Will council come to order?

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Anderson.

Present.

Bush.

Here.

Oliver.

Here.

The board is absent.

Smith is absent.

Mattingley?

Here.

Here.

Will you all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation.

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Tonight we have a special recognition for Councilmember John Bush.

It's a bittersweet night for me, probably a joyous one for John.

John began his service to our council well before actually running for town council.

He uh had great civic service prior to 2009.

He was chair of Blacksburg Historic Design Review Board from 1999 to 2009.

He was also chair of Blacksburg Historic Architecture Review Board in 1998 and 1999, also serving on that committee in 1997.

He also was chair of the 16 Square subcommittee from 2006 to 2009, and again, that was all before he was elected to town council.

I searched through my old campaign files and I found John's handbill when he first ran for council that year, 2009.

In that election cycle, 10 folks, including John and me were running for four seats, three regular four-year terms, and one two-year term due to a council member's death.

That election was the most stressful intensive one that I have ever been in, and I suspect John would say the same.

We were both fortunate to earn seats that year on council.

In part, John's campaign handbill read.

During my 25 years in Blacks and in the NRV, I have been a timber framer, a graduate student, a competition runner, a musician, and a parent of Blacksburg High School athletes.

Currently I'm a staff architect at Virginia Tech and Service Chair of the Town's Historic Design Review Board.

As a Blacksburg Town Council member, I want to help preserve the quality of life we cherish in Blacksburg as future growth occurs, and to keep citizen involvement at the center of an open, accountable town government.

His priorities included quality of life, sustainable and green development, neighborhood integrity, open, accountable town government, safe, walkable, bikeable Blacksburg for all lifestyles, clear lines of communication, strengthening downtown businesses, vital, lively, mixed-use downtown, affordable housing, smart growth, intelligent zoning, protection of neighborhoods and property values, promoting Blacksburg as a retirement destination, partnering with businesses and developers to grow Blacksburg responsibly and aesthetically, supporting high-tech biodesign sustainable development for other businesses for a prosperous Blacksburg, promoting cooperation between Blacksburg, Virginia Tech, Christiansburg, and Montgomery County, and ensuring fiscal oversight and integrity of tax dollar expenditures that benefit all citizens.

And I want those people to be heard.

You can see he was a very elated younger man.

We were both younger then.

And it was it was a good night for us all.

Now John has consistently and continuously promoted his original priorities throughout his service on town council.

And as new needs have arisen, he has added to those priorities.

He earned a Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech in 2001, and his knowledge and skill as an architect have hugely aided town council's discussions and decisions throughout his entire time on council.

John is smart, he has a wonderful memory, and he adds substance to any council discussion.

He has been a most excellent colleague, and I'm glad he will continue to be my friend.

In 2024, John and Elizabeth will still be living in town, we'll still be involved in community activities, and we'll still be helping to build a better Blacksburg.

But John Bush will be missed on our town council by both our council members and our Blacksburg residents.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

And I don't know if anybody else wants to add anything.

I don't have prepared remarks, but I just say a few things.

So I got to know uh John then.

Um I didn't win that election, but I stayed involved in the community ran two years later.

So a couple years after that, I got to join uh John on the town council.

And I would echo what Susan said that I really appreciate having someone on this council that has a background in architecture, that has knowledge about uh campus planning and the activities that are going on at Virginia Tech that interface with the town of Blacksburg and someone who uh lives in the 16 squares and advocates uh for our neighborhoods and for our community in Blacksburg.

And I think that that's something that John has done extraordinarily well over the past uh 14 years.

So thank you so much for your service.

Welcome, thank you.

I just want to say it's been an honor and a privilege to serve with you, and you will be deeply missed.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Can I just say ditto to that?

I I've really enjoyed working with you, and we will miss you very much.