Why I am Running
My wife and I fell in love with Williamson County 10 years ago when we made the decision to move here from the South Nashville area. The eastern quadrant of the county, Arrington, College Grove, Triune and specifically Nolensville where I call home, are rich with a unique community and family feeling that draws you in and makes you feel welcome.
While living, working and volunteering in the community I talk to people all of the time. There is a growing sense that our county leaders seem to be reacting to the continuous growth rather than anticipating it and planning for the needs in advance. This reactionary approach is leaving us having to overpay for schools, infrastructure and services that were known to be needed far in advance.
I feel this is wrong, especially in a county and community as great as Williamson County with the abundance of business and strategic talent that resides here. I want to work to instill a greater sense of strategic financial planning within the county. We should be anticipating our 3, 5 and 10 year financial needs and making adjustments as we move along. This would better equip the county to allocate resources for projects ahead of time instead of being surprised by yet another year of growth.
I also believe that our community and our region of the county needs a stronger voice in shaping the direction of the county. Most residents don’t really know who their county commissioners are, let alone what they do or how they may be directing the county. I want to bring a local, personal touch to the vision and direction of the county. I believe the direction of the county should have buy in by the local constituents and the process should be transparent with leaders relaying back what has happened.
I would be honored to represent our local region at the county level and help to bring your vision of what our community needs into action.
Key Issues
Strategic Financial Planning for Growth
I believe our county needs to have a more proactive approach to growth. There is a growing sense that we are reacting to the needs that arise from expansion. Year over year the population increase has remained steady and relatively predictable and yet we seem to be surprised by the expenses needed to cover the new development. With all the analytical and strategic talent within this county we need to have a more succinct strategic financial planning approach to our future.
A Return to Fiscal Responsibility
A direct result of the lack of planning has been an overwhelming increase in the level of debt. With population growth comes a set of infrastructure and educational costs that are known far in advance. And yet we seem to ignore this foreknowledge and push on ahead without setting aside adequate measures of funding for that expansion in advance of the need. We now have almost $1 Billion dollars of debt in the county and the rate of expansion of our borrowing over the last five years has far outpaced the rate of the population growth. We need to stop leveraging the future of our county and head on a more stable and responsible financial path.
More Engaged Community Voice
In talking with people throughout the community it has become clear that our leaders at the county level are out of touch and inaccessible to the people they are elected to serve. Most residents do not know WHO their commissioners are, let alone what work they do on the county commission. I believe our community deserve a stronger, more engaged voice in the direction of the county. We need leaders who are accessible and present; Leaders who listen to the people and then make decisions instead of the other way around. I would be honored to bring that stronger voice to the county for District 5 help to bring back an engaged community approach to the direction of Williamson County.
Transparency of Process
As a society we have lost trust in our leaders. This is especially true on the national leve but also rings true too many times here locally. There are too many items whose discussion and deliberation occurs behind closed door meetings. We need more transparency and accountability with the decisions being made with our local tax dollars.