Today something happened that has hardly happened since Mayor Scott Johnson took office on Jan. 1. I called his office to ask a question, and he called me back himself in matter of moments! I didn't make one follow-up call, I didn't go camp outside his office, as I've done on a few occasions. I was so startled when my phone rang and it was Mayor Johnson that I dropped a half-eaten apple into my lap and spilled a bottle of water across my desk, ruining my rolodex and two phone books.

Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was certainly surprised, especially given that the only reason I'd called the Mayor's office was to get a little background on an agenda item for tomorrow night's City Council Meeting... and I'd actually called for Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton. I had come to expect the Mayor to take his time in getting back to me on pressing matters, so I just assumed it would take a little while for him to get back to me on this relatively insignificant point.

After a month of calling him on a variety of issues, Mayor Johnson finally returned one of my calls. Perhaps he thought I did a good job covering the State of the City Address, or perhaps I caught him at a slow moment in City Hall, or perhaps he's looking to increase his presence in the local press, as he increases his presence in local neighborhoods, as per his planned "Saratoga Speaks," program announced in yesterday's speech. Whatever the reason, I was glad to hear back from the Mayor today, especially on a topic that will likely wind up effecting Saratogians much more intimately than the water litigation or a new police station -- the indoor recreation facility.

Johnson told me that at tomorrow night's meeting he will ask the council to authorize him to sign a contract worth as much as $5,500 to have site plans drawn for the facility's likely new location at the South Side Rec fields. The contract is with architects already retained for the project, and covers only relatively straight-forward work. If everything goes according to plan, we could see the city break ground on this new facility by September.

So thank you Mayor Johnson for returning my call, and for filling me in on the rec center. I hope that you will continue to hold true to the message of open government on which you were elected, and allow me and other area journalists to better spread word of your work for the city.