We all have experience with New Year’s resolutions. We make them. We break them. We forget them.

By the end of the month, we will have heard the last of the local government version of New Year’s resolutions in the form of Mayor Kim Ecklund’s State of the City address and County Executive PJ Wendel’s State of the County address.

Local government will make its New Year’s resolutions. Keeping them is often another story entirely. One of the reasons, though, is the sheer busywork of government – paying bills, dealing with issues as they arise, outside issues that aren’t foreseen that dominate a local official’s time. But there is another reason why it’s difficult to keep promises made or goals set during a State of the City or State of the County address. The goals given often come with no statement of how success will be measured.

Let’s use housing as an example. Enough ink has been spilled over the state of housing in Jamestown to write War and Peace. But what would qualify as a success in 2024 when it comes to decreasing the amount of blighted housing and creating more affordable housing? How to measure success is rarely addressed.

The same goes for downtown development. We talk often about the need for more activity downtown and a desire to fill vacant spaces. How do we measure success? We have no idea.

We look forward to hearing Ecklund’s goals for her first term. But we also hope to hear how she will determine if the city met its goals and how she will communicate throughout the year how the city is doing in meeting the agenda the mayor has set.

Setting goals is important. Following through on those goals, though, is the tougher and more important job – and we’re sure Ecklund is up to the task.