December 2025 City Manager's Newsletter Message

A Moment for Curiosity

What if each of us brought a deeper level of curiosity to our daily existence?  Just think about that for a moment, and imagine the kinds of questions that could be asked – from the mundane to the profound – about everything you see and experience.  Humans are built for curiosity, and it helps us as a species survive and thrive. What happens and what does it feel like to lean more into your curious side? Does possibility, humility, hope, or wonder thrive?

I enjoyed a relatively rare date night last Saturday with my wife.  She joked as we rode our bikes to the Uptown Pub that I should prepare my questions. I did and we traded questions (and answers) with open minds and open hearts, learning things about each other we never knew. 

Let’s get to know each other better too. The City team wants to feed and enable your curiosity.  The aim: to help us all learn more about how the sometimes mundane, occasionally profound City ecosystem works – or doesn’t – and perhaps to learn something you never knew.  That’s why we’ve brought on a new feature on our website where you can “Ask the City.”  You’ll see the button pop up on the bottom left of our homepage.  Simply ask a question and we’ll choose some of the questions to answer with a brief video each week.  For instance, we’ve answered questions like:

• What criteria are used to determine what streets get potholes filled?
• Why is the City budget suddenly so big for 2026?
• When is the next big public art project going to happen in PT?
• What's happening at the encampment?
• When will the Comprehensive Plan be adopted and what comes next?
• Why is the Pink House closed and when will it open again?

We think the short videos – some under one minute and each one answered by a different City staff member – give an honest and personalized answer to your questions, helping to build understanding, trust, and transparency. Check them out here. 

You can also join me at my next coffee conversation to trade questions and to connect in community. The next coffee meeting is on December 5 from 9-1030am at Marina Café.  Come with your curiosity – and maybe we can make a short video together!