LAMAR — Dressed in a three-button, navy-blue suit with a crisp white shirt and bold red power tie, McKinzie "Mack" Riley beamed Saturday afternoon as he was sworn in as the third mayor of Wrightsville.
Earlier this month, Riley defeated Pat Rogers-Ward, the city's recorder/treasurer, who had been serving as interim mayor since early May when Lorraine Smith abruptly resigned from the post she'd held for 22 years.
After taking the oath of office from Pulaski County District Judge Rita Bailey, with his wife, Dameter, holding the Bible, Riley told the packed house at the Wrightsville Civic Center that he's ready to work.
He said he can't do the job alone.
"I appreciate your vote, I appreciate your confidence, but I need your help, all of you," he told the 100 or so people attending the ceremony. "As President John F. Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural address, 'and, so, fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,' I say to you the citizens of Wrightsville ask not what Wrightsville can do for you, but ask what you can dofor Wrightsville."
Riley said each Wrightsville resident must do his part if the city is to be prosperous.
"We must take pride in our property, our homes, our community and our great state," he said. "Together we will do great things, one step at a time, one day at a time and one project at a time."
After handshakes and hugs with each person attending, Riley shared what some of those projects will be.
"The city has not seen any type of financial records since January. We need to see exactly where we are," Riley said. "Then I want to meet and greet every city employee. I want to talk to them oneon-one, so we can get on the same page, and I need to see exactly what it is they do."
Other priorities for Riley include reopening the city gymnasium to serve as a youth center, cleaning up thecity, tackling drainage problems and creating jobs by hiring a few new employees in 2010.
"Once we've completed those things, then we'll start on some new projects. The city wants to see progress. We don't want to start doing a hundred things, because if we start doing a hundred things, nothing is going to get finished," Riley said. "The city is tired of no progress. We have to start doing something to show progress. Once we start showing progress, then we'll get their support."
Alderman Karen Coleman shared similar goals. She said she hopes the city will be able to hire a code-enforcement officer.
"We need to make our city look better, and maybe people will want to move here," Coleman said. She said she believes that Riley will unify the city and get things accomplished.
"This is an exciting day," Coleman said. "Wrightsville has been going through a down period for a time, but we remained hopeful that things would get better. Our new mayor is the beginning."
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 26 on 09/27/2009