NE Valley Times

What happens in Washington D.C. or Phoenix may attract the most headlines, but the truth is the decisions made at the local level have as much if not more impact on our daily lives.

The decisions made at the local level determines the condition of our streets, the regulations impacting local businesses, the delivery of our water as well as the safety of our neighborhoods. 

I am committed to ensuring our town government is honest and transparent. I lived in Illinois prior to moving to Fountain Hills, Arizona and I served in the Illinois Legislature. I saw firsthand what happens when leaders do not act in the best interest of their constituents. 

Illinois has had one party rule for many years, but in reality, it was one man rule. The Speaker of the House at the time, controlled the Illinois House and was also the head of the Democratic Party in Illinois. He oversaw the funding of most of the projects and political campaigns in the state and nothing happened without his knowledge or permission. Good ideas – many of which had bipartisan support – could not advance if the Speaker of the House did not like it. An entire state of nearly 13 million people was held hostage by the whims of one man, who is now facing a federal indictment for his corrupt practices. 

What happened in Illinois is not how government should work at any level and thankfully, we do not have these issues in Fountain Hills. Since joining the Town Council, we have accomplished some good things for our community. 

We brought back the invocation at our meetings. The invocation was previously removed from the meetings without a vote even being taken. We took a vote in January and brought it back and I believe we are a better community because of it. 

We also saved taxpayers $20,000 per year by firing our lobbyist. The members of the Town Council are perfectly capable of picking up a phone and lobbying state and county officials on behalf of our community. We don’t need to pay a lobbyist to do something we as elected officials should already be doing.   

Other accomplishments include enacting common-sense sign regulations that will make it easier for businesses to comply with town regulations. Moving forward, we will continue to look at ways to streamline our regulations which I believe will encourage more economic growth in our community. We need to work with business leaders – not against them – to build our economy and ultimately help reduce our tax burden.

Finally, I have launched my Roads First Initiative which involves reappropriating money and directing it to road improvements. One of the most basic functions of government is to build and maintain roads. I have and will continue to push to make fixing our streets a high priority for our budgeting process. Before we spend money on new programs and initiatives, we must prioritize our infrastructure. Not only will this approach benefit our residents, but it will also make our community more attractive to prospective new businesses.

Our community is moving in the right direction. I am committed to collaborating with my fellow council members and with the community at large to continue meeting current and future challenges facing Fountain Hills. We are all a part of this community. We are friends, colleagues, and neighbors. I invite Fountain Hills residents to work with me and the other members of the Town Council to move our great community forward. Together we can build a better future for Fountain Hills.