'Government is Much More Than Numbers and Spreadsheets'

For the first time in a decade, the Berlin Town Council will meet in September with a board that will not include sitting member and current Mayor Adam Salina.

Salina smiled and shared thank yous, as well as praise from both parties, as he celebrated his last council meeting Tuesday evening. When the meeting finished, he was greeted in the lobby of Town Hall by colleagues, friends and family wanting to wish him well in the future.

"This has been a joyous 10 years for me. I have no regrets," he said. "When I originally came in, I thought government was going to be about numbers and spreadsheets. I was wrong."

The longtime mayor and council member said the experience was often challenging as he balanced taxpayer wallets with town operations, met with residents with a variety of wants and needs, and simply being a voice for the community at large.

It was a challenge that Salina was always happy to take on and something he said taught him what it truly means to be a council member.

"Government is and has always been about compassion and caring, and holding a love for your town," "I enjoyed every minute of it. This is my last day here, but I don’t regret any of it. Everyone has helped make it a wonderful 10 years and on behalf of my wife, my family and myself, I just want to say thank you."

Salina's work did not go unnoticed either. Reaching across party lines, Republican Councilman Dave Evans said he respected everything Salina had done and although they didn't always agree, they are proud to have served and lived alongside him.

"Serving on this council, you were doing a great thing," Evans told him. "No matter whether we have the same view point, you have made your decisions because you believe you are doing the right thing for Berlin and that is something that was never overlooked."

Salina will now move on to spend more time with his daughters and family, something they've all sacrificed over the past decade.

“I’ll stand on my record and everything that we’ve accomplished in this town over the past 10 years,” Salina said in an interview earlier this year. “I am humbled that the people in town thought enough of me to elect me five straight times.”

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