The following is written by Sumner Mayor Enslow:

There was a great debate a few weeks ago whether or not Sumner was still “Mayberry.” The News Tribune ran an article about a recent uptick in graffiti in Sumner, and letters to the editor debated with each other whether or not we still bore a resemblance to Andy Griffith’s fictional town. My take? Sumner feels like “Mayberry,” or more accurately like the town we all love, not because of what doesn’t happen here but because of how we respond when it does.

Yes, there was an upsurge in graffiti.  Our City wasn’t alone in this. The Police department caught the two main culprits, one quickly after the story ran and the other more recently thanks to help from his own parents.  Before they were caught, our Parks Department routinely painted over the graffiti on City property, sometimes over and over again; and our Code Enforcement Officer gathered a team to help victims on private land.  The team consisted of local church and service groups willing to paint and assistance from McLendon Hardware on how to get paint a bit cheaper.  In other words, we had a lot of local citizens and staff pull together in a way that would have made ol’ Andy very proud.

The challenge with a real town, instead of a fictional one, is that we’ll never be “done.”  The episode is never over.  There will still be graffiti from someone else, and there will be other crimes to solve.  My thought is that if we continue to work together, Sumner will always be the Sumner we all love, no matter what comes our way.  After all, it’s the response to bad things that shows our true mettle. Keep up the good work: if you spot something that you think Police should know, you don’t have to call 911. You can call the tip line at 253-299-5678 or even quickly fill out a report online.