New Year, new beginnings

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Today marks January 1, 2025. It is the start of a new year for all of us.

I no longer make resolutions as I have found that it doesn’t take me long to break them. Rather, I have set a goal of finishing a major cleaning of “stuff” accumulated over 50 years. Last year I successfully cleaned out about half of the house. My goal this year is to finish the job. It’s the year of decluttering!

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my decision not to run for another term as the Yucca district councilmember. Unlike President Biden, my mind is as sharp as ever and I have a wealth of knowledge regarding Glendale government.

However, the same cannot be said of my husband. He worked hard all of his life. He did hard, manual labor as an electrician for many, many years. After his retirement, he had stroke. Although physically he recovered and has the use of all of his limbs, it did a number on his brain and actually killed a portion of it. It resulted in dementia that has gotten progressively worse.

That made the last year of my service as a councilmember difficult. I still fulfilled all of my responsibilities. I attended city events, participated in regional activities and attended all council meetings and workshops but I worried. I had to get care givers to come in and watch my husband while working. Even then, I still worried.

God was getting my attention and telling me it was time to take full-time care of him. So, I made the decision to retire. It, like any activity you enjoy yet can no longer participate in, is bittersweet. I miss council activities, but I don’t miss worrying about my husband any longer.

Over the course of this year I will share what it was like to serve on city council. My service was for 24 years but not all at once. I was first elected as the very first Yucca district councilmember in 1992. In 1996 I quit when my Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The next four years gave my husband, my Dad and I the luxury of time to find a new home that could accommodate all of us, knowing that my Mom’s disease would progress.

I ran again in 2000 having gotten my family matters in order. I ran successfully again in 2004 and 2008. In the 2012 election I was defeated by Sammy Chavira and we now all recognize what a train wreak he turned out to be. I successfully ran again in 2016 and 2020. I served a total of 6 four year terms.

Elections are challenging and I am very honored and grateful that the majority of Yucca district residents had faith in me and allowed me to serve them. My emphasis during my terms was always on constituent service and over the years I helped many in their interactions with government. I was pleased to do so. That’s what being a servant to the people is all about.

I’d like to think that all of my policy decisions while on council were good but sometimes, despite a lot of knowledge and best efforts, I know I missed the mark.

This year I will be sharing stories about my time on council.

^{© Joyce Clark, 2025}   

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