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Honoring Mayor Ned Randolph Yesterday night, the City of Alexandria held a series of events, culminating in a banquet at the Riverfront Center featuring Governor Kathleen Blanco, honoring Mayor Ned Randolph. And this reminded me: When I was a kid, every Sunday morning at church, we used to sit right behind the mayor. My brother, sister, and I thought it was pretty cool because after the service ended we got to shake the mayor's hand. As a child, I considered him to be a shy and humble person, someone genuine. I didn't really know what a mayor did, but I knew he was important. And he is. During the past four months, we've been discussing the problems facing Alexandria and how to solve those problems. I hope that this discussion does not obscure the truth: Alexandria suffers from growing pains. When considering the accomplishments of Mayor Randolph, it is impossible to recognize Alexandria without him: A successful plan for England Air Park, a state-of-the-art airport, I-49, a 4-year LSUA, the Port of Alexandria, hospital expansions, the Alexandria Aces, numerous subdivision developments, and Union Tank Car. Alexandria, it has been said, is poised for tremendous growth, and we owe much of this to the leadership of Mayor Randolph. In less than a week, Mayor Randolph will serve his last day as Mayor of Alexandria. Many things have changed in twenty years. And thankfully, we are all better off because of these changes. Certainly, there is a lot left to accomplish, but our future accomplishments will be built on the successes of a shy, humble, yet important man who dedicated most of his professional career toward public service. Thank you Ned Randolph.