Balance. Work versus play; thriftiness versus extravagance; soda versus water.

Finding the proper balance can be a struggle.  I’m sure if you look at most people’s lives it wouldn’t be too hard to find something that is slightly out of balance.  The same thing rings true for the City of East Ridge.

It’s with a lot of careful consideration and prayer that I’ve decided to become a candidate for East Ridge City Council.  I know I can bring the qualities needed to help restore the balance that has been missing. 

As I speak with my friends and neighbors they relay one common theme to me over and over again.  They feel forgotten.  They feel left behind.  They feel as if the City leaders in their hurry to capture economic development forgot about the reason the city exists in the first place.  Many of the streets in front of our homes have fallen into a state of disrepair. They are a patchwork of, well, patches.  It’s easy to understand why citizens are getting upset, and when you glance at city records and see where a councilman has put in a request to have a street repaired in front of the house of his favorite city employee, how can you not get even further upset?

Citizens want to feel safe in their own homes.  Every person deserves that feeling that they could walk their street at night free from fear.  That their children should be allowed to be kids, ride their bike, and play with their friends, and do so without fear.  To facilitate this we need to make sure criminals know East Ridge is not a safe place for crime.  There are no neighborhoods to hide in, no rocks to crawl under.  If you enter the city limits with an intent to commit a criminal act you should plan on being caught.  That means having a police force that’s adequately equipped and staffed to deal with whatever situation with which it’s presented.  

When I learned earlier this year that our detectives had to “call in favors” from other agencies to use software that could be vital to recovering property stolen from East Ridge residents, I was outraged, and so were most of you.  The city was lacking this vital piece of software because the $2,400 a year cost was beyond the budget.  Once word got out, the software was quickly purchased and has to date, I’m told, recovered thousands of dollars worth of stolen property.  

This is just one example of how making sure our police department has the resources it needs can make a significant impact in the lives of citizens.

The same holds true of the fire department. Making sure they have the one piece of equipment they need to shave a few seconds off the time needed to respond or to locate someone in a burning structure can impact the lives of many citizens.

East Ridge is a city on the move.  Economically we are poised for a boon.  With power generated by the governor’s Boarder Region Act, the economic engine of East Ridge is full steam ahead. 

Currently, the biggest obstacle in the way of that economic windfall is the sewer system.  The sewer in the area surrounding the highway is known to the WWTA and EPA as “Area 10.”  The sewers in this area have had issues for years.  It routinely allows penetration from storm water to breach the sewer system and causes it to overflow.  The WWTA has been smoke testing parts of “Area 10” for some time now trying to evaluate and find a solution to the storm water problem.

In the meantime, to avoid EPA sanctions, the WWTA placed a self-imposed moratorium on new hook-ups within the area in order to prevent the issue from getting worse.  It’s this self-imposed moratorium that is tethering our economic balloon.  If you think of the the area as a gold rush,  the “Area 10” moratorium is the local store that ran fresh out of pick axes.  You can buy a claim, you can push dirt around, but you can’t get to the gold.  This is a big problem for East Ridge.

We need someone who can step up and work with the WWTA to find common ground.  Ultimately, the WWTA is responsible for all of the sewer systems under its authority.  New sewer systems are just the kind of municipal project the Boarder Region Act was intended for.  We need to work out a deal where within the boarder region the WWTA will perform the work needed and East Ridge as a partner in the endeavor could submit the cost of such a project to the state for reimbursement under the Boarder Region Act.  This would allow the WWTA to preform work it’s required to do with only the cost of financing the debt.

At this point, the city is in the middle of a road project that could end up costing $6 million.  The proposed development thus far on Camp Jordan Parkway is projected to bring the city a million dollars per year in additional tax revenue.  This revenue needs to be unlocked and the only way to do this is to solve the sewer problem.

Of course when anyone hears the word “balance” they think of the checkbook and when it comes to our city coffers balance really does matter.  Our city leaders are faced every year to preform a balancing act that juggles all of these things monetarily.  They are under a clear mandate from taxpayers that the city operate within its means.  Citizens expect the city, like any responsible citizen, to not spend beyond its means.  Citizens of East Ridge refuse to be on the hook for misuse of taxpayer funds.

Finding this balance can be a fine line.  We will have to shoulder the cost of the growth of city services to serve the influx of people coming to the area due to economic development.  We also have the regular costs associated with running a city and replacing equipment.  We need to take steps to cut costs where possible.  Another step would be to encourage frugality by offering bonuses to employees who successfully find lower cost solutions to city problems.  

This could be anything from finding an alternative lower cost option to finding a supplier or lower cost purchasing method.  Anyone with business experience knows that finding a reduction in cost of pennies on an item that is routinely purchased can add up to significant yearly savings.

The city council needs someone who can provide balance.  Someone who can aggressively pursue economic development but not lose site of the citizens that make our city great.  Someone who can can look at complex problems, understand them and then help work to find unique out-of-the-box solutions.  

 I will work tirelessly to make sure the citizens are not forgotten.  

Most importantly, I intend to see that these items are accomplished in a transparent and accountable manner.  I will work to see that the city budget is operated in a fiscally conservative manner, and be responsible with the taxpayers’ money.

At the end of the day I want the same thing as all of you … to leave behind tomorrow a better East Ridge than I found today.  Ultimately, I want to pass on to my children an East Ridge they can be proud to call home and one day, God willing, raise their families.