I have lived in Centervillle for 26 years. I apply 20+ years of corporate leadership experience to ensure our limited resources are allocated to the proper channels. I am dedicated to preserving Centerville's history and character while focusing on smart development. Our town's development has remained stagnant since 2006. City documents are not aligned which frustrates potential developers. This has resulted in city owned property remaining undeveloped.
My top priorities are to revise the downtown master plan, with an eye on smart and thoughtfully managed growth that does not rely on multi-story, high-density developments. I want deeper community engagement and citizens involved in future planning efforts. Finally, it important to ensure our current business community has the resources they need to thrive and grow.
Better collaboration with residents by having an open mic at every City Council meeting. As I've knocked on doors, many residents felt their voices were had not been heard. Regularly scheduled community engagements where citizens can chat one-on-one with city leaders and staff.
During my campaign, my team and I started Coffee With the Candidates. We make ourselves available to chat informally with residents on Saturdays over a cup of coffee.
Public safety is the highest priority for our team. We will continue to make smart investments into our public safety programs.
I currently serve as Mayor and have been for the last 5 years. I have been a part of City government, first on Planning and Zoning then on the Council for the past two plus decades. I have the energy, passion and drive to continue moving our community forward. During my time on Council, the city has grown and prospered. We have attracted new homeowners and new businesses. We have a top-notch public safety system in place. We have quality infrastructure and quality schools. We are in the best financial shape we have been in for some time. Our tax rate is in-line with other communities. We have established relationship at the state and national level. Centerville has progressed under my leadership, and I expect us to continue to do so.
Our top goal for many years has been economic development. We remain strategic, making sure the city develops in a way that is good for the citizens of today and tomorrow. Public Safety: We spend over 50% of our budget making sure our citizens are safe and well taken care of. We consistently assess our models to determine if they remain the best for us. High quality would be a key of any change. Community engagement and park maintenance: Join us and share your thoughts as we push forward.
I am extremely proud of our public facing efforts. We have so many avenues available to make sure the public is fully aware, we updated our website and created a mobile App. We have created an email listing for residents and business owners to receive regular updates. Signing up is easy. We utilize social media to share agendas and notifications of all meetings. Local TV broadcasts all of our board and council meetings. We are leading in transparency and I'm always open to new ideas.
My personal phone number and email are captured on our city website, so I’m easy to reach and converse with. We have plans in place to study our downtown and parts of those plans include a task force as well as public information/listening sessions. Under my leadership, we have always listened to feedback and worked to integrate it into our decision making.
Having dedicated police, fire and ambulance services for our community has helped us remain safe and low in incidents. As Mayor, I sit on the Police Governing Board, I was involved with the selection of our Chief. I also vote on the direction of our department. I appointed myself to Fire Steering committee to determine the direction of the Fire Department. It was critical to be at the table as we made the decision to work with other area departments yet maintain our own identity.
