Why I am Running

Realizing that not all change is progress and not all challenges can be overcome quickly, I am running because I feel our City can better prioritize tax revenues to address "our needs before our wants." There is a need for greater transparency and improvements in our City’s operations beginning with the budget review process, term limits, better district representation, and the elimination of sole source contract practices and unnecessary permit fees.

Responses to Community Impact Candidate Questions

Why are you running for reelection?

There is a need for a minority voice on Council that gives a voice to our hard-working and fixed-income residents. By a majority, our Council increased property taxes, rejected defining the prioritization of budgetary needs, and failed to allow residents the right to vote on venue tax use.

What would your top priorities be if you are reelected?

Safety, infrastructure, and improvements in the budget process to include measurable performance standards.

What do you think is the biggest challenge Universal City faces in the next 5 years? How do you plan to address it?

Competition in securing resources! The growth of I-35 and I-10 corridors strains the ability of Universal City to compete for everything from water rights to qualified personnel. Our infrastructure deficit (deferred maintenance) further reduces our ability to compete for critical resources. We must prudently spend every penny of tax revenue.

What resources do you think Universal City is lacking?

We need to utilize our sales tax revenues to address basic service needs of our community without increases in property taxes. We need an effective street maintenance program. We must ensure that future development costs do not exceed our service capacity, and residents are spared from development costs.

What is one thing you want the community to know about you?

I want our City to be transparent and better match tax resources with resident needs. Lower property taxes by establishing budget priorities and better use of sales tax revenues to offset needs for property tax increases.