People were ready so the transition hasn't been as difficult as I imagined. The one thing that is surprising is that some of the people on the city council who were closely tied to the previous administration, I thought they would be more willing to try to work together. I'm disappointed in that lack of willingness to try to work together for a better community. But that's really my only disappointment. Everything else has exceeded my expectations.
Most people here seem to want to build bridges of communication.
I was in Little Rock for meetings with the State Highway Transportation Department and the Parks and Tourism Department. It seems there's been some long-running bad blood between the city and the state. I went to introduce myself, let them know there's been a change in administration, to prostrate myself before them and ask forgiveness for the sins of my predecessors, so to speak, and you could see them just relax. It seems like they were anxious to be on better terms with Fayetteville. And I think a lot of folks have been in that same boat, where all they needed was an overture and they were very willing to extend the hand and work as partners.