Burkhead closing out term as Bethesda’s mayor
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BETHESDA -- Samantha Burkhead is reflecting on her term as mayor of Bethesda, having decided not to seek reelection.
Next year she will hand over the reins to Robert Flanagan, who previously served as mayor beginning in 2000.
"Everybody's got to take their turn. My theory is you can only contribute so much, then you need new ideas and fresh ideas, so somebody else needs to go in there," she said. "Somebody else can come in and build on it with ideas that I can't think of. It's better for the community to have more ideas."
Burkhead took on numerous tasks during her four years at the helm, including overseeing the rebuilding of the police department and hiring Chief Chris Storm.
"I enjoyed it. I was able to do a lot, meet a lot of people and do a lot of things," she said. "The police department, we've got Chris on board and Chris is a great guy, he does really well with the community."
Burkhead's administration occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she took the initiative with outreach.
"COVID gave me an opportunity to give a lot back. As we all know, it was a very awkward time, and in town there was an uncomfortable feeling because everybody was nervous and didn't know what was going to happen and everybody was at home, and that's what started a lot of these ideas that I had," she said.
"We were worried about our senior citizens because the senior center was shut down, and we were worried how it was going to affect them being by themselves. So we came up with the idea we need to do something to at least bring a little sunlight back in their lives, so we started having the Easter Bunny deliver flowers, and that's probably my most favorite thing that I've done.
"We've done it now every single year, going and delivering them, and we tell people: 'Here's your flowers from the Easter Bunny.' Then they'll show me all the ones they planted from the previous year, and it means a lot to me," she continued. "Just to make people feel better, that's one of my most favorite things I've done. And it wasn't even me. It was the Easter Bunny who gave the flowers, I just delivered them."
Burkhead said the situation called for inventiveness.
"We had to come up with all these different ideas of how to do Easter and all the different events we do through the years, how to do it with all the COVID protocols. We had all these different ideas that we did, and that's when we started decorating the park for Christmas to give people a little joy. It was just a lot of: 'What can we do to bring a little bit of joy to peoples' lives?' And that's what I wanted to focus on, and that's what I did focus on."
She said when seeking election she took Inspiration from Stan Sobel, the late mayor of Belmont.
"Stan worked really hard to bring the community together, and he focused on the community and did things," Burkhead said. "It was inspiring, and I wanted to be just like Stan. I said: 'If he can do it here, we can do it here.'"
Burkhead said one goal was to strengthen the sense of community.
"Nowadays, it's very hard to have a sense of community, so that was what I wanted to do, just bring people together."
She also commended village employees such as her husband Fiscal Officer Rick Burkhead and Village Administrator Dirk Davis. She said her husband has been very active in seeking grants for the village.
"When it comes to running the town, those two have it down pat," she said.
She noted that Bethesda will continue to face challenges in the future.
"The challenges are the same thing that everybody else is facing. The cost of things. The electricity cost, the water cost, the village has to pay all that as well, so we're going through the same thing everybody's going through in their own personal lives, trying to figure out how to afford things and pay for things and keep the light going. It's just crazy, the cost of everything and how much it's gone up. Because of that, the water rates have been increased in (Belmont) county, so we had to increase the water rates for the town, which I hated to do, but financial-wise there was no option. The sewer plant needed updating and everything nickels and dimes you. It's a business, and you have to make it work."
She added that the dedication and quality of its people remain Bethesda's strongest resource.
"The good thing is there's a lot of people who've had their eyes on this area. We've had quite a few meetings with different people wanting to bring businesses to the area and help develop the area," she said. "We've been working really close with them to help them keep an eye on Bethesda. We've got a wastewater system that we only use a small capacity of. We can support so much more, and if we work with these different communities, we can bring all this business in."
Burkhead said she has no future plans yet.
"Every day's a new day. What comes will come. There's always a path for me, and I just follow it," she said.
"I am extremely grateful for everybody in this community for everything they've allowed me to do," she added. "I appreciate that they voted me in, and I appreciate them letting me do everything I was able to do. I'm grateful for them."