By Emily Williams
As Vestavia Hills Mayor Butch Zaragoza gave his final State of the City address Oct. 11, he recounted his administration’s triumphs as well as its shortcomings.
The majority of his presentation, given at the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon, focused on the economic development initiatives that took place during his tenure, with the most notable growth occurring in the past two years.
A number of projects that were started under his administration will continue under the administration of incoming Mayor Ashley Curry, including the Patchwork Farms development and the development plans for the former Altadena Valley Country Club location.
Zaragoza summed up the state of Vestavia Hills in the terms displayed on the city’s new logo, which reads: unity, prosperity, family.
While the city’s economy is prospering and families are choosing to live in Vestavia Hills, he said, the unity of the community has suffered. To increase unity, Zaragoza said people should rely less on the “new school” of communication. Younger generations, particularly, rely too heavily on social media as a means of conversation, he said.
“Somewhere along the way you lose the capability of communication, and I think sometimes us old folks have done the same thing,” Zaragoza said.
He added that face-to-face conversations give people more opportunity to “talk it out,” which leads to solutions.
The outgoing mayor’s final request for both the city and community was, “Let’s get over and move forward.”
Though his eight-year stint as mayor is coming to a close, Zaragoza said his 47 years of working for the city is not. He said he looks forward to aiding the community in some capacity.
