Pressures are building to swing the door open to just anything to revitalize our city, regardless of the impact on surrounding neighbors and traffic and to our future.  I’m concerned over where my opponent wants to take us. I want to preserve Roswell’s character.

I WILL BRING A SHARPER FOCUS

To Neighborhood Protection

Existing neighborhoods have come under attack recently and I want to make sure their protection is a key focus as we work to redevelop our empty shopping centers and aggressively expand economic development.  I will work hard to ensure that balance by always taking into account the impacts of development on surrounding neighbors, traffic and city services.

There definitely is “good” development.  We need to work to ensure that any new development and redevelopment that is adjacent to existing neighborhoods enhances those neighborhoods.  That involves not sitting back and waiting to let a bad development be the only option.

To Efficient Operations

We need councilmembers with a clear understanding of the issues and an ability to work with others to get things done.  This requires cooperation, not obstruction; direction and accountability, not micromanaging; and, oversight, not interference.

In talking with other councilmembers and city staff as well as simply observing Council and committee meetings, it is apparent my opponent does not have a clear understanding of the issues and has been a source of obstruction, micromanaging and interference.

My personal and professional experiences have all been geared toward building relationships and working in a positive manner with all types of people.

To Redevelopment

There are obvious areas and corridors that need to be revitalized. Roswell has long had more retail than our surrounding client base can support and because of that we will never refill many of our empty storefronts.

The city has always sat back and waited for someone to bring a plan.  We need to be proactive in going after quality developers who can follow through on the reasonable, mixed-used plans that have been created with wide community support to replace out-dated shopping centers.  My experience in real estate uniquely positions me to help lead this effort.

To Economic Development

We need to be open to new ideas and work harder and smarter to improve our local economy.  We must help our existing businesses thrive and grow and actively recruit new businesses that bring quality jobs and help stabilize our tax base.

I strongly support an aggressive approach to being proactive on solving problems our local businesses have with city government; streamlining permit and approval processes; refocusing code enforcement on being reasonable, firm, fair and consistent; and, making things more simple for anyone having to deal with the City.

We need to replace certain realities and perceptions that Roswell is a difficult place for business with a proactive effort to be “business friendly”.  As the liaison to Community Development my opponent has failed to fix one of the key reasons Roswell is seen as anti-business – the way people who come to the city with any project are handled.

To Effective Implementation of Plans

Roswell has involved citizens and businesses in starting new plans for mixed-use nodes, gateways, parks, transportation and marketing the city.  It’s time to complete those plans with community support and make things happen.

OTHER ISSUES:

Transportation:

We need to focus our efforts and limited tax dollars on improving traffic flow and do what we can to mitigate the traffic forced upon us. There must be a comprehensive approach that includes more than just road widening. Specific situations may call for this but intersection and signalization improvements are key. We also need more sidewalks and bike lanes for connectivity.