River City Rapids Throttling Back The Blog

In case you were wondering about the dearth of blogging topics coming from the Rapids in the last week or so, wonder no more.

I am temporarily setting aside my keyboard and powering down my posts on city related issues as I have been offered and accepted a position within the Mayor's Office as a Public Information Manager.

I was not expecting such a position to be proffered and I was even less sure I would take it. It took several days of hard thinking and talking with confidants about the opportunity. Nevertheless, I determined the time was right.

Putting on a tie and shaving and riding the bus to the same office every day is something I have avoided like the plague for most of my adult life. Yet, awkwardness aside, it is now an opportunity to put forth some of the ideas I have crowed about from this perch.

It gives me the opportunity to see how the city works from the inside and bring ideas and action and a fresh perspective to the discussion and possibly reality (or the dustbin). It takes away some freedom and independence that blogging allows, but it pays a lot better than the $0 per year I have been making.

One of the people I talked to was Conaway Haskins, who also hung up his blogging spurs in 2006 to go to work for Sen. Jim Webb.

Like Conaway, I look forward to the challenge and opportunity and he had misgivings that turned to new energy and focus and new rewards for him. I will miss the blogging and trying to come up with witty comments and flowing alliteration, but as a firm lover of River City, I will continue to post about non-city related matters.

But as an official member of city government, I think it is time to step away from my observations in this space regarding city issues. I can immediately name several people who will be ecstatic to read those words, but I am determined to continue working - and have always been about - making this city better than it was yesterday.

I have enjoyed immensely the countless hours of typing and postulating ideas and issues and attending meetings that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy to bring you my understanding and my opinion of where I think Richmond is and should be going.

When I started this blog I would have never guessed that hundreds of readers would visit every day or that it would gain the status/notoriety that it has. I have thoroughly enjoyed the emails and statements of support, as well as those that challenged me to their way of thinking. Even if it didn't take, it opened my eyes to their side of the fence.

And I will continue to blog about the other cool goings on in our city because there are many and they are too good not to share.

I trust that my decision is the right one and I look forward to the challenge. I think it is the right opportunity at the right time and if I can make a real difference in the future of Richmond then I know it will be worth the change.

And who knows, when my contract is up in a few months, I might even return to this spot and fire it back up like a pack of Hell's Angel's. We'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers!

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