Town of Hayden Citizens,

Our small town is in the midst of change. We see it every day driving by the Main Street Apartment complex, the Hayden Center, the new skate park, Prairie Run Middle-Income Housing Project, our new business park, or in the faces of new friends in our community while grabbing beer at A-1, an edible at ANNA or grub from the Merc.

With so much going on in town, emotions can run high and truth can blur. Tempers can flare and a feeling of helplessness can easily be felt. Unfortunately, we all look for someone or something to take our frustration out on. I am writing you today to make clear and plead with you to please bring your concerns to the town council or contact me directly at this number 970-367-6482 (text or call!).

All the hardworking and dedicated people that work for the Town of Hayden do so at the direction of myself and our town council. From our Town Manager all the way on down, every project is a reflection of your democratically elected representatives that meet every 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00PM at Town Hall.

All Town of Hayden employees are passionate about their jobs and our town. They are raising their families here, they work here and many of them were born and raised here. They want to come to Hayden Daze, or grab a beer without the fear of being confronted about a decision they had nothing to do with outside of the responsibilities of their job.

I’m asking you to embrace the values that make our community what it is. The community that our parents and grandparents created. The values that define people of moral character.

I hear often that “we are losing our small town” or that “this wasn’t the town I grew up in” and in many ways those people are right. However, this is not because of the new apartment complex or the marijuana shop. It is because WE have changed and I challenge every citizen in this community to embrace what used to be commonplace in our communities. Introduce yourself to your neighbors, walk a few steps in someone else’s shoes and know that in the end we all want the same things for our community: kindness, belonging and a safe place to raise our families. I say this with authority not as the mayor of this town, but as a citizen who lives here and is raising my family here.

Join me by looking people in the eyes and talking to them. Join me in waving at cars as they pass by. Join me in resisting the vortex that is social media, where all human values go to die.

See you on Thursdays, 

Ryan Banks, Mayor

Nov. 6th, 2024