City of Savannah Inauguration Ceremony

Teri from Union Mission is helping me write this post. Last night I attended the City of Savannah's Mayoral and Council Inauguration Ceremony with Teri and her team, the Health Promotion Center. They walked in a procession of organizations who have received arts funding from the City of Savannah. I was very impressed by the words that Mayor Otis S. Johnson spoke. He spoke about the youth of Savannah and how he feels they are out of control. He wants to work on personal accountability with the youth of Savannah and says that he feels that parents should be held responsible, too. I very much agree with the Mayor on this point. On the way home from the ceremony, Teri and I saw some youth out walking near Hitch Village and I wished that they had heard the Mayor speak.

Mayor Johnson spoke about prevention programs for our youth. He said he did not want to build another jail or add on because that wouldn't solve the problem. He stressed the importance of going out to where the youth were and starting programs instead of simply praying for them. While he acknowledged that prayer is important, it must be coupled with action.

He also spoke about the importance of unity and how he sees great divisions in Savannah. The Mayor says he plans to continue working hard for all people of Savannah regardless of income, race, religion, etc. He said that people don't like to talk about these hard issues but that he is going to be a "truthteller." I am proud of the Mayor for his courage to speak out about these issues.