Leadership
I feel that to be an effective leader you must be able to build relationships, maintain decorum, and work towards building and sharing a common vision. In addition to these beliefs, I hold fast to my core principles of personal accountability and responsibility for myself, those I work with, and those that work for me. As your Mayor, I will leverage my fiscal restraint and disdain for bureaucracy to work towards building a City that better serves its residents without constantly asking for more money.
Infrastructure
While holding the offices of Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem, I had the privilege of serving you while we started the largest public works project in over fifty years. My commitment to you, as Mayor, would be to ensure that tax dollars are spent wisely by demanding quality work at a fair price, professional project management, and improved transparency and public accountability for our bond dollars. Furthermore, my experience at project management and mediation would facilitate communication at all levels to make sure that not only are residents informed, but that our administration and contractors are held accountable for project completion and adherence to specifications.
Business Development
I assert that our residents deserve a downtown environment that they can take pride in and that it is key to our City's competition for new homeowners. To achieve success in our downtown I will work towards further streamlining the processes involved with opening and expanding businesses. To appeal to potential new business, we have to first be attractive. For example, as your Mayor I would address "absentee" property owners that have let their properties fall into disrepair. This is necessary so that we can solicit Clawson as a “business-ready” environment.
City Services
I subscribe to the belief that government should solicit feedback and constantly improve. Gone are the days where we can just provide the basics. In order to compete for new residents we need to be doing these services better, faster, and more economical than our municipal neighbors. To attain these goals I will work directly with the City administration to develop published benchmarks so that we can establish a baseline and improve upon it. Simply put, you can not manage what you don't measure.
Transparency & Communication
A well-known quote from U.S. Supreme Court Louis Brande, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” refers to the benefits of openness and transparency. As your Mayor, I will work towards making the City of Clawson a credible and respected organization that operates in complete openness. I am steadfast in my belief that we can do a better job of engaging our residents. I believe that we should graciously accept criticism and suggestions by our residents and encourage those that are brave enough to come forward. I will work diligently, not only to make information freely available, but also to engage our citizens in an ongoing dialog about the future of our City.