Guía de Votantes

As a member of Meridian's City Council, I would like to bring hope, prosperity and unity. The success of our public school system is high on my list. A successful school system has the potential to impact other areas of our community such as poverty, crime and attracting new businesses. We are living in a time in a America where our youth are under attack like never before. We are hearing of shootings on a weekly basis. Meridian has the most housing projects in Mississippi, pair that with a "D" school system and it is no surprise that we are only attracting hotels, restaurants and retail businesses. On a positive note, Meridian is indeed a special place. Once the capital of Mississippi, Meridian is a place of creativity and innovation. We are home to NAS Meridian, several hospitals, clinics, churches, two colleges, four private schools, a thriving homeschool community, theaters, museums, arts and recreation. With so much happening it is easy to have a bird's eye view and never consider that our one and only school system has been a D for a long time. The home may have the greatest influence but the school system is where we can step in and meet the needs of our most precious assets.

In my opinion, the #1 challenge for Ward 1 is the increase in fast food restaurants and lack of access to fresh healthy foods.

Provide a positive conservative approach to the policy and budget items that the council is authorized to deal with. The city general fund budget is developed and approved by the council with input from the city administrative staff, The council and mayor will take office July 1 and the general fund budget should be developed by September 1. My experience and knowledge with past budgets will have help assist and influence the new members of the council. If I am reelected we will have 3 new members on the council and a new mayor to develop a general fund budget of approximately 34 million dollars. We will also need to deal with the EPA requirements including a budgeted project of approximately 120 million dollars. Experience in dealing with these types and amounts of budget will be good for the protection of the tax the citizens pay. Experience and qualifications are important.

Public safety and infrastructure are the top items that most citizens in Ward one have expressed their concerns about. Continued economic development is another frequently mentioned item. The most pressing street concern is repair and paving of North Hills street. The City is in the process of preparing for a paving project funded for more than 8 million dollars.