Agenda

Economic Development

Abilene is a great city and has much to offer, but I would like to see an increase in economic development, so that we can continue to offer our citizens a place they love calling home. Here are just a few of my top priorities regarding development:

• To provide an atmosphere that promotes job creation in emerging industries and small businesses with the help of the DCOA


• To reduce regulations and fees for new and small businesses


• To use the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) monies to help revitalize the blighted areas of town, particularly those on the northside of Abilene


• To work with builder associations to demolish condemned buildings and rebuild affordable housing on the empty lots


• To incentivize new businesses and industries to invest in Abilene to build up our tax base so that we can lower the tax burden on our citizens

Safety and Security

When I moved to Abilene in 2007, our city was the 7th safest city in Texas. In the last 10 years, crime has significantly increased in Abilene. Based on FBI crime data, Abilene is now more dangerous than 86% of cities and towns of any size in Texas. If we cannot have a strong police and fire department in our city, then the safety and security of our city will continue to decline. Here are some of my goals that will help make Abilene a safer place:

• Increase the police force by 50 officers over the course of my term, approximately 17 per year, including special training in combating the increasing drug trafficking problem


• Provide police officers and firefighters with competitive pay so they have better morale, quality of life and retention among our first responders


• Provide law enforcement and the fire department with better working conditions, training, and equipment

Taxes and Debt

The Abilene city council has been overspending and wasting our tax dollars, some on unnecessary projects like the $81 million downtown hotel. Here are some of my plans to help lower the tax burden for Abilene residents and pay off the debt:

• Cut excess and unnecessary spending. For example, we do not need to spend $9 million on a Zoo Cafe. A very nice, large restaurant could be built for less than 1 million. This is wasteful spending


• Our property tax rate has been raised 14% in the last several years to cover these projects Stop the practice of creating unnecessary bonds and “selling” them to the public like they are necessary


• Hold the city accountable to live within our means like our citizens have to live within their means


• Eliminate the Street Maintenance Fee (tax)


• Reduce or eliminate under-utilized services and review annually

Streets

Like most Abilenians, the streets are of utmost priority! There is no question that they are badly in need of repair. Here are some of my thoughts and plans regarding the streets:

• Eliminate the Street Maintenance Fee (tax)


• Use revenue that has been cut from unnecessary spending and new revenue to fund street repairs


• Stop creating bonds to fix our streets


• Use concrete for high-traffic areas (lasts longer than asphalt and cost are comparable)


• Fix streets in sections so that they do not all need repairing at the same time in the future

Helping The Homeless

I was raised to believe that we are all called to help the less fortunate. I have personally helped to shelter and employ homeless Abilenians for the past 13 years. I would like to see the city more involved in helping these people get the help they need to become self-sufficient, such as:

• Explore the creation/expansion of community outreach and job skills opportunities


• Work with local churches to get more involved in helping the homeless

Family Values

I was raised with conservative family values, but I vow to be fair to all, even with those I personally disagree.

• Pro-Life. The innocent, unborn should be protected in the womb


• Protect our children’s innocence by keeping adult content books safely in an age-restricted, marked, supervised section of the library


• Keep books that are pornographic in nature out of our libraries


• Work to have drag queen shows require an age-restriction to prohibit minors from attending

Miscellaneous

• Provide more transparency in how the city government is run


• Facilitate better communication amongst city leaders and the citizens of Abilene


• Move one City Council meeting to the evenings so that day workers can attend if desired


• Continue to be supportive and accommodating to the men and women at Dyess AFB


• Will appoint qualified individuals from a variety of backgrounds to the city boards