Candidate for
Mayor; City of Ridgecrest

Fund Police, Streets, and Major Infrastructure as the TOP PRIORITY. I also believe strict adherence to what the Constitution says is the duty of Government. Some believe, as I do, that the Constitution establishes that the 1st priority of Government is to provide for (defense) public safety and the necessary infrastructure to support a city. I also define additional infrastructure as Streets, Sewer plants and lines, and maintaining our current facilities.

Control Unnecessary Spending and Bring Back Transparency of City Government. Review the entire budget and eliminate unnecessary spending and include the public in the process. Review the entire budget and eliminate unnecessary spending and include the public in the process. Example: Reduce city council travel expenses. Review all contracted out consulting services to determine the "Return on Investment". If the contract is not producing measurable benefit to the city, cancel it. Make the budget documents easily understandable to the public.

Encourage Citizen Participation in City Government. I believe that the people deserve to be involved in decisions the council makes. And that the council has a duty to make it as easy as possible for people to participate. I believe that the people should be involved in decisions the council makes. And that the council has a duty to make it as easy as possible for people to participate. The last time I served on the council, I initiated MONTHLY Town hall meetings. This was stopped as soon as I left office. This was informal. Anyone could come in and discuss any issue they wanted to provide comments on. The way council meetings are run, needs to be changed. Currently now, during council meetings, an agenda item is called for consideration. Then a staff report is provided. Then the council and mayor make some comments. Then it is opened up for PUBLIC input and comments. During public comment, there is rarely a back and forth dialog with the people. Then public comment is closed. THIS IS THE PROBLEM: It comes back to the council for final comment and votes. Many times council members will even make rebuttal comments to what the public says. But the public then is NOT allowed to provide any additional comment to clarify their comments or even have a open discussion on the topic. As a matter of fact, I have even seen people rise up to be heard, to only be told to sit down, as public comment is over. This is NOT a true open discussion of the topics at hand.