As Your Alderman . . .

As Your Alderman, I vow to make ‘JONESBOROUGH FIRST’ my singular thought when deciding board issues.
My commitment to what is best for Jonesborough is unwavering. But, in how I would reach those thoughtful decisions, ‘America Always’ is at the core of who I am. I will prioritize the values and spirit that built this nation. I want to ensure a future where freedom and opportunity remain the cornerstones of our community and country.

 

As Your Alderman, I vow to be open minded and listen to all constituents.
Whether you lean right or left, my priorities are straight. I want to be your personal guardrail to protect Jonesborough from significant changes that alter the foundations and values of this town that my family now calls home. 

​

As Your Alderman, I vow to bring my common sense conservative principles to the Board.
This means my solutions to problems are in the spirit of less government, less taxes, fiscal responsibility, and traditional values. My approach is rooted in my lived experience.

​

As Your Alderman, I vow to bridge the gap between locals and transplants.
To the locals who may feel ambivalent towards a transplant on the Board, my promise to you is that I will never forget  your great ancestors who came before us and built this spectacular town.  Remember, you were lucky enough to be born here, raised here, or resided here for a very long time. The transplants CHOSE with their feet, heart, and dollars to call Jonesborough home. We feel so blessed to be here, and I want to preserve everything that makes this town special.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for a return to old fashioned policing.
This means having a dedicated ‘beat’ cop walking, e-biking, or segwaying, downtown. This will bring that nostalgic feeling back to the historical district, and keep big city problems from plaguing Main Street.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for fiscal accountability.
I want to initiate a line item audit of every town expense in order to ensure that we are acting with the utmost of respect for the taxpayer dollar, without waste or duplication of efforts.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for a senior tax freeze or senior tax decrease.
I was the first to vocalize this over a year ago. You can view my July 2025 BMA (Board of Mayor and Alderman) request for this under "Videos". A plan is now being considered! I will advocate that any Senior who qualifies, and has lived in Jonesborough for at least 20 years, their taxes roll back to prior to the last (28%) property tax increase. Our Seniors and their ancestors created this town, and we're enjoying the fruits of their labor. We now have the responsibility to allow them to stay in the home they love and enjoy. We need to honor and unburden our longtime residents..

 

As Your Alderman, I promise to stabilize property tax expenditures for all. Our houses have gone up dramatically in value, and that increases our taxes. Enough. Let’s give re-assessment a rest until the wave of new construction starts paying their full tax amount. Let’s tell the town residents that there will be no more percentage property tax increase for three years. Let’s assess developers impact fees to ease the taxpayer burden.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for the continuing strict parameters to keep data centers out.

​

As Your Alderman, I promise to meet regularly with Town Department heads and the Town Administrator in order to be immersed and up to date on all town issues. This will give me a solid understanding of exactly how the town functions and operates, while allowing me an independent analysis of the facts.

 

As Your Alderman, I promise to use my vast first responder knowledge to facilitate safety meetings regarding the train.
We must have an updated comprehensive plan should there be a catastrophic train incident. I will work with the state, regional fire and law enforcement, along with Norfolk Southern and Eastman Chemical. Only a coordinated approach will identify opportunities to prevent disaster, or at least swiftly act to lessen the results of an accident.  

​

As Your Alderman, I promise to utilize my extensive first responder knowledge to make sure the new fire station being built will not become a major new tax burden. We need to keep payroll in check. We must nurture creative mutual aid agreements with every local FD to reduce the amount of staff while insuring we are always prepared for emergencies.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for streamlining and promotion of volunteering in order to make it a priority. Our residents are our greatest assets. They possess such unique skills and experience that we can lean on to save the town money. This doesn’t have to be big commitments on their parts, just simple solutions to quality of life needs that spread town staff thin.

 

As Your Alderman, I promise to focus on the issue of infrastructure.
I will focus on costs that are soaring with inflation.

​

As Your Alderman, I promise to focus on creating a future blueprint for the town.
We need to have a 5 year plan and a  10 year plan laid out so we are acting and thinking pro-actively.

​

As Your Alderman, I will audit our festivals/special events to make sure we are having events that are successful and profitable for our beloved downtown merchants.
We want to make sure we are not experiencing festival fatigue. Metrics matter! We can use data like visitor surveys and sales tax revenue to fine tune our offerings. How do we know people like to bring their kids here and why? What do our visiting seniors desire to experience? Why have Town Tours dropped off in participants? How can we further encourage the Int'l Storytelling Center/Town of JBO joint events?

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate to bring back a functioning privately held community newspaper.
The Herald and Tribune was the lifeline of this special town. By writing a grant, or by the guts of a well-healed and dedicated philanthropist, a local newspaper/living history museum would really check a lot of boxes for us! The "paper" would probably be electronic to be generally consumed. Near zero costs to the taxpayers would be the goal.

 

As Your Alderman, I will advocate for term limits. I believe in them.
The definition of a goal, is a dream with a deadline. Get in, work on making the town better, than exit to make way for fresh ideas and solutions.FF0000

 

As Your Alderman, I promise to be extremely responsive to resident’s concerns.
This means responding expediently to emails, texts, and calls. This means encouraging other Alderman and the Mayor to join me in getting out quarterly to the community for town halls and discussions to voice what’s on your mind. Both positive and negative. What are we doing right and what can we be doing better. We are in this together after all!

​

As Your Alderman, I promise to meet regularly with the business merchants and owners, and encourage Town meetings as well.
I envision roundtable discussions to make sure the board is working together to support their success.

 

Most importantly, I vow to protect Jonesborough with all my heart.
This place is SO awesome, thanks in no small part to the wonderful people I am running "against". I believe that God brought my family here, and has now called on me to use my unique talents, knowledge and experience acquired over a lifetime. I truly feel I owe this town a debt that I am not sure I could ever repay.