Four pillars.
In writing.
Every commission seat is a series of yes-or-no votes. Below is what I'll be voting for — and against — and the specific commitments I'll bring on day one. If you want the one-line version: plan ahead, build local, spend like it's ours.
Fix what's under our feet.
Our roads haven't been resurfaced in decades. Stormwater ditches were filled in during the 2010s. Drains designed for a 10-year storm now have to swallow a 25-year one. The first job is catching up — before the next flood writes the bill for us.
What I'll do
- Publish a public five-year resurfacing schedule by road segment, with line-item costs.
- Restore the stormwater ditches that were filled in, starting with the segments that flooded in May 2024.
- Replace undersized drains on a priority list keyed to flood data — not who calls the office first.
- Fund maintenance crews properly, including a winter pothole patch budget that doesn't run dry by March.
What I'll vote against
- Diverting maintenance dollars to one-off discretionary projects mid-cycle.
- Capital approvals without a long-range maintenance plan attached.
Plan further than the next meeting.
The commission is being reactive. Items appear on the agenda and clear it in a single meeting. Upzones land in neighborhoods whose character doesn't match. Patience is a county's superpower — we've stopped using it.
What I'll do
- Post final drafts of votes at least 14 days before the meeting, with public comment open the entire window.
- Adopt a 10-year capital plan tied to actual revenue forecasts, refreshed yearly.
- Run a quarterly check-in with each district before opening a cycle of decisions — so commissioners hear from residents before developers.
- Match zoning to neighborhood character. No more spot upzones in emergency sessions.
What I'll vote against
- Anything tagged "urgent" without a documented timeline showing why.
- Zoning changes that didn't run through district consultation.
Spend like it's ours.
The budget keeps ballooning while the flood-mitigation fund sits exhausted. We've stopped distinguishing between "we need it" and "someone asked us nicely." A neighbor's checkbook works the same way.
What I'll do
- One-page budget summary distributed to the public before every vote.
- Restore the flood-mitigation reserve to 100% before approving discretionary new spending.
- End emergency-fund grants to out-of-state developers. Period.
- Independent year-end audit of grant outcomes — did they deliver what they promised? Public the same week the audit lands.
What I'll vote against
- Mid-year discretionary grants drawn against reserve funds.
- Capital projects without a 10-year maintenance and revenue model.
Build wealth here. Don't extract it.
The county has been writing grants to out-of-state developers who sell "affordable" and deliver rentals owned from afar. The crews leave when the slabs cure. Every dollar of that is wealth leaving District 5. The alternative is right here.
What I'll do
- Direct subsidies and grants to verified local builders and resident-owners first.
- Require developer commitments to be filed as enforceable covenants — not marketing brochures we can't hold them to.
- Score affordable-housing applications by "owned-here" units, not raw bed count.
- Publish an annual local-vs-extracted dollar report so we can see, every year, where the wealth went.
What I'll vote against
- Grants to applicants with no operating presence in the county.
- "Affordable" designations without an enforceable income cap and a covenant period of at least 30 years.