Q Why are you running for the city commission?
A “My interest really started a few years ago when we had the commercial development task force here in town and I was asked to be on that. That sparked a lot of curiosity. I’ve always been a people person — I want to see if I can give back and help out the town.”
Q What do you see as the three biggest issues facing Emporia and how would you address them?
A “Probably the biggest thing, No. 1 on top, is probably the budget concerns. ... Just keeping the budget afloat, keeping it out of the red. Sales tax dollars would be another one that would have to be included right along with that as far as helping the budget out. There are several different ways you can look at attacking that and I think some of that’s already started. ... Jobs are always an important issue. We’ve lost some over the last few years and ... there’ll be bad news again today (about Lenze). We need to be proactive in what we’re doing there as far as trying to attract new business and possibly different forms of businesses. ... There’s been talk of commercial development on the west side of town. ... Obviously, commercial jobs are less paying than some of the industrial jobs we could possibly attract, so the sales tax dollars we’d bring into town would probably be more important than the labor aspect of it.”
Q What qualities do you consider to be most important in a city commission?
A “Obviously, you’ve got to be a good listener. I really, truly believe that it’s important to listen to the people. ... You need to know the policies and you need to know if there need to be policy changes. That’s one thing I think I bring to the board from the board of education, is being able to look at policies, address certain issues and ask questions. You can’t be a person that sits back and votes yes or no all the time. You have to ask questions.”
Q One of the most important issues facing the city has been the hiring of a city manager. What do you think of the process?
A “Well, it was a good idea obviously to have a consultant because it’s been 20-some years since the commission has had to go through that process. Things have changed, so that was good to get some direction. Obviously, they took a little heat over the idea of holding the names out. That probably wasn’t one of the best ideas. I don’t know, I haven’t heard the full story, whether they were holding that for somebody saying they were going to lose their job if the names were announced ... Obviously they could have told a little more, versus saying ‘This is how we’re going to do it.’”
Q Why should I vote for you?
A “I believe you should always look at what people have done to get themselves set up to be in whatever elected position they’re running for. In city commission, you look over policy, you look over budget, you look over dealing with people — I believe I bring all three to the table in dealing with the school board ... even prior experience with Main Street. Me and three other individuals were the ones that were on the search committee (for Emporia Main Street) when Mary Helmer was hired, and you can see the results that have taken place. ...
“As far as budgets are concerned, I deal with close to a $7 million budget of my company. ... The school system deals with $35 million ... in the budget there. So it pays to have a person who can listen and that knows the budget, so I think that’s my strong point.”