“A Name You Can Trust”
Thanks for taking the time to do your research on candidates for the upcoming election. I am a fourth generation native of Blue Ridge and have a genuine interest in this town both now and in the future. With deep roots to the core, I will continue to value the things that have always made this town great which have been integrity, transparency, and responsible leadership. Many of the things that people have always known this town for have changed and are continuing to change at a rapid speed. The upcoming election could be a milestone and changing point that could change the landscape of this town forever. The people you elect and put in office are crucial, more so than many people even realize. So many of the area residents are out of the loop and don’t realize what a fine line there is at present. Having someone trustworthy and vested into the decisions that affect us all is vital. As your elected official, I do what I say I will do! I come from a family and generation that your word speaks of your character. I feel like I demonstrate a good balance of being easy to work with but can stand my ground when it comes to doing what’s right. I have proven I’m not a name that can be bought or persuaded. I will be a voice of the citizens and strive to lead this city in a direction of what the constituents want for the future of Blue Ridge not my own personal interest as we have witnessed so much of in recent times. It seems the public have lost complete trust in the elected officials and my goal is to restore that trust and bridge the gap between the city leadership and its citizens. I will work hard to keep this city on the course and plan set forth by us, it’s local residents.
I’ve listed some major points of interest and topics of concern below that I would like to address. I would welcome your thoughts and feedback on additional items that need to be addressed or taken into consideration to make Blue Ridge a better place to live, work and play.
🏘️ Supporter of Controlled Growth – Protection from Overdevelopment
As a proven supporter of controlled growth, I will protect our residential areas to avoid any more loss of our town downtown character and charm. I am not a name that can be bought, and will stand firm against outside special interest groups and developers. As your neighbor, I want to continue the quality of life and enjoyment of living in our downtown district. I will work to develop a master plan for the city which has been talked about for years which includes master zoning. As it has recently came up with the current administration, I will stand against raising the building heights of our downtown buildings as we just got it changed a couple of years ago and already special interest groups have talked the current administration into raising it again.
🚫 End Corruption and Costly Favors
Put an end to the frivolous spending of our taxpayer money. The corruption and costly favors being paid for by the taxpayers is going to stop!
💰 Reform City Staffing and Spending
The hundreds of thousands of dollars of unwarranted taxpayer spending will stop! What is being paid to employees/vendors/contractors at present is unacceptable, unnecessary and unwarranted. The city finances must get sorted and settled instead of hearing “we don’t even know how much money we have”. I will stand to get financial stability and will demand accountability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility from every department. The city employees should serve the public—not political agendas. I will work to ensure that staff are focused on what’s best for Blue Ridge, not internal power struggles.
🗺️ Develop a Comprehensive Master Plan
Blue Ridge still lacks a viable comprehensive master plan and zoning strategy which would clearly identify a plan for the future and protect spot zoning. I will see this is finally implemented and completed that reflects the overall wants and needs of the citizens protecting the integrity of our community and outlining clear boundaries for the future.
🔍 Demand Transparency and Open Records
The lack of transparency and amount of corruption in this small town that I’ve witnessed is overwhelming. Open records requests go unanswered, and public statements are misleading which raises even more of a red flag of what’s being covered up. I will fight for full disclosure and honest communication from city leadership. City records and information should and will be an open books policy.
🚧 Strategic Plan to Upgrade Aging Infrastructure
Our water and sewer systems still need to be replaced in many areas. I recently just experienced this with my own home. I will work to prioritize a plan to repair and modernize these essential services eliminating future crisis.
🫱 Foster Community Engagement
Transparency thrives when citizens are involved. I find it disheartening that many of us don’t know our neighbors. It’s not only disheartening but it’s unacceptable. We are small town America, and we should know who are neighbors are and feel comfortable reaching out to them if needed and the same in return. The political war in this city over the last decade and a half has divided have caused a clear divide in the residents and the residents from the business owners. There is no reason this community should be divided not even during election time. Even if you disagree on who to vote for if everyone has good intentions and are truly voting for who they think is the best candidate for the job there is no reason to have any type of discontentment with it. We all should be in this for the same reason, what’s best for the community! It’s ok to disagree with your neighbors or friends. It doesn’t mean you can’t still be friends or that you have to hate each other. Sometimes difference of opinions helps you understand a different perspective you had not thought of so it’s not a bad thing. Again, it’s all about the same common end goal which is what’s in the best interest of the city. I would like to see this community reunite and would suggest engaging the residents with two events yearly:
– City Residents Annual Cookout in downtown Blue Ridge – So many people have talked about not knowing even the people living next door to them. The barrier and attitude that has been put between not only the council members and city administration but also between the residents is unnecessary and completely ridiculous. We need to come together as a community and work to change the vibe of our downtown residents. We should all be a close knit small community who encourage and support each other and our leadership. Maybe this networking would be a good way to start. Also, this would be a good time yearly for residents to give thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. to elected officials in terms of feedback for planning for the following year.
-Christmas Decorating Participation of our Downtown – Instead of spending $80,000/year of our tax money to decorate for Christmas the downtown area, have a Christmas Committee and let’s all do the Christmas decorating together with the help of the city to make it more meaningful, social and saving thousands of dollars. It would be a good time for us to socialize with our neighbors and the city can participate in providing the supplies as they do already and possibly also provide some food trucks for the weekend for our local residents for helping. This to a company to decorate for Christmas, let’s all pitch it and make it fun and doit ourselves. The city will provide and pay for the decorations through a committee residents all pitch in and take different parts of it and help decorate the town.
🍁 Establish Accountability of Elected Officials a Local Ethics Committee**
One of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced is being able to hold elected officials accountable. After doing some research, I’ve found an effective means to hold elected officials accountable is through a local ethics & anti corruption committee made up of city residents. This committee would be the oversight that would handle any claims made in regards to transparency, conflicts of interest, and violations of city ordinances. It’s time there is some checks and balances and talking to other cities and towns that have their own ethics committee it seems this will eliminate issues we have been facing.
Feel free to contact me…
Phone: 706.455.9968