“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
The famous line from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech in 1961 was a the heart of Chandler Mayor Kent McVey’s talk with Gift and Talented students at Park Road on Jan. 24.
“Now, 63 years later, these words still remain a challenge to all of us. So what does that mean? We’ve got to do our part, right?” he asked the group of about 50 children.
With the Rt. 66 Centennial celebration right around the corner, Mayor McVey is launching the Chandler Initiative to help spruce up the span of highway that runs through the middle of town. He is enlisting not only these students but also civic groups and clubs to take part.
“Today, I’m going to ask you to help me make our community a better place and help prepare for the Rt. 66 celebration,” he said.
With the help of Gifted and Talented teacher Karrie Cheney, the third through sixth-grade students are to evaluate the areas along Rt. 66 from city limits to city limits and decide which ones need the most attention. They will then break them down into segments. McVey said he would approach civic groups, sports teams and other organizations in town after that to adopt these segments.
For a year, the groups will compete to see who can keep their segment the cleanest. The mayor said the Gifted and Talented students will also help determine the rules of the competition.
“There’ll be other things that you’ll be involved with, so I hope that as we move forward, together we can achieve great things for our city,” McVey said.
Cheney said the students will elect three representatives from each grade level, and those students will attend meetings with the mayor and tour Rt. 66 through town. McVey said they will also attend a City Council meeting where they will present the work they’ve done. Regardless of what role they play, Cheney assured the students that there would be lots of different jobs that would utilize their different talents and gifts.
“There’s a lot to do,” McVey said. “Everybody says it’s two years away and that seems like a long time. But there’s a lot to do and it’s going to take us at least two years to get it cleaned up.”
At the end of his presentation, McVey took questions from the students, who seemed more intrigued about how and why he became mayor. One asked what the biggest challenge was of being mayor. McVey responded it was that you can’t make everyone happy all the time.
“As mayor, you want to do that. You want to make everybody happy. But you can’t,” he said. “You have to do what you think is best for the town and not what’s just best for you… or you. Some people, all they can think about is themselves. And you have to dismiss that and think about what’s good for everybody.”