Fulton Mayor Deanna Michaels Announces Final Term In State Of The City Address

FULTON – Mayor Deana Michaels gave her State of the City address Wednesday evening, February 15. Coming up on the final year in her four-year tenure as mayor, Michaels thanked city officials, city departments and residents for their hard work, diligence and resilience throughout the last few years.

Michaels spoke of advancements the city has made in 2022, along with developments slated for the 2023 year – including city street paving, the Route 481 project, enhanced grant proposals, riverfront/shoreline development, library updates, expansion of community events and more.

Michaels ended her State of the City address acknowledging her decision not to run for reelection as mayor, saying she was grateful for her time leading the City of Fulton.

“For the same reasons I chose to run is the same reason I am choosing to move in a new direction. While my role as mayor is an extreme honor, my role as mother is the greatest role I’ll ever serve. There are memories I refuse to miss out on, and life events I want to be fully present for,” Michaels said. “It is an absolute pleasure to serve as your mayor; as some say – mayor one-term.”

Following are some excerpts from her speech. To hear her full address, please visit Fulton Mayor Deanna Michaels Facebook page.

“In the spirit of sharing appreciation, I am reminded each and every day that the success of our city is a direct result of the hardworking men and women who make up our workforce. I had the fortunate opportunity to work alongside this team for over three years now. I have learned from, learned with, and will continue to work alongside them in 2023 to further our efforts to make Fulton the place people choose to live, to work and to visit.

“As I’ve said in the past, we were not defined by a pandemic, and still today, we will not be defined by the hurdles that are placed in front of us nor the challenges that we are faced with; but instead, we are defined by you, the great people of Fulton. It is your perseverance, your ability to face adversity head on, and your determination as a community to keep moving forward that showcases our readiness for growth and opportunity.

“Coming into office, there were challenges and a great deal of work to get done. We immediately got to work and haven’t slowed down since. From rebuilding our foundation, refocusing our mindset, restructuring departments, aligning goals and objectives, cleaning house where necessary, securing our role as a community leader, building name recognition and branding, all while staying focused with a forward mindset. That is how we’ve grown.

“I am reminded however that delivering those results and effecting positive change is not easy, and is often misunderstood. But that can’t stop us. We must do business differently to get where we deserve to be. We must break siloed thinking and doing, realize that new ideas are not a threat, but instead should be embraced as investment in our growth. Collaboration with others is a critical component to our success, and we must continually learn while moving forward from our mistakes.

“We have been successful, make no mistake. But the hard work must continue.  We must stay centered on that mindset and continually look to improve and meet the needs of our community.”