"I am a fourth generation public servant, an advocate for charities, and have a strong business background. I worked as a manager of complex cases for one of the largest businesses in the world, and understand what is needed to make commerce succeed. As a public servant, I led Fayette County through some of our toughest times including floods, the winter storm, and the Covid-19 Pandemic. I served for two decades as a Paramedic and Fire Department Officer. Charity work is my passion, and Fayette County is blessed to have the best non-profits in the state. Together we will make the charities and faith based organizations even more successful."
LIST OF ISSUES
LOWER TAXES BRINGS PROSPERITY FOR ALL
It may seem counterintuitive, but a low tax rate consistantly brings in more revenue to a county than a high tax rate. A low tax rate encourages businesses to settle and expand here. It allows citizens to build out their dream home on family land without the fear of taxes being too high to afford to stay in the home. Lower taxes brings great jobs!
Business owners, and property owners have a choice on where they will invest their time and money. A low tax rate, along with safety, and an adequate infrastructure are the primary reasons for investment in a certain location.
We must keep our economy strong by ensuring low taxes, and investing the revenue wisely into public safety and infrastructure.
PUBLIC SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT FOR A STABLE COMMUNITY
Our law enforcement officers, fire departments personnel, emergency medical technicians, and dispatchers deserve our support, and deserve to have the necessary equipment to do their job! Too often, these brave men and women are forced to make-do with inferior tools for the task at hand.
Our law enforcement officers are spread too thin, too often. Fayette county is very large by land mass and it is difficulty to find coverage for all parts of the county, all of the time. Proactive measures to put more officers on the street, and eliminate time wasting hinderances to the job must be implemented immediately. We can equip them with technological improvements to help officers work more efficiently, and keep officers safe.
We must strive to find ways to support our volunteer firefighters by encouraging community participation, and business support. Business owners should be encouraged to allow time off for volunteers to respond to calls and attend training. Citizens who are able to assist in auxiliary services should do so with the same passion that the volunteers serve.
Those who protect our community should be able to afford to live in our community. We will fight for ways to support all of our existing first responders, and recruit new members. Currently it is difficult for a first responder who is new to the field to afford to live anywhere in our county. Many drive in from other places even though they would rather live here. I will partner with non-profits and faith-based institutions to give responders options to live in the area they protect.
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE MUST HAVE A MASTER PLAN
I have seen the havoc that poor quality water, inferior roads, a flawed electrical grid, and lack of broadband internet can bring to an area. Fayette county must have a proactive plan to make our infrastructure great. Over the last year I have discussed these needs with stakeholders throughout the community and developed a plan to mitigate the deficencies with a priority based method.
Our infrastructure is becoming more and more reliant on the internet to work properly. We should strive to have broadband access to all parts of the county to meet the needs of the next century. At the same time, we need a failsafe that can allow these systems to work well even if the internet is down or attacked by our nations enemies. Resiliency is built with constant and sustained improvements.
Some needed improvements are beyond the reach of local government. To fully build-out our roads and broadband needs we will have to work with federal, state, and private institutions to achieve our goals. I have the established relationships with these institutions to move forward in a timely manner.
EDUCATING OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS
Our public and private schools do a wonderful job of educating our children through high school graduation, but our county needs more options for adult education. Trade schools, expansion of our community college partnerships, and access to both online and in-person university education is needed to train our youth with the skills they need to enter the workforce.
A "one size fits all" approach will never work here. Our county has a need for skilled and trained labor of many types, and we have a duty to train our youth to fill those roles so that our children can continue to make Fayette County their home.
We must also place a high priority on those who are teaching the future generations from grade-school through adulthood. Our teachers face the same affordability issues that our first responders face; many simply cannot afford to live where they serve. To recruit and retain educators, I will expand partnerships to provide them with homes they can afford and be proud of. We all owe a debt of gratitude to our teachers.
BUSINESS
The business environment is strong in our community. Agriculture remains the heart of our business, and the service industry has also become a major draw. We are fortunate to have several major employers here, but the overwhelming majority of jobs are created by small business owners with 20 or fewer employees. For these small business to thrive, they must have qualified workers to fill the positions. Hinderances such as availability of child care, and workers being incentivized to not work makes filling these positions difficult at times.
Building a network of like-minded business owners and managers is long overdue. I will work with small, medium and large businesses to understand what their needs are. I plan to host regular forums where business owners can gather and share their successes and inform each other on resources. If government officials are able to better understand what the needs are, we can better fill the needs. In some circumstances, the government is the barrier to better business instead of an advocate. I will eliminate those barriers wherever possible in order to allow business to do what they do best; serve and employe our citizens.
