Mayor Cownie reflects on unfinished business after 20 years in office

Why it matters: The memories remind him there's lots of work ahead despite what he calls significant progress in areas like neighborhood and park improvements, he said.

Catch up fast: Cownie served on the city's Planning and Zoning Commission before being elected to City Council in November 2001 and mayor in 2003.

• Multiple floods and a 2020 derecho were among the most challenging and influential events of his local government career, he said.

State of play: As a result, stormwater management and flood mitigation became Cownie's passions and resulted in his advocacy for multiple ongoing improvement projects.

• In recent years he helped lead an international movement calling on local governments to take charge of projects to minimize the effects of global warming.

Separately, Cownie recalled to Axios when hundreds of civil rights protesters crowded in front of his home, demanding police reforms following George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police in 2020.

• Cownie walked into the crowd, told the protestors that he heard them and would support the issues they raised.

Of note: The city passed an anti-racial profiling ordinance several weeks after the protest.

• Other types of police reforms are ongoing.

What's next: Cownie leaves office with a clear sense of the work left for his successor.

• Youth violence, homelessness, public safety, affordable housing, infrastructure and retention of downtown businesses are among the other top challenges ahead, he wrote this fall.