Delhi mayor reflects on first term in office

As he reflects upon his first term as mayor of Delhi, Mayor Jesse Washington recalls his first day in office was eventful. 

He walked in with only one experienced staff member, who was the administrative assistant.  She was promptly promoted to the Town Clerk position. His other staff, who was new, spent long hours learning the daily office routine. His first step as mayor was to request an internal audit to determine how the Town of Delhi stood financially.  During his first couple of days in office, Mayor Washington discovered that there was no town attorney. He immediately met with the Town Council to discuss options to have an attorney put in place for the town’s legal concerns.

Mayor Washington met with the public works director to address some concerns he noticed as a resident in the community. The first thing that was addressed with the director was the frequency of major water leaks in town.  He also noticed that there was quite a bit of debris around town.  Mayor Washington implemented limb pick up at least once a week to curb the litter issues in town.  

The second biggest issue was the fact there were meters on vacant lots that weren’t being utilized. He had the public works employees pull those meters and place them where new customers needed them. In doing this, it has helped with the expense of buying new meters. The meters have been better utilized and this has helped with the water billing system. The Town of Delhi has a water monitoring system that is a great for providing better customer service to the residents.  Mayor Washington has implemented a leak check service as a courtesy to residents. The public works employees manually check customer’s meters and leave a notice of increased usage.

Mayor Washington has utilized grant funds to replace old water lines with leak issues. The areas that have been improved due to the grants are Pecan Street, Powell Street, Robinson Street, Charter Street and the west side of College Street.  By requesting grants that are available, Mayor Washington has made improvements to the town rental facilities.  The Learning Center has a tutoring program available to the community.  Mayor Washington and other community leaders offer mentoring to the town youth. The Civic Center floors were repaired. The heating and air system was upgraded and the interior of the building has been painted.  The Recreation Center floors were also repaired. The bathrooms and the kitchen were repaired and the interior of that building was also painted. The Country Club floors were repaired and the interior and the exterior of the building was painted.

 The Town of Delhi Ball Park’s bleachers and restrooms were repaired. Mayor Washington has made sure that the town is in state compliance by removing the old swimming pool located behind city hall. The Town of Delhi is now eligible to start receiving state funds for recreational improvements.

Mayor Washington takes pride in Delhi. He has entered the Town of Delhi in the Cleanest City Contest for the past two years.  The first year, Delhi placed second in our category and the second year the town placed first with the help of the Garden Club. 

Mayor Washington has an open door policy with the residents and businesses of Delhi. This article is to let the town’s employees, residents and businesses know how much everyone is appreciated.  The improvements that being made are to provide a better quality of life for everyone in the Town of Delhi and it takes everyone’s participation.

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