Mayor’s Minutes: New Hope’s John Elder
New Hope Mayor John Elder spoke recently with CCX Media’s Dave Kiser about a new city council appointment, the city budget process, and a successful Night to Unite.
New City Council Member Appointed
Brock Ray was recently appointed to fill the remainder of the late Andy Hoffe’s seat, which ran until the end of 2026. Hoffe passed away earlier this year and the council opened up the seat for applications for the appointment.
Mayor Elder said 17 people applied.
“That was inspiring to see,” Elder said. “(We) went through the interviews, tough process.”
The council selected Ray, who was sworn in and seated earlier this month.
Budget Process On-Going
Elder said council has received the preliminary budget for next year already, and department heads are giving input to council about their needs and decisions that went into the plan.
“September 8th, we pass the preliminary budget. It can go down but it can’t go up,” said Elder. “First meeting in December, we will ratify it. We’ll have a public hearing in the interim, and we will forward it to the county.”
Night to Unite
Elder praised the success of the city’s Night to Unite program, which was on Tuesday, August 5 this year.
He said the city had 50 parties registered, with more than 2,000 total people participating.
“We made it out to every single party. It was great to be out there and great to talk to people in their space,” said Elder. “It’s one of my favorite nights of the year.”
