As mayor of College Park, I consider myself a steward of the position and of the city. I’m sure many of you think of your service to your communities in the same way.
The longer I serve, the more I recognize that leadership is less about ownership and more about care. It’s about protecting and nurturing what has been entrusted to us, ensuring that our communities thrive not just today, but long after we’ve moved on to other chapters of our lives.
As its core, stewardship is about taking responsibility for the survival and well-being of something that is valued. It’s a word that comes up often in religious contexts, but its meaning extends far beyond the offering plate.
When you think about stewardship in the context of city leadership, it takes on a different but still profound dimension. Stewardship of a city means more than managing budgets and passing ordinances. It means cultivating relationships, safeguarding trust, and ensuring that decisions made today will benefit residents for generations to come.
In Georgia, one of the most important ways that city officials can demonstrate stewardship is through active engagement with the legislative process. Every year, when the General Assembly convenes under the Gold Dome, laws are debated and decisions are made that directly affect how cities operate: how we deliver services, invest in infrastructure, and maintain local control.
It’s easy to assume that those matters are handled by others in Atlanta, far from the daily business of running a city. But as stewards, we are required to be present and informed, to ensure that the voices of our communities are heard where decisions are made. That means developing relationships with state leaders so that they understand how their policies play out at the local level, via opportunities such as Hometown Connection. It can also mean paying close attention to the information coming from GMA, through weekly calls and bulletins such as the Gold Dome Update.
Every legislative session offers a chance for us to demonstrate what true stewardship looks like. It’s about showing that we care enough to be engaged. In recent district meetings, many of us talked about the importance of nonpartisan city elections and how our work as local leaders transcends party lines. The truth is, potholes don’t have a party. Water lines, police services and parks don’t lean left or right. They just need to work, and our residents depend on us to make that happen.
When we approach advocacy as stewardship, we reframe the conversation from lobbying for special treatment or defending turf to honoring our responsibility to the people who call our cities home. It’s about being good caretakers of the trust they’ve placed in us.
Stewardship is an active commitment. It requires humility, vigilance and collaboration. It reminds us that we are caretakers of something larger than ourselves and that the measure of our leadership lies in how well we nurture what has been entrusted to us.
