SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — After only 9 days in office, Mayor Misty Buscher laid out big goals for the city.

The Mayor started her address by acknowledging the number of department leaders she has replaced. Buscher said this kind of transition is normal, and necessary for her to achieve her goals.

"It's time for me to be a change maker for this community," said Buscher. "That's what I'm striving to be. I've made a lot of changes over the past nine days and a lot of you are scratching your head and wondering why ... But it is my vision and my changes that I'm trying to bring to the community to make a difference."

Buscher said in her nine days of work so far, she received citizen complaints and questions about the Wyndham Hotel, a city EMS service, and new fire trucks.

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One of the priorities Buscher shared was developing a better partnership with state legislators that spend a significant time in Springfield each year. She said in talking with them, she has learned what they would like to see changed.

"They wonder 'why don't you have more hotels downtown that we can stay in because they're staying all over the community'", said Buscher. "So that is a focus of mine. And then they ask 'why don't you have more restaurants and bars downtown for us to visit?' They're doing their business downtown and they want to stay in this area. So that downtown is a big focus for me because those people are spending a majority of their work life here in our town."

Buscher was joined by Andy Van Meter, the President of the Sangamon County Board. He shared an update on the work the county has been doing in what he said was the first State of the County Address.

Van Meter shared the issues Sangamon County leaders have been working on, like discussions on carbon capture technology, CO2 pipelines, and the Transportation Hub in Downtown Springfield.

Van Meter has been on the board for over two decades. He said the number one change he wants to see is better partnerships between the county, and the city when it comes to youth employment.

"Unemployed young people are a tragedy in preparation," said Van Meter. "We know the work ethic, the satisfaction of earning a wage for a job well done is the path to success in life. We have businesses in this community who need workers. We have many organizations working on youth employment."

Van Meter said the city needs to work with the county to make sure the resources are used to their full potential. 

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