Centered within one of America’s most strategic growth corridors, Lakeland has remarkable future opportunities. To set the wisest stage for our city’s growth, we must maximize this core value: Honor everyone. This advantage provides a difficult-to-replicate attribute that invests in priorities that maximize our citizens’ options. Cultivating honor is not simple, and deep polarization reflects its absence in many cities today. Honoring everyone requires genuineness, transparency, compassion, acknowledging playing fields are not equal, and passionately pursuing identifiable gaps.

Honoring Everyone requires genuineness, transparency, compassion, acknowledging playing fields are not equal, and passionately pursuing identifiable gaps.

In infrastructure language, we work to eliminate the chuckholes of lost hope. As we lift Lakeland together, investments in entrepreneurial training, small business growth, youth mentoring, walkable downtown spaces, expanded parks, increased housing options, strategic healthcare, and education alignments, dramatic transportation improvements, developing more bike & walking trails all become a portion of the quality of life accelerators amidst dramatic growth. Thriving requires listening and trust-based partnerships; Lakeland does this well and gets better at it all the time!  The CRA, LDDA, our City Staff, philanthropic generosity, several Chambers, and many others are fantastic partners making this happen.  This reality is why Lakeland’s BEST days are yet to come!  If you are not already involved, I invite you to join our creative community fabric for the rewarding years ahead.

– Bill Mutz, Mayor