I cannot count the times people have asked Darla and I “why did you move back to Kearny”. It’s a fair question, I mean we could have lived anywhere we wanted; we actually chose to live here. I believe that Darla would agree that it was a real blessing in our lives coming back here, coming back home. We wanted to make sure our kids got to know their grandparents and that they had some of the same experiences that we did growing up. Since coming back, we have been welcomed by everyone; for that we would like to say thank you! Kearny is our home, it always has been; no matter where we lived.
We had been gone for more than 25 years, a lot had changed. A lot has stayed the same. I’m old enough to remember what this little town was like when all the stores up-town were full. I got my first baseball glove from a little sporting goods store that used to be right where the OTP is located today. We took school trips to see how the post office and the Copper Basin News functioned, that was back in the days when they set their print using hot wax. I remember what seemed like the whole town showing up to the Little League games and Mr. Rupert announcing from high atop the “Gila Dome” (his nickname for the little league field). I remember the Circle K and Phelps Ford. I remember Dave McFee before the field was named for him. Lifelong friends were made here, lifelong memories as well; many of them while fishing in the town lake. I guess I remember the town when it was in its golden age, maybe we all remember our home towns with a little more fondness than we deserve?
Now when I drive through uptown I see the stores empty and every time it rains those stores that are still in business put out buckets or kids swimming pools to catch water from the leaks in the roof. It saddens me to see this and it makes me want to try to help turn it around. I see the school struggling to graduate more than 30 students. I see many homes struggling to stay maintained, I see many homes sitting vacant in need of a new forever family to care for them. Sadly, I do not see a town that is prospering; I see a town that is struggling.
That is not to say that there are not wonderful things happening here. Our little town has so much to offer, we have some of the best views on Earth; at least the parts of it that I have seen. We have natural resources all around us that other people would love to share in, hikes, river tubing, ATV rides, horseback rides, jeep trails; it’s all here. We can use those resources and bring people to our little town, we can work to fix those stores and fill them back up. We can make or encourage strategic investments in our town that will entice new people and new families to come here to live. Our property values could rise, our school could grow. Our kids could have new opportunities that don’t require them to move away. Kearny could have a renaissance if we choose that for our future. Or we can just keep things the way they are.
Certainly, I cannot say I have all the answers, that’s not really how government in the United States is supposed to work anyway. What I can say, is should you choose to trust me with your vote as a council member; I would work to see our town improved each and every day. I would work to see it grow and prosper for all its citizens. I would work to see that Kearny’s Golden Age is well ahead of us, not what I remember. I’ve seen it done before in small towns across the country, we certainly can do it here as well. I ask for your vote as council member and maybe together we can make a difference.
/s/ Curtis Stacy