November is a busy month in the Sauk Valley.

It’s “no-shave” month for our local firefighters. It’s also when everyone, from the public to the press and politicians, tries to understand the legislation passed during the veto session in Springfield.

Additionally, November is the month when Thanksgiving is celebrated.

On the business and retail side, November is when the famous sale of the year, known as “Black Friday,” occurs. Although Black Friday is becoming a two-week-long sales event for retailers, it is still a great time of year to buy electronics, washers, dryers, and other household items that need replacement.

And let’s not forget “Shop Small” Saturday, which occurs on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day, and the importance of supporting our local small retailers, who are essential to our communities’ economies.

A family tradition often observed during the Thanksgiving meal in many households is going around the table to share what each family member is thankful for. In light of that tradition, let’s share what we are thankful for regarding our local governments in the Sauk Valley.

Here in Sterling, we are thankful for a municipal government that effectively responds to the community’s needs. We have public services that maintain our streets, protect our families and properties, keep our neighborhoods clean, treat our wastewater, and provide birth and marriage certificates upon request, among other services.

We are thankful that we have a mayor who has crafted relationships around the state, which resulted in our community being added to the River Edge Redevelopment program – a tax-incentive-based development program managed by state agencies.

This program is an economic development tool that will help our community attract new development and support the redevelopment of properties in a designated zone covering a large portion of the community’s total incorporated area.

We are also thankful for the staff at City Hall who are doing more for the community than just mailing out sewer and garbage bills.

The staff and their volunteers at Sterling City Hall are deeply involved in organizing and overseeing community events, mainly focusing on family-friendly activities at our Grandon Civic Center Park.

The next event, hosted by City Hall staff, is the upcoming Sleigh What!? A community-wide outdoor Christmas holiday decorating contest that invites homeowners and business owners to decorate their houses and businesses and enter into the competition. For more information, please see the Facebook page: Sleigh What!? The City of Sterling Holiday Showdown.

We are thankful for our Public Works department, which works year-round to maintain and ensure the safety of our streets. They might face criticism for those annoying potholes around town. However, when a tree falls during a storm, a sewer line breaks, a traffic light stops working, or other problems interrupt our commute to work or home, they respond quickly to fix them.

We are thankful for the emergency services that protect our families and properties. The police and fire departments in our community, as well as those in all communities across the Sauk Valley area, work diligently to fulfill their duties and serve us all well.

These emergency services protect and serve our communities by performing their duties and engaging in community activities that bring families together, teach youngsters about fire safety, and demonstrate fire and police equipment to them.

We are thankful for our wastewater treatment crews, who provide a vital public service that often goes unnoticed. These crews work with a mix of old and new equipment, navigating layers of government regulations that make their jobs a little more complicated than necessary; yet you never hear them complain.

In Sterling, this group will soon experience the thrill of doing their jobs, all while overseeing the construction and bringing online a new wastewater treatment facility that will take about two to two and a half years to complete.

We are thankful for the Code Enforcement department, which works to keep our communities safe and clean by managing blighted and unkept properties.

This department and its employees often hear complaints about the reasons and details behind enforcing building codes. But ultimately, if it weren’t for building codes, there would be chickens everywhere, along with other unpleasant problems in our neighborhoods.

We dislike setback lines, but we want to understand why our fence can’t be taller and why we can’t paint the house pink. However, their role is crucial in maintaining a consistent and acceptable appearance and use of the structures and properties in our communities.

We have much to be thankful for in the Sauk Valley. Our local governments, from Oregon to Fulton, work to meet the needs of our communities. There may be occasional shortcomings, but overall, we are thankful for those who do that work.

Our local municipal governments work because they are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and that is what I am thankful for.

-Jim Wise is a Sterling city councilman.