Campaign Phone Number
330-221-3106
Education
BS degree Criminal Justice Studies Kent State University
Training & Experience
34 years Law Enforcement experience in the City of Kent. 9 years at Kent State University and 25 at City of Kent police departments
To have people see City of Kent as a model city thru out the state of Ohio and beyond. To have the City of Kent operate and meet the needs of its' citizens and business in ways that are looked at, by other cities and communities, as the best example of responsive and effective government.
It may seem like a bold initiative but it brought me to the question of "Why not?". It's not as if other cities are run by people brighter and more talented than Kent. We have tremendously gifted and insightful people already in places to carry this forward. The only drawbacks would be to have a lack of imagination and consistent discipline.
If you look around you see Kent does a lot of things already to engage its' citizens and businesses with community events. I would look to continue those and ask how can we be better? Meet with planners and department heads to find ways to make our city government have a greater ease of access and responsiveness to the needs of both citizens and businesses.
When I talked to people in the Kent community, the main issues of concern were affordable housing to meet growing demands, our finite land space and its' sustainable use and designation and the challenges small businesses face from start up to growth and remaining financially healthy and profitability.
The answers to these are in strategic planning and long term looking. No quick solutions or answers will solve these. But, they don't need to be complicated either. For housing we would first need to define the demographic we most would be serving and point our focus. For our land space we need to consider the concerns of our long term health and well being. Clean air, clean water and environmental impact would need studied. For our small businesses, creating ease of access and cooperation with our governmental bodies which oversee regulation and assistance for them. As before, Kent already does these things with degrees of success. The question again arises, "How can we be better?".
The first response to this is to have a solid budget with built in surplus. To go in prepared. What 34 years of law enforcement service taught me. Almost everything I dealt with had a big question mark at the front of it. So I would start with the knowns. What we do know about the future is there will be changes in our demographics, technology and the demands on our future work force. Keeping those in mind, I would task department heads and managers to find and propose ways where they could cut monies, from their budgets, while still retaining the best services. I would not have a hard agenda on specific areas but approach it with a curiousness. To view cuts from many angles. I would look to minimize the impact on those services that impact our health, safety and security, and our critical infrastructures like roads, water/sewer. It would be a collaborative approach with potential tough decisions I'm willing make. Willing to go with the facts I have, even if I wish they were different.
Campaign Phone Number
3306785897
Education
Kent Public Schools........John Carol University......over 200 hours of continued education
Training & Experience
Real Estate, Ethics, Civil Rights, HVAC,Solar Tech. Maketing, PADI Association of Scuba Diving Instructors, NHRA....Professional liscense
My vision of Kent would be a modern version of the Kent where I grew up .
A friendly community where everyone is welcome.
Our schools , homes and neighborhoods are safe and well maintained.
Our businesses are thriving.
Employment is abundant and the cost to live is affordable.
Our streets, sidewalks and infrastructure are in good repair.
To accomplish this I would maintain the resource officers in our schools, make some changes to our police procedure by having feet on the street in our neighborhoods and in town to create espredecore with our residents. Expand existing inclusion programs. Communication vs conflict. Our code enforcement shall continue to assist our neighborhoods. I will strive to create income streams to improve our infrastructure rather than increasing fees and taxes. This is a continuous battle and if elected I am up for the fight.
The major challenge is having the funds to maintain high quality services and the proper personel and equiptment to complete the task at hand. It boils down to MONEY.
The most important task is to review how the money is spent, are we making the best choices? We have expenses that are mandatory and others that are elective. We must make sure that our elective expendatures benefit all and not just a select few. There are always several ways to do the same thing.We must be prudent that we are making the best choice for the money spent.
I have some ideas on how to create additional income streams to help out instead of raising taxes and adding fees. I would like the chance to try.
When and if we get to a point to have to make budget cuts it will have to be a joint effort with the staff and the administration . Just as it was when we were in a structural deficit previously . We will re-structure some employee work hours impliment a freeze on overtime, pay raises, land banking, large dollar capitol purchases. We will try to co-op purchases of commodities with other local communities.
If we have to we will have to reduce our employee base and train employees how to multi task. I am an advocate of using non serious offenders to do public service as retribution. This might fill in the gaps for labor shortages. All in all if I am elected I will do my best to make sure it never gets that far.
