1. Please list your accomplishments while serving in office, or what you wish to accomplish were you elected. "Put the City on firmer financial ground, fix the Second Street historical district, and tighten up on the City`s growth management laws. Basically secure the future of Cedar Key as it has largely been for years." 2. What do you believe are issues facing Cedar Key today and in the next term? "In the short-term, the most pressing issue will undoubtedly be money. As is true in most cities across Florida, property values have declined since the recession started in 2008, and with that decline came decreased ad valorem tax revenues. For Cedar Key, again like most Florida cities, that meant a decline in the single largest source of funds used to run the City operations. It may take several more years before we see this tax situation reverse itself." 3. What long-range issues do you foresee? What are you prepared to do about them? "In the long-term, I see the preservation of the physical and cultural and visual elements of Cedar Key as the thorniest issue. It is really quite amazing to me to consider how little the island has changed since I first came across the #4 bridge almost 50 years. Yes, I know my born-here friends will disagree with me because they have the multi-generational memory that us landed-here people can never have, BUT the relative change here is quite remarkably small and quite historically valuable. I will work to do what I can to preserve our water-based and historical culture, while not neglecting necessary infrastructure and safety improvements. But I will also not accept the "growth is inevitable" and "we must move into modernity" kinds of overgeneralizations put forth by people who may want us to "move forward" just so they can profit from those changes. We are an island, and an isolated one at that. There is only so much growth that is possible, and most of that will be "infill" kinds of development, not expansion-into-the-open-spaces or "sprawl" kinds of development. I will listen carefully to any development proposals based on "smart growth" assumptions because they just do not properly describe the development opportunities and challenges that actually exist here in Cedar Key. Oh, and beware of strangers offering free stuff." 4. What about the budget? What can you do to save taxpayers money? "Budget matters are always important to a City, especially a small city, because there is a very short tether between the taxpayers and the taxspenders. I cannot make any promises with any degree of certainty about how much money I might be able to save the taxpayers because I have not yet had the opportunity to gather up all of the required budget numbers, and certainly then have not had the time to do a thorough analysis of the figures. I can promise the citizens of Cedar Key that I will do this, if elected, and that I have the expertise to do this in a meaningful and intelligible way. My background is finance. I know that I can help the City here." | 