Marion State of the City 2008

Thank you for coming today.  I am Paul Rehn, Mayor of the Great City of Marion, Iowa.  Before I go any farther I want to thank the League of Women Voters and the Rotary Club for sponsoring this meeting and I want to thank  Dave Hockett for creating and presenting the power point slides being shown on the screen.

Since I’ve only been Mayor for 28 days, I’m going to start by giving some information about myself. 

A native of Lima, Ohio, I joined the air force after high school and served on active duty for 4 years.  After marrying my wife, Ann, and moving back to Lima, our first child was born and I went to work for a local company.  After three years, I began looking for greener pastures, so to speak, and accepted a job at Collins Radio.  In 1969 I moved my young family to Marion and we’ve made our home here ever since.  Except for an involuntary 8 month period in the early 1970's, I spent my working career at what is now known as Rockwell Collins and retired in 2000, with just short of 31 years of service.

My retirement was short lived, however, since I volunteered and was selected for a Council position in March 2000.  I then was re-elected twice and additionally served as Mayor Pro tem from 2004 thru 2007.  And, of course, I was elected Mayor last November.

My history of community service goes back much farther than that, however.  In the early 1970's I served on the Planning  and Zoning Commission and am proud to have been a paid-on-call member of the Marion Fire Department from 1976 thru 2005. 

Through this entire period we chose to live in Marion.  Two of our three children were born here.  All three were educated here and all of us have benefitted greatly from this place.  We have truly put down roots and I am proud to proclaim Marion as my home.

State Of The City 2006 —
Going Forward Together

Whenever we flip the page on the calendar to move from one year to another, we have a tendency to look back at the year we left behind — and even the years that are long gone. Sometimes we wax nostalgic, and other times we linger on the negative things that we remember from those times. While it is good to learn from the past, it doesn’t serve any good purpose to focus on it — a new year is a time to go forward, and I can certainly say the City of Marion is going to do just that.

Two years ago when I was elected mayor, I sat down with the leadership of MEDCO, the Marion Chamber of Commerce, and the city staff. We came up with some goals and standards that all three organizations should strive to meet. We wanted to increase growth in jobs, attract new business, encourage current businesses to stay in Marion and to assist them in any way we could. We also wanted to encourage capital investment in the city.

Paul Rehn, Mayor

Welcome to Marion, Iowa. We hope you’ll enjoy your visit to our site whether you’re a long-time resident, community newcomer, or just visiting.

Those of us who call Marion home are proud of its charm and small-town atmosphere, as well as its sense of community. Whether it’s music in the city square on a warm summer night, Christmas in the Park in December, the Arts Festival in the spring, or walking the trails on a crisp fall morning, Marion offers something for nearly everyone. We invite you to experience the variety of unique shopping experiences we have available, to share a meal or beverage at our restaurants and coffee shops, and to explore Marion’s history at the Granger House and the Marion Heritage Center.