Story By Donald Campbell
More than six years of hard work and determination have finally paid off, as the Town of Kilpatrick has officially been incorporated, and Mayor Richard Bruce and the Kilpatrick Town Council have taken office.
At Tuesday night’s session, Bruce, along with council members Rachel Bloodworth, Fernando Guzman, Kim Hunt, and Tina Malone, were administered the oath of office, officially taking their positions as the first members of the town government for Kilpatrick. Around 60 people filled the town hall meeting space to
watch the proceedings, while between 25 and 30 more stood just outside, unable to get in due to how full it was inside. Following their being sworn in, the council set forth an ordinance to set up a bank account for the town, while also hiring a town clerk and a town treasurer.
“We’re a really tight-knit community, and last night really showed it,” Bruce said Wednesday. “Our town turned out, and I was just blown away by how many people showed up.”
According to Bruce, the idea of incorporating Kilpatrick came around seven years ago, when he and others involved with the Kilpatrick Fire Department looked around and were trying to come up with ways to make their community a better place. Even back then, there was an amazing amount of support for incorporation, which stayed strong throughout the process. Bruce said there were a lot of obstacles and steps they had to go through in order to reach the final stages of the incorporation process, but he and everyone else involved in the effort remained committed to attaining that goal.
It was earlier this year those final few hurdles were ready to be cleared. In March, the community was involved in a special called referendum, with a simple yes or no ballot to answer the question of whether or not Kilpatrick should become an incorporated town. With this referendum passing, qualifying then opened for the position of mayor and town council. Bruce explained that, once all the legal postings had been put out regarding qualifying, he was the only one who qualified to run for mayor, while the four council members were the only ones who qualified for their positions.
“We have one open seat on our town council,” Bruce said. “I’m hoping to be able to fill that spot at either our November or December meeting.”
The level of support from the community has been most encouraging, according to Bruce. During the day on Tuesday, in the hours leading up to the swearing-in, he said there were multiple people who stopped by town hall to take a look at it and ask what they could do to help, ways they could volunteer to offer their support and assistance.
With more than 40 businesses located within the town limits, Kilpatrick does already have a relatively solid economic base it can build upon. To further help boost their initial financial situation, Bruce said the town is applying for various forms of grant money that could be used for a number of projects. Once they have themselves solidly planted, he added the town would be looking at longer-range projects, such as establishing their own police department and possibly considering annexing some of the currently unincorporated areas around the town limits, places that have historically been considered part of the Kilpatrick community.
Bruce said the first full meeting of the Kilpatrick Town Council would take place on Wednesday, November 12th. Meetings will be held at Kilpatrick Town Hall on the second Tuesday of every month, but November’s meeting had to be pushed back one day due to the Veterans Day holiday.
