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ployees, right now.” While David remains optimistic about Watertown’s man- ufacturing base, he admits that some jobs have been lost over the last several years. So he reports that, recently, the city government has focused on ways to bring more new residents and businesses to Watertown. It rebranded itself with the tag line “Opportunity Runs Through It,” and it has been organizing initiatives to make the most of its main, natural attraction. “We do have a large asset in the city and that is the Rock River,” he says. “It’s been used for recre- ational things quite a bit in the past, but we think that, especially in the downtown area, we can do more to devel- op and capitalize on that river and the land along the river. We want to improve the current River Walkway.We have expanded it in two areas, and we have plans to expand it into a third area. People like to walk along the river; there’s WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN a lot of kayaking and canoeing and fishing going on. A private organization in town, Rock River Rescue, has been working on stocking quality fish in the river. So, all of a sudden, we’re seeing all kinds of people coming and fishing and enjoying the river.” In addition, David says that the city has been “very progressive and aggressive in improving the entire city, but we’re especially looking at the downtown.We’ve got a very large down- town that is historically intact,” he states. “We’ve got some beautiful buildings, down there, and yet they do need some work. So, we are trying to initiate some programs like a low interest loan program to help businesses improve their buildings and help store owners improve their businesses.We do have a TIF (Tax Increment Fi- nancing) district and we are going to capitalize on that, also.We have had some development along the river; we have had some proposals That says a lot about our community. If you were to come toWatertown and live and work in this com- munity, there are many opportunities. And it’s a warm and accepting city. JAYNELLEN HOLLOWAY WATERTOWN’S CITY ENGINEER