You asked for change, you got it

Greeley voters want a change. That point was loud and clear Tuesday as they elected a new mayor and three new city council members.

We, too, felt it was time for Greeley to head in a new direction.

Of the four candidates elected, we endorsed three of them: Ed Clark, Maria Secrest and Pam Shaddock. And to be honest, we're also happy with the return of former councilman Chuck Archibeque.

With this new makeup of the city council comes an enormous opportunity -- a chance to put the city on a new track.

For the next two years, we challenge the new council to take a serious look at two main issues: economic development and bringing Greeley together.

As a candidate, Clark spoke passionately about how he would make economic development one of his top priorities.

"The key to Greeley's future is quality economic growth. The answers lie here, cooperatively within our community and its elected government," he wrote in a guest column published in the Tribune last month.

He also said he would orchestrate partnerships with successful businessmen and women to attract new "quality jobs" and to support current businesses.

Economic growth for a long time has been a goal of the city staff and previous mayors and other entities with some successes here and there. But Clark will have to show all of us that he can make it happen better than the others, and the best way to do that is with smart, sound results.

We also challenge the new mayor and council to focus on uniting our community.

During the past several years, the national debate on immigration, the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at Swift & Co., and the arguments about whether Greeley needs an ICE office have taken their toll on all of us.

Although Clark campaigned on a law enforcement tough-on-crime approach to immigration and appears to be closely aligned to Weld District Attorney's Ken Buck's conservative stance on immigration, we call on him and the new council to find a way to bring the community together. That starts with honest, upfront discussions.

Realizing Our Community is the only organized group that is talking about and proposing ways to make all of Greeley's residents feel at home. It is imperative that Clark and the new council get involved in the organization to further the discussions and thus further the action.

This will get Greeley headed right where we need to be.