My Platform

I will work to restore public trust and confidence in city government.  

This is how:

1.      I will open lines of communication with constituents, city government and staff.   I will hold monthly meetings with constituents to update them on what the city is working on and listen to their concerns, so I can accurately represent them.  District 6 will have a regular E-mail newslettter, and a social media page.  I will find creative ways to keep you informed, I will be responsive to you, and I will represent you.   I will always vote for the interests of District 6, no matter what others do.

2.      Constituents will be informed and involved from the beginning so that we all can become supportive and proactive rather than shocked, reactive and ineffective.  We now know that the public comment time set aside at City Council meetings is too late for actual community input.  Citizens should make the decisions about what is wanted and needed in Aiken, and they should be accurately represented.

3.     I will always act with honesty and integrity.  I will have no conflicts of interests, I will be beholden to no one.  My work is to represent constituents’ interests. Transparency is not enough.   We are not observers watching from the outside.  We must improve the unhealthy culture at City Hall, citizens are not "roadblocks" to progress.  This is our town, our government. 

4.      We need to have active full community input on the important new zoning code rewrite and in the upcoming 10-year comprehensive plan.  Let’s find out what Aiken’s current citizens want and put them first, not just “stakeholders” and the same old “focus groups”, but community wide involvement.  District 6 soccer players, and families, and retirees, and horse people, and golfers, and full-time residents, and part time residents, and everyone else needs to be informed and involved in these plans, because they will affect all of us.

5.  Within 30 days I will make nominations to each of the 14 Boards and Commissions that advise the City Council. I will review and respond to every applicant and will give priority to applicants from District 6.  These Boards and Commissions have a very important role as specific experts in each area, and as Aiken's citizens.  I will work closely with them and will listen to their ideas with an open mind and with respect.   

I will focus on citizens first and on investing in the things that matter to us!

This is how:

1.      Instead of spending $100-300k for various studies, typically conducted by a firm in Chicago, let’s start investing in our city staff.  Let’s encourage our City Manager to enrich our current staff and to hire, train and retain excellent people.  The city can work with USCA and Aiken Tech to train and recruit a staff that aims for excellence in cooperation with its citizens.  Let's mentor young people and encourage them to be involved in government.  

2.     Instead of spending $8M running city water and sewer lines outside the city limits to Generations Park and $3.5M on sewer lines north of I20 we must bring our existing infrastructure up to date.  No more investing in and incentivizing hopeful growth out on I20 while Aiken's citizens are drinking from 100-year-old rusty pipes.  This is a top priority.  

3.      I will work with the County and the City’s Equine Committee to conduct a Horse Census in Aiken County in order to establish the actual economic impact the industry brings.  This is a large industry that brings substantial tourism, new residents, and a lot of spending to Aiken and appears to have little value to our current government other than their stated goal of "leveraging the horse industry" for future growth.  The actual monetary value needs to be quantified.

4. Our current city government has encouraged and incentivize growth at an unsustainable rate.   There are thousands of new residences being built in the next two years.  We do not have the infrastructure at any level to support this rate of growth. We do not have any data on what the needs of this population surge will be, or any plan to meet them.   Unless District 6 constituents disagree, I will not support further development or further annexation except in the case of residents applying that live in areas surrounded by the city.  I believe it is government's job to focus on the quality of life of existing citizens first, before pursing growth and tourism 

I will preserve and protect the things that make Aiken the unique town that we love.

This is how:

1.      We must protect and encourage our small businesses.  We can only do that if they are accurately represented. Two of the issues that I am aware of downtown are lack of building maintenance, even though we do have ordinances that require it, and rising rent.  We need proper enforcement of our existing city ordinances on all properties including those owned by the city.  

2.   It's time for a renewal and beautification of our quaint walkable downtown.  Safe crosswalks with actual pedestrian crossing signals are needed.   Building owners need to improve building facades.  There are existing grants for this purpose.  I will prioritize encouraging building owners with notifications and streamlining the application process and will work to disperse funds.  If needed, more funds will be found.  

3. Parking is becoming more of an issue downtown.  One solution that could be enacted immediately and with little cost would be to run our trolleys on regular routes on a regular schedule.  Municipal parking could be just outside of the downtown area with trolleys picking up and dropping off every 15 minutes.  Trolleys could also run larger loops.

3.  As citizens, none of us really know what the city is doing with the remaining Pascalis Properties.  I have been as involved and as informed as the city has allowed us to be about the project, so, I'll be ready to step up immediately and vote for what is right. This needs to be resolved immediately so we can all move forward.

4. The many neighborhoods of District 6, including the Horse District, are being negatively affect by increased traffic.  This is going to get substantially worse unless we get proactive now. Public Safety has been critically understaffed for years.  Let's work together to find solutions and I pledge to find out why APSD does not have the resources that are needed, and to work to resolve it.

5.   I will propose and fight for protection for every tree on the parkways throughout the historic Pascalis Grid.  Current zoning ordinances are not strong enough.  I'd like to work with local gardeners, garden clubs and city staff to start a beautification competition with other towns.  We should have a town to be proud of.

6. We must balance preservation and progress, and preservation should always be given more weight.  Historic charm cannot be replaced.  It must be protected.  When is is gone, it is gone forever.