I moved to Holly over 10 years ago and quickly became involved in the community through volunteering, fundraising, local events, and nearly 10 years of service with the Holly DDA. I served as Volunteer Coordinator, Organization Committee Chair, Executive Committee member, and Secretary.
Professionally, I have experience in business management, finance, advertising, and small-business consulting, and I am pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a focus on management.
I am running for Village Council because I believe residents deserve representatives who listen, research the issues, ask difficult questions, and make decisions based on facts. I would bring strong financial, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills, along with years of firsthand experience serving Holly.
My top three priorities are infrastructure, financial stability, and transparency.
Infrastructure: Holly’s roads, water, and sewer systems need long-term planning. I would support a comprehensive capital improvement plan, prioritize projects based on need, and aggressively pursue grants and outside funding.
Financial Stability: I would review spending, contracts, and long-term forecasts to protect essential services while reducing unnecessary costs. Tax increases should not be the first solution without fully exploring other options.
Transparency: Residents deserve clear information and meaningful input. I would support open decision-making, competitive processes, accessible financial information, and decisions based on documented facts rather than politics or personal relationships.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
I grew up in this community and I've now chosen to raise my family here. The well-being of this community is personal to me. I am a US Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and was awarded the Purple Heart. After my service I attended Western Michigan University and studied criminal justice and psychology. My professional background is finance. I have worked for over a decade as the finance officer for a scale company. In my role I manage vendors, am responsible for both accounts receivable as well as accounts payable, manage ledgers and bank accounts, and handle project management. I am familiar with audits, budgeting and bidding processes These are all skills I bring to the table as a council member. I believe we need people at the table who understand finances and that is the reason I'm running for reelection.
My first priority is to find a way out of our budget crisis. During my tenure I have oversaw the hiring of a new manager and clerk who uncovered hidden deficits and who were transparent to the public on how we got here. I will continue to find ways of revenue expansion and to take the advice of experts on how to best navigate this crisis.
My second priority is infrastructure and how we fund it. Like many small communities we are facing aging or crumbling infrastructure and a lack of funds to properly address them. I will continue to ask staff to pursue every grant opportunity as well as long term financing options for these projects. I think we also need to partner more with our county commissioners and state representatives to bring more state and county funding to our local communities.
My third priority is conservation of our green spaces. Our green spaces are vital to our community and we must be good stewards to protect them for future generations.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
With a Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of Michigan - Flint, my career has been dedicated to supporting, empowering, and strengthening youth and families through the nonprofit sector for twelve years, the public school system for seven years, and Oakland County Youth Assistance for twelve and a half years. Seven years with OCYA were devoted to providing part-time casework services to youth and families through Holly Area Youth Assistance. I’m honored to have the opportunity to bring my years of experience with advocacy, leadership, mediation, budgets, and continuing education to work for the Village of Holly Council.
I am running for Holly Village Council to be a voice of and an advocate for the people. I’m prepared to put my critical thinking skills to work to solve the Village’s tough issues. Our residents have spoken both at the poles and in public comment, but they’ve often been ignored. I am running to put people before politics and to end this era of indifference.
Unaffordable water rates, the current $600,000 budget deficit, and our roads (and infrastructure) that are in disrepair.
Cancelling the READY TO SERVE fees from the water bills is the first step making our water rates more affordable, and it fulfills a promise that was made to residents years ago.
The budget deficit can be closed by spending every tax payer dollar wisely and by avoiding deficit spending. Grants and additional funding will need to be aggressively pursued. There are also creative avenues of pursuing available dollars and saving money which have not yet been considered.
Our roads and infrastructure need to be assessed according to a formal Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), so a formal CIP needs to be developed so that we are not reactively and wastefully throwing money at projects. We need to be pro-active and start doing things in a strategic, well-planned, and financially responsible manner. A formal CIP will help us to accomplish all of this.
