I believe that you can only spend what you have. With my expertise running both for profits companies and non-profits companies, I understand budgeting and sound decision making. You can count on me to make transparent decisions. During my time as your Mayor I have brought Best Practices to the City so we have better bidding for city projects and a more streamlined permit process that I am still working on making more improvements to.

The main role of government is to protect our safety and provide essential services, such as roads and infrastructure. Regulations and ordinaces must be fair and equitable to all citizens, and the process should not be a burden to the citizens. We must not forget that the staff at the city works for the City Council, and that the City Council works for the citizens. A good team is a must in order to create an efficient working relationship. When I began my work on the City Council I found out that our bidding process was not proactive and I have worked hard to make sure we have a proactive process in place to make sure we get all qualified contractors bidding on all of our projects. During the last 2 years I have seen a reduction in the overall costs of our infrastructure projects and that means we can get more done with the same dollars!!

Orono is one of the greatest places on earth to grow up in. My 2 daughters (7 & 9) love this great community with its rural setting, lakes and lots of parks and open spaces. I want to make sure that they, and every other Orono resident, have fond memories for many generations. Preserving and maintaining Orono's open space is a priority that we cannot afford not to protect and keep maintained, because once you lose it you will never get it back. It is important that we preserve & improve all the great assets that we have in Orono like our Open Walking Parks, Lakes, Golf Course, Dog Park and School Relationships to name a few.

LEADERSHIP

Leaders need to show consistency and determination. My votes on the City Council show that I don't waive my finger in the air to see which direction the wind is blowing before I vote. My core beliefs don't change on a meeting to meeting basis. I have shown time after time that my 1st concern is for Orono residents, and I will go out of my way to make sure that Orono residents have a voice. Whether it relates to new development, property variances, property rights, enforcement, common sense solutions, or any other matter affecting Orono I will always be on the side of Transparency and making sure that all issues will get their proper vetting & discussion.

Transparency is one of the most important issues that need to be addressed at the Orono City Council. The public's trust in our City Government is a basic core issue that needs leadership and direction that will not be undone by political maneuvering. I am a firm believer on video taping all of the City Council & Planning Commission meetings. The vetting of most issues and variances get done at the Planning Commission level and the need for full transparency is a must. I also believe that all other Council Sessions (i.e.,Work Sessions) need to have full note taking for the record. This transparency enables the public to go back and see how decisions are formed and made. As your mayor I have made this happen and I will continue to do it.

Over the last 2 years we have steamlined the permit process and brought it online, reduced fees to an explainable amount that covers the cost to administer, continued to build our roads budget while finishing over 20 roads, made our meeings fully transparent with video-taping them, elinianted or changed outdated or bad codes in the Orono system, paid off $2,000,000 in debt and we are on track to be debt free in 7 more years...

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