COEUR d’ALENE — Cities, said Hayden Mayor Steve Griffitts, provide services. It’s the citizens who create the culture.

“They create the feelings that are exhibited and manifested, and we’re getting a lot of new people that don’t know that,” he said.

So in his State of the City address Thursday morning, Griffitts asked the crowd of about 100 to “show people what Hayden is” — and isn’t.

“We don’t run our car into the people in front of us on purpose. We don’t show our guns. We do not go to Walmart and do drugs. We don’t yell. We don’t reach out, honk our horns and tell people that we think they’re number one,” he said. “And it happens all the time.”

He urged those who are committed to Hayden to “stop, breathe, exhale and think happy thoughts.”

“Do what you can do to help us continue to create and manifest that small-town feel that the city of Hayden is known for,” Griffitts said.

In a 30-minute talk at The Salvation Army Kroc Center that included jokes and humorous tales, the Coeur d’Alene High School graduate outlined the city’s growth, its successes and its challenges.

He poked fun at himself, too, noting that he and his wife Marilyn have been married 42 years, have four children, and he’s still on “super-secret probation.”

In a PowerPoint presentation, he pointed out that Hayden has a population of about 16,000, 36 full-time employees, a total land area of about 10 square miles, a median resident age of 41 and a median household income of $55,173. It maintains six city parks and 175 miles of roads.

Last year, it saw total new construction valuation of $52.4 million. It has nine subdivisions that are either in review or have approved construction plans with 354 proposed residential lots.

New, relocated and expanded businesses to Hayden include Pearl Realty, BMC Lumber, and Tobler Marina.

The city, he said, is doing well, with new software, reducing hundreds of codes, adding community events and programs and providing outstanding customer service thanks to a dedicated staff.

It is working on four plans — comprehensive, transportation, sewer and parks — to “maintain the quality of life that you expect in Hayden.”

“Just remember, excellence, common sense, hard work,” he said. “And we measure it all the time.”

On a recent visit to Boise, Griffitts said a legislator asked how Hayden has been able to accomplish so much while its levy rate was at 1.1 percent.

“I said we save money and we figure out what needs to be accomplished,” he said.

The mayor said he receives a lot of feedback that Hayden is growing at too fast of a pace, and one person telling him Hayden needed to stop growth, entirely, and keep Californians out.

To that, he said the population grew at 2.35 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2019.

“That’s fine,” Griffitts said.

One person told the mayor he was upset because he had to wait an additional 75 seconds in traffic recently.

Griffitts laughed as he explained that the “interesting part is when people yell at me. They do. It’s so fun. I just smile.”

He asked the crowd how many of them have stopped for traffic on Government Way going south at Honeysuckle Avenue, and many hands went up.

“Just understand, it’s like the coolest place to be delayed,” he said, smiling as he mentioned some of the nearby businesses they could visit.

Regarding the proposed House Bill 409, which would freeze property tax revenue for a year from most taxing districts, Griffitts said if that happened, services would be cut in Hayden.

“Just know that. There’s no other way around it,” he said.

“If you don’t want that, please talk to your legislators,” he said.

Hayden, he added, is “trying our darnedest to be fiscally responsible. No, that’s not true. Yoda, don’t try, do,” he said in reference to the wise Jedi Master. “We are fiscally responsible. We are not trying to be. We are amazingly good at what we do.”