VOTE411 Voter Guide

I have been a community advocate and policymaker for over 15 years. I was president of a chamber of commerce and on a national small business nonprofit board that helped retool the Small Business Administration in order to create greater access to capital for small, micro businesses and entrepreneurs. I also was president of a community youth center providing after school resources to working families and in that position created a housing program to provide shelter for unhoused youth. I have crafted policy to help working families gain access to affordable child care and paid leave for emergency health care needs. I am also a former appointed government official and state leader with the White House in the Office of Political Strategy.

Our budget has not allocated funds for community development and grants in over 5 years. Our community deserves investment so that our seniors can have access to the care and community they deserve, our small businesses and entrepreneurs can open local businesses in our community and our youth are able to access training and job opportunities that can better our local economy. Our local infrastructure needs a lot of attention. We have seen 15% increases in just the past year with an additional PCR charge and I want invest in building the substations and update the transformers to keep our grid system strong and resilient and our utility costs low. Lastly, New Bern needs to lead the region in creating the financial infrastructure we need.

Allocating funds towards community development and grants will be a priority on day one. In the past year we have had a number of major employers leave town and have a great need for tradespeople in our local community. It's past time we invested in ourselves by funding these line items in the budget. Also, we have not had a board that is willing to address our infrastructure issues head on. Kicking that can down the road on our utilities grid resulting in a 15% increase in just the last year because our system cannot perform at the level necessary to keep our public utilities a local asset and not a hindrance. I will work with the experts doing the work at the department in order to invest in needed upgrades and make a plan for resiliency.

We have great community organizations in New Bern that fill the gaps for us all. From causes like healthcare, housing, workforce development and youth and senior services; we have the resources right here in town but they need our investment. This type of investment will have real world benefits. I have a neighbor here in ward 6 who had a plumbing issue and had to wait 3 weeks for someone from out of town to just come out and take a look. We have folks right here in New Bern who could be trained to do that work for us. I will invest in us right here in New Bern. The #1 question in politics is always how are you going to pay for it. I am part of a coalition to bring public banking to local communities to pay for things like community investment and infrastructure needs all while providing a better return on investment for account holders. We can leave a better New Bern for generations to come when we invest in us now. I aim to do just that and would like your vote by October 7th.

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