For those of you who may not know, my wife and I, along with our three children, have accepted a call to enter the mission field by serving as School Administrators for The Esther School, a servant leadership academy being built by the GEMS organization near Chongwe, Zambia in southern central Africa. We have made a 2 year commitment to this endeavor and are planning to leave for Zambia in the summer of 2012. I had originally hoped that timing would allow me to complete my four year term; however, the goal of starting the school by the fall of 2012 makes this impossible.

While very excited about this call to serve elsewhere in the world, I regret that I will need to vacate my office prematurely. I and the rest of the Township Board have been working diligently to prepare a plan that we hope will create a seamless transition.

Specifically, we are hoping to identify a candidate that could be appointed as Deputy Supervisor early in 2012 and be trained in the duties of Supervisor through the busy and important beginning of the year. By Spring, we would hope to be in a position that the Board could accept my resignation and appoint that candidate as Township Supervisor for the remainder of the current term, which ends in November of 2012. Any person interested in consideration for the interim appointment should notify the Township office immediately as we hope to begin the selection process early in the New Year.

With 2012 being an election year, this and any other potential candidate for Supervi-sor will also have the opportunity to run in the August primary and November general election for the following term. Any person interested in running for Supervisor at that time should have their information completed and submitted by May 15.

I am humbled by and grateful for the opportunity to have served this township for the past 3+ years. The experience has been both challenging and rewarding, and I have been blessed by the many people I have had the chance to meet, come to know better and work with. Our community has been blessed with great resources and great people.

We are very well served by our elected officials, appointed representatives, staff, firefighters and police deputies. We have been blessed with very active and healthy boards – Township Board, Planning, Zoning Appeals and Board of Review – with com-mitted and talented members. We are also very well served in our community by the men and women who keep us safe. I personally thank our brave firefighters and deputies.

I am also proud of the work that this Board has done and believe that, despite challenging circumstances around us, Leighton Township runs as efficiently and securely as perhaps it ever has. We have been able to significantly improve the already-healthy financial situation of the township while making some important decisions and necessary expenditures.

Specifically, we have seen a 61% increase in Total Net Assets in the past five years by diligently managing our costs. During the same time period, we have been able to grow the balance in our General Fund by 184%, an important matter of financial security for the Township in an era of shrinking revenues. Despite making some major necessary expenditures like the resurfacing of roadways around the lakes, a brush truck for the Fire Department, and two police vehicles, we were able to improve our Road Fund (190%) and Public Safety Fund (8%) during this time as well. Finally, we were able to save for future capitol expenditures by increasing our Capitol Improvement Fund by 78% in the past 4 years.

We have also built or solidified many strong and beneficial partnerships with other municipalities and private enterprises, enacted some important zoning changes, and dealt with several other issues regarding the well-being of our citizens. I will always consider Leighton Township to be my home, and a great place to live, work, worship and play!