Beginning with little more than one-full time staff person, YouthCity has become a model for cities throughout the state, and has inspired a statewide after school movement. Janet Wolf chairs the board of the newly formed Utah Afterschool Network, which was created to provide a structure of partnerships to sustain new and existing high-quality after-school programs, and was funded by a generous three-year grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. In partnership with the Governor�s Office, Salt Lake City, the SLC School District, and the State Office of Education, the Network held a statewide summit in Salt Lake City last fall to discuss the future of after school programs throughout Utah. YouthCity has made tremendous, persistent strides to improve the quality of life and services for children, their families, and our entire community.

Though we have made tremendous progress as a city, none of our achievements were guaranteed from the beginning. We have come to expect our quality of life to progress throughout our lifetimes and those of our children. However, we are the chief architects of our collective success or failure. Whether we advance the common good, or let it fall prey to the interests of a few, the responsibility is ours.

Progress is only as certain as the determination of its advocates. It founders when governmental leaders, businesses, and individuals prize short-term gain for a few over long-term gain for everyone. Compounding the problem, our city, state, and nation are all too often dominated by a culture of obedience, where the expectation is a go-along, get-along, status quo- oriented approach to public policy that undermines the imperatives of justice and the common good. My administration has tried its very best to listen to people all too often silenced in our city and state and advocate for them at every level.

In thinking about progress, the relevant question is not simply what is possible in the given conditions of the present world, but, more significantly, what is desirable in a future world driven by our hopes and dreams. Throughout the past seven years of my administration, we have endeavored to make these dreams�these aspirations for an inclusive, safe, healthy, interesting, rewarding community�part of the fabric of our great city.

Progress in City government requires a hard-working, dedicated team. We have set a standard of excellence for our team, trying people out for the team, making some cuts, and building an exceptional team that has served the people of Salt Lake City well. A remarkable leader on that team has been Rocky Fluhart, who has served this city with great distinction and tenacity from the first day of this administration. We are grateful to Rocky and his family for all he has so conscientiously contributed for seven challenging, and rewarding, years. We are also grateful to Sam Guevara, a man who knows how to get it done�and to do it all with good humor, in a way that inspires those with whom he works.

It is up to each of us to advance the common good, preserving the key spaces, resources, and institutions that make our quality of life possible, while extending the benefits they provide to every member of our community, including those who come along in the future. In the end, the measure of our lives, and of our service to others, is whether we have had some part in progress�whether we have helped move our community and our world toward real improvement.