Redevelopment and Revitalization of Downtown and West Greenville
For the last few years, I have had the pleasure of serving on the city Redevelopment Commission. I have work with my colleagues to ensure that we begin the process of creating a beautiful and vibrant downtown. My goal has been to make our downtown district a place were all citizens can enjoy the family oriented shops and restaurants. There is still much more to be done in our downtown area. Residential units are in the planning stages, along with more shops and eateries. As a Councilman, I will continue to support these efforts.
The Revitalization of West Greenville is a very important project for me. Presently, West Greenville is ridden with blighted and substandard housing. For a city as great as ours, this is not acceptable. I have been apart of the process to create new home ownership and business opportunities for the West Greenville area. The best is yet to come; we are in the process of creating affordable rental opportunity as well as some infrastructure improvements like paving streets and adding sidewalks. When I am serving on the City Council, I pledge to hold us to the timetables of the redevelopment plan and ensure the community remains apart of the process.
I will work hard to find a solution to end the problem of train delays. We must lobby federal and state officials for the funding necessary to move the switching station to a place were it will have less of an impact on the commute of our citizens. I will make solving this problem a priority as a member of the Council. Also, we need to look at the future planning of our roads and transportation infrastructure as our city council continues to grow to ensure we are not playing catch up with road and sideway development.
I am a proponent of the Intermodal Transportation Center. I believe the creation of such a center will serve as a hub for our transportation needs and provide our citizens with more transportation options like a commuter train.
Development and Neighborhood Preservation
Our city is at a pivot moment in terms of growth. I believe that it is imperative that our city stay in line with our comprehensive plan and only change it when absolutely necessary. The process must include intensive public involvement so that our city does not infringe upon the property rights of our citizens.
If elected, I plan to push the implementation of a comprehensive neighborhood preservation plan, to include enacting the unfinished items of the Neighborhood Preservation Task Force. I will also push for the creation of strong neighborhood associations through the city and reform the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations to promote more awareness and understand of neighborhood issues throughout the city. The city can use these associations to collect information on the needs of our neighborhoods like sideways, parks and speed bumps.
I will also begin to debate the idea of that any future neighborhood developments be required to set aside Green space for parks and leisure activities.
Race relations/ Diversity
First we need to understand what diversity is. It is not tolerating the differences that you have with other people; it is embracing the uniqueness of other individuals. Unfortunately the overall issues that we have with diversity in this city can not be fixed by action of the City Council. Residents must begin to engage each other in an approach that is open minded and understanding. We only need to look as far back as the debate on the MLK street renaming to understand the need for compromise and understanding. I remember hearing a resident of 5th street stating that no one ever bother to ask him how he feels about changing the name of a street that he has live on for years. I took what he said to heart. Regardless of which side of an argument you are on, it will always be unproductive if you are unwilling to try to understand were the other side is coming from.
I will usher in an era of understanding and open mindedness within the walls of the city council chambers. I will encourage opposing groups to try to workout difference before we force the Council to decide, because in the end it is my job to represent all of the residents of Greenville.
Taxes
I believe at this point, our city is in a position where raising taxes is not an issue. Raising taxes is a last resort because they tend to have an adverse effect on the underserved and underprivileged. I do not see myself supporting the need to raise taxes during my term on City Council. We have plenty of money; we just need to use it more wisely.
Crime
Crime has become a serious issue. It seems everyday when we open up the newspaper another convenience store has been robbed or another child has been shot. I will be tough on crime. While our new police chief has implemented several new programs to decrease crime, the leadership on this issue must come from the City Council. The main job our police force should be policing. I believe the city should make an effort to involve other stakeholders in the crime prevention process. I further believe that prevention is the key to decreasing crime. Upon being sworn in to office I plan to spearhead an effort to organize community groups, churches and anyone else that has the passion to help our community with this problem and began to systematically look at the root causes of crime and then began to focus our efforts on prevention. I will make decreasing crime a priority of mine while serving on the City Council.
