hours of work on my drafting board and several contacts with the sign shop, this vision will soon be a reality.

The thing about visions is that they need to start somewhere, and often those starts are with the simplest ideas and least expensive responses.  I see needs in West Fork for beautification projects.  Others besides me have similar visions: the Rain Gardens at the library and RRC are examples.  Our city crew continues to clean out drainage areas for both better water flow and better appearance.  We have started cleaning up the area around the cemetery although weather has caused some delay in completing that task.  All these things help.  More can be accomplished through cooperative efforts between the city, the schools, patron organizations, and individuals.  Working together to improve the appearance and beauty of our town should be a goal of all of us.

In the next few weeks, I'll address general ideas for businesses, low impact ideas for housing and subdivisions, cooperation between schools and community, controlled growth.   

 Your ideas are necessary.  Post them here or stop by City Hall.  

A Bridge to Communication, Cooperation, and Compromise

    

Photo courtesy of Mary Smith (WFFOL Calendar) 

Looks like the original "Good Ol' Boys" just after the turn of the century and a small group of young
"wanna be's" standing in front of what is now the Lil O' Opry.


But, all levity aside, this old building has served West Fork for a century or more.  If you look on the cast iron corners on each side, you'll see the date 1886 and that the cornerirons were cast in Neosho, MO.  It has served as a hotel, a bank, lumber yard, hardware store and more.  It has protected women's house plants in its windows during the winter.  And now it is the home of great music and family entertainment every Saturday night, featuring great talent from all around our area near and far.


Young people, it would be worth your time and effort to ask your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents about their memories and experiences of this building and other buildings along Campbell, McKnight, and Main Streets.  This is all part of your heritage and your family's heritage and for those who have moved here, like myself, it is part of the history of the town we now call home.  Good stuff, great stuff! Kay and I live in a house that is on the location of the old Hardin Hotel and framed out of the lumber from that old building.  We remodeled a house on Cedar Street that was built in the 1890's. The upgrades will make the house useful to Kay's mom and maybe other families for years to come. Around the corner on McKnight Street, we remodeled an 1890's house that was once occupied by Clyde Helsby, who operated the blacksmith's shop next to it to the south. It is now home to a young couple.

Photo courtesy of Henri McCorkle

The point is this.  Whether you're talking about buildings or people, they all have worth, strength, experience, history that cannot be replaced.  I've been questioned about a bridge of communication, cooperation, and compromise.  Lesley, that's exactly what I've been doing for nearly four months now as West Fork's Mayor. All of those people that my opponent wants to discard, I want to work with.  People who want to contribute are welcomed, listened to, and included.  Facebook is not a forum or a driving force for city government.  Common sense and hard work are what are moving our community forward, not bickering, closed conversations and groups, and constant, unsubstantiated criticism of everything.  You want to criticize? It serves no purpose. You want to contribute? Then contribute.

(George, sorry it took a while to get to the point.)

Moving Right Along

I hope that all of you who read this post have jobs that you enjoy going to each day, that you feel valued by your supervisors and peers, and that you are recognized for the skills, knowledge, and ideas that you bring to the table and encouraged to share all of that.  West Fork has a talented staff and dedicated elected officials whose main concerns are to provide city services to all of us in town, to invest in our future and our children’s future, and to do this economically, efficiently, and with a service-minded attitude. 

   

I am amazed every week at how knowledgeable and skilled our staff is and impressed by how efficiently our city crews do their jobs.  I’m encouraged every time I hear someone say how well our volunteer firemen and EMT personnel take care of people in distress and how kind and attentive they are in the process.

    

We have dedicated and knowledgeable leadership with all of our department heads, commission members, supervisors, and elected officials.  What would I change from the previous administration?  To communicate with, work with, and utilize all these people.  Is everything right and perfect? No.  Are we moving in that direction? Yes. 

    

I have done away with the locked door policies and secret agendas and have insisted on open communication within and among all departments.  I have made efforts to keep the public informed of city activities through our web site, social networks, and City Administration marquee.  For those of you who are interested in what the city is working on, you can find all of that information in City Council, Parks and Recreation, Water and Sewer Commission, Planning Commission, and Police Commission agendas and minutes. Most of what is going on is discussed in blog pages and on our city website. 

I believe that the majority of our residents want the city to take care of the services and to grow our community without adding increasing or unnecessary financial burdens on them.  We’re doing that, and most of you trust that we will continue to do that.  A few of our residents can’t find much that's positive in our town.  That’s too bad because West Fork has so much that is right.

    

   

    

         

Sidewalks, Bike and Pedestrian Trails.

   I've been reading the posts on the Planning Commission Facebook page about sidewalks, bike and pedestrian trails. Here is some info that may help in this discussion. West Fork is currently involved with the NWA Alta Greenway group to design and develop local trails that tie into the Razorback Greenway from Bentonville to West Fork and including towns and communities east and west of that trail.
    Our first local meeting was October 22 for local and area residents to learn about the trail and offer ideas about local participation. Two representatives from Alta Greenway gave a presentation at the November council meeting, on my request, to bring the council and citizens up to speed. I am posting a link for you to go to their inter-active trail website. All of the information about these trails is on this website and , for us, is the interactive map where you can locate all the places in town and surrounding area that you think a bike and/or pedestrian trail would help tie our community together and give us opportunity for this recreational activity.
   The Alta-Greenway group will develop plans for West Fork and it's surrounding area to be presented in May at a public meeting. We can continue to have input in the trails' developments from this initial trail plan. I gave an update at the December council meeting and posted a comment from the mayor on the city website and will continue to do this so citizens can be informed. Here is the trails link nwabikepedplan.com

Rossetti for Mayor

Vote April 8 in the special election for Mayor of West Fork. 

10 Reasons to Vote for Charlie Rossetti for Mayor

This is my post because Charlie wouldn't say these things about himself.  - Kay Rossetti

10 - He's smart, well-organized, efficient...and modest.
Charlie was a company clerk when he was in the Army at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.  He proved to be such a good clerk that his commanding officer loaned him out to other companies to trouble-shoot and fix their morning reports, reassignment orders, and legal documents such as Article 15's and court martials ... and to train their company clerks in the process.  He received a commendation for this (if you want to see it).
9 - He cares about the people of West Fork a lot more than the politics of West Fork. A lot more.
A specific example of this is the Water and Sewer Initiative. He supported tabling this because all indications showed that the approval would have delayed the project and been more costly to the citizens of West Fork, resulting in even higher utility bills.  He wasn't against the initiative, only the timing of it.
8 - His actions speak louder than his words (but his words are pretty good too). 
He has worked on a grant (that was denied) for the expansion of the West Fork Library - and is continuing to seek funding.  He has facilitated the process of cleaning, painting, and repairing the community center.  He  has crews lined up to clean up the area around the cemetery.  He is meeting regularly with department heads to ensure transparency and accountability.

He changed this house on McKnight Street ...

... to this house on McKnight Street. 




7 - He never raises his voice in the city administration building. Or anywhere else for that matter.
6 - He's a natural leader.
Charlie was head of his department at Springdale High School, he is a former Arkansas Teacher of the Year, representing our state at the National Teacher of the Year Conference in Washington, D.C., and Arkansas Regional Skills USA Advisor of the Year.
5 - He can communicate.  
He sits down with anyone to discuss issues in order to find common ground.  He doesn't have a personal agenda.
4 - He's environmentally responsible.
He walks to work every day.  For those of you who don't know, we live across the street from the city administration building.
3 - He includes everyone in the process and believes that the process should drive the outcome.
When the City Council asked for guidelines on comp time and overtime, Charlie included all the department heads and a representative from the council to craft the policy.  He has contacted all departments for input in writing his State of the City Address.
2 - He believes everyone has equal value. 
As a member of the City Council, he recognized that he represented the majority AND the minority voters (and citizens who don't vote at all) and was diligent in considering issues and the way they would affect all the people. See numbers 9, 5, and 3.  He is carrying this out as interim mayor, as well.
1 - And the number 1 reason to vote for Charlie Rossetti for mayor? He looks a lot like Tony Danza.  (Charlie is on the left and Tony Danza is on the right or top and bottom depending on your device).

Heading into 2014

Building on the past for our future

These are some of the things I would like to accomplish as Mayor in 2014.   In order to accomplish these things I will have to count on the hard work of our elected officials and the personnel we have in City Hall and our employees in the streets, water and sewer department, police and fire departments.

Our city is currently in the planning stages of a new sewer line to Fayetteville and in securing funding for that project.  I hope to have this solidified (no pun intended) by the end of the year.  Our water and sewer superintendent and commission have a time-line for the entire project that is periodically updated by McClellan Engineering.

The West Fork City Library will continue to seek funding for a new addition to the library adding approximately 4500 square feet.  Plans for this addition have been drawn in cooperation with Joan Bachman, our librarian.

The community, Parks Department, and City Hall have been working with Alta Greenway to design and develop bike and pedestrian trails in West Fork that will tie major points of interest together and to tie into the Razorback Greenway going from West Fork through to Bella Vista.  We should have a plan completed and drawn up by Fall 2014.  All of this preliminary work and drawings is at no cost to us.

Our streets department will add additional sidewalks to neighborhoods that will continue to make West Fork a more pedestrian friendly community.  Each year Mr. Bartholomew budgets for additional sidewalk construction.

The city and rural fire departments have budgeted two positions for full time firemen for West Fork.  Our current Fire Chief, Mitch McCorkle, will be considering personnel for these positions.

I will continue to support Police Chief Collins in ensuring the safety of our citizens. Chief Collins has added one new vehicle to the fleet, as well as body cameras, tasers, radar guns, and has a timeline for adding and upgrading vehicles and equipment.

One of my main considerations is open communication and productive working conditions among all the employees and department heads.  This type of working environment will ensure an effective city government.

Community input is always welcome.