Campaign Phone
2516230595
As a mortgage professional I had the opportunity to learn and exercise excellent skills in communications with others both written and orally while working toward a common goal. I had the chance to gain understanding and expertise in property ownership and the rights of property owners. I understand more deeply how benefits of living in a city with low crime rates, that supports its first responders, supports its schools, values, and seeks to continually improve its natural beauty can and does improve not only values of property but also the quality of life for its citizens.
I have had the privilege to live, work, and play in this great city my entire life. 50 years ago I would have never dreamed we would have the amenities our city offers. From our green spaces, our city sponsored activities and events, services for all ages, and top notch fire and law enforcement agencies. There is more to do though. It’s time to think even bigger for our city and our citizens. From businesses to utilities we can be the best city in Alabama. We are headed in the right direction. It’s time to take bigger steps toward becoming just that.
Balancing quality of life is dependent on economic prosperity. I would work to add businesses like additional medical services and offices, services for our seniors as well as families. I would be supportive of our city growing outward in order to bring in shopping and activities to our citizens. I would also like to see a “shop local” emphasis put into place so more of our money stays in our city and doesn’t go to online providers.
Priorities for budget is always transparency and conservative spending along with making certain we are getting the biggest bang for our buck. Additional priority must be put on making sure we stay ahead of growth where infrastructure is concerned. I believe our current policies and ordinances in place are staying ahead of the growth. We must make sure we keep our heads down and stay on course.
Currently all meetings allow for public input and also are open to the public. Copies of minutes are provided on the website. I believe it is up to us as individuals to take responsibility for our involvement or lack there of in any governmental decisions. The responsibility lies on us to get the information provided. I suppose the only other things that could be done is to televise council meetings. However even then it’s up to the citizen to take interest and get involved.
Campaign Phone
8438012945
My mechanical engineering degree provides me the analytical skills to objectively evaluate situations and establish the best options to consider. I worked for over 30 years in engineering firms, and also directly inside chemical plants, doing project engineering for multi-million dollar scopes.
Such industrial sites are similar to city governments in their only having a finite amount of annual funds available to accomplish their goals. My professional function was to collaboratively discuss with the various departments their needs, estimate the associated scopes, and then jointly prioritize the various projects. My personally being transparent and straightforward in such decision processes was the key to my success.
Daphne is a very nice community and I, and fellow citizens, would like it to continue with the same atmosphere. There are pressures in that we would also like our children to raise their families here, and that requires more homes for them to live and businesses for them to be employed. Being such a desirable city, we also face the pressure from non-local people wanting to move here. All of factors result in unavoidable growth. Physically, Daphne can only expand to the East to accommodate such growth, and the necessary infrastructure be consciously designed for such growth. The associated impact on schools, roads, emergency service, and utilities will require thoughtful deliberation to prepare for these changes on the horizon.
Growing up in Mobile, and also being a member of Mobile Baykeeper and Sierra Club, I am acutely aware of the concern citizens in our area have regarding the environment. Our Daphne city government has been doing well in providing parks and recreational facilities to preserve and enhance our outdoor environment. As new businesses come into the area to support our inevitably growing population, it does add pressure to our infrastructure, often just simply more traffic during our daily drives. The Daphne 20-year plan tries to address these current and projected growth issues so as to maintain the current quality of life. I support adhering to this plan rather than ignoring the growth trends and then playing catch-up with infrastructure.
I believe the budget priorities are associated with those that affect our daily lives. Traffic congestion, and road resurfacing, are almost always issues top with people. The recreation areas and public parks need to maintain high priority as they contribute greatly to our great family atmosphere. Although only becoming obvious during heavy rainfalls, stormwater management is also an issue due to its potential widespread impact to homeowners. Daphne, like other Baldwin county communities, use wells to provide potable water for their citizens. Providing adequate future water supply would also need to be a priority.
Frankly, I do not have realistic suggestions for such changes. The daily newspapers previously functioned as our eyes and ears regarding governmental actions and decisions. We now have to either attend meetings in person, or through on-line Zoom meetings. The meeting agendas and minutes are already published on the city website. People now use some form of on-line news source or media website to obtain information rather than trying to directly access information themselves. Perhaps more media savvy consultants would have suggestions for improving public input for governmental activities.
