VOTE411 Voter Guide

The council is in charge of enacting ordinances budgets and policy, allowing for the mayor to take care of day-to-day business. I believe the number one priority for both of these positions is understanding the community we work for and building relationships. I think to have a good local government takes community involvement and understanding the direction the community is headed. I believe you have to take into consideration the history and the heritage of the community to be a good leader. The relationship I have with the community members will be my greatest attribute. With the relationships I have, I will understand what the community opinion is before we enact ordinances or policies.

Community relations has to be the number one responsibility of this office. If you don’t know the people around you, how would you understand the needs of the community? You wouldn’t be able to achieve the goals moving forward for our community. I would love to see the mayor position more available to the community and a larger group of people in it. I believe setting goals of how to improve the community with infrastructure and jobs has to be a priority.

I’ve spent more of my life working to achieve budgets than making them. By understanding how to achieve budgets you have to be knowledgeable of how the budget is made. Although I’ve never did a budget for a community I do have the basic concept of what needs to happen. We do it on a much smaller scale, but I have helped start a local nonprofit with some of my peers to serve our community. The village also has a fiscal officer that should be able to help. Taking i to account the council members that we have from prior years with the new council members that are coming in, we should have a great team to work together on this.

The role of mayor differs from council because the mayor oversees daily operations of the village to ensure essential services and meet residents’ day-to-day needs. Council focuses on effective decision making, creating and passing legislation for the village’s future. As mayor, I would bring thoughtful decision-making, listening to residents, weighing options carefully, and making choices that balance immediate needs with long-term goals. My approach is to make decisions with both accountability and collaboration in mind, so the whole village benefits.

The most important responsibility of the mayor is to make sure the village is running smoothly day to day while keeping the needs of our residents at the center. That means working closely with the administrator, staff, and clerk to handle operations, but also making sure council has the support they need to pass legislation that truly benefits the community. I see the mayor’s role as a leader, listener and a connector, someone who ensures services are delivered, resources are brought in, and partnerships are maintained to continue improving the quality of life in our village.

I have several years of experience working with budgets through my service on Chauncey Village Council. During that time, I have been directly involved in reviewing and approving annual budgets, making careful decisions to fund projects that benefit the village, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used responsibly. I have also worked on allocating resources to address immediate community needs while planning for long-term improvements. In addition, I have experience seeking and supporting grant opportunities, collaborating with community partners to stretch local dollars further, and balancing priorities so that essential services are maintained while new initiatives can move forward.