VOTE411 Voter Guide

To give back to a city where we have lived in and raised a family for many years.

Public safety, provide for fuller funded police and fire departments. Improved streets, direct funds to street repair and maintenance to the extent possible. Service to constituents, listen and act accordingly to what my constituents need.

Most of my constituents do not want sidewalks installed where they do not exist.

I have been on the council for 14 years and communication is nearly always by telephone call, email or direct.

My highest priority is to make city hall feel accessible to residents in my district by seeking input, sharing decisions, and listening well to the needs and concerns of my neighbors. I have come to value collaboration, safety and belonging, and making strategic decisions based on current information while considering future impact. My ideals include a community where residents are empowered to contribute and are not discouraged by processes and policies that do not serve the larger community. I excel at driving momentum and turning ideas into action; these are skills are plan to use to stimulate innovation and ask questions to lead La Crosse in a direction that makes us stronger and serves residents and guests well.

La Crosse is an ideal place to live in all stages of life. In order to ensure that is true, the following issues must considered. Housing – We need to continue to look for opportunities to increase every type of housing. There are hundreds of new units that will be coming available, which is great progress. We also need to invest in the stock of single family homes. Homeowners need to have some flexibility in how they update older homes to meet the needs of modern families. Investment in infrastructure – The city is responsible for safety, streets, and certain infrastructure. Budget decisions need to be made with the knowledge that deferred maintenance does not go away, it only becomes more expensive. Innovation – La Crosse is full of committed residents and altruistic organizations. We must build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the support they need, remove barriers to their vision, and trust them to get the job done.

As I have spoken with neighbors, they share concern about wanting to know what their tax dollars are being spent on as they feel "nickle-and-dimed" with recent local decisions. Upkeep of streets and infastructure has been a plea in nearly every conversation. In addition, the vacant Trane property is in our district. People have strong feelings about the use of that property. I aim to bring people into the conversation about that property to represent their voices well when a decision needs to be made.

Most of my district does not have a Neighborhood Association, so it is very important to me to create other opportunities for dialogue. I am an active social media user and am ending email communication while knocking on doors and listening to neighbors. People seemed shocked to have a city representative seeking them out and I will continue to do so. Local government is most effective when all residents feel they have a path to those making decisions. I do not need to always agree with someone to listen and seek to understand.