 I feel that I have many qualifications
to be mayor of Lincoln. First and foremost I have lived in Lincoln
my entire life and I have a great desire to give back to this
community which has been so good to me. I have over 33 years of
retail management experience, including 5 years as union steward and
negotiating team member. I am presently in my 3rd term on the Logan
County Board where I have been committee chairman for Animal
Control, Waste Management, the Health Department and Community
Action. I am presently Vice-Chairman of the Logan County Board. I
have gained much experience over the last 6 years in how our local
government operates and how to make the best possible use of our
taxpayers' dollars. I am a strong communicator and a real
people-person. I not only know what it takes to get a job done but I
am more than willing to put forth the strong dedication and hard
work needed in order to achieve the task at hand. I feel that I am a
strong leader who can easily get people involved and on board with
new ideas.
All of the education in the world
cannot offset common sense, good values and the willingness to do
what is best for other people.
I believe that I can instill
honesty and respect to the office of mayor, which will appeal to
businesses and other communities working with and in Lincoln.
My community service record will
attest to my character.
I have a vision for making Lincoln
a better community for all of its citizens.
If we continue to push the same
ideas and repeat the same plans, we will continue to get the same
results. I would like to give Lincoln a strong leader who is brave
enough to take on tough challenges and implement new plans and ideas
in order to make positive changes that will benefit our citizens and
make this community live up to its potential. I would like to
restore pride, respect and appreciation for what we have and get
Lincoln back to being a clean and beautiful community full of
services and opportunities.
I am very motivated and excited to
explore and implement some of my many plans and ideas.
One necessary aspect will be
revenue enhancement and making the best use of our hard-earned tax
dollars and other sources of revenue. Some of my ideas include
cutting the fat from our city budget and exploring new ways of
expanding upon our economic growth and tourism. I would like to
explore the idea of hiring a grant writer in order to find untapped
sources of revenue.
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 I would like to implement new
zoning ordinances and codes, possibly hire a code enforcement
officer and implement a new process of enforcement in order to deal
with these types of violations and clean up our neighborhoods. This
will also create a new source of revenue and free up our police and
fire departments from responding to such matters. A beautiful
community will attract more families and more business to Lincoln
which will in turn create more revenue.
I would like to establish a
clearly-defined chain of command within our city government with
specific job descriptions and standard protocols to follow when
handling a problem. This will put everyone on the same page and
ensure that everyone is working together as a team. I would also
like to ensure a long term program to honor our students, citizens
and businesses. By taking the time to recognize the good that they
do for our community we are opening so many doors of communication
and showing appreciation for what we have. What better way to market
Lincoln as a great community than by celebrating what we have and
showing that our city government and mayor are positive, visible,
interested and involved with the people of our community.
I would also like to work towards
making Lincoln a greener community, focusing on energy efficiency
and recycling which is not only good for the environment but good
for our budget as well; work toward providing ample, affordable
hous(ing) for our citizens; build upon our great educational
foundation by focusing on our public schools and colleges; provide
public transportation to our citizens and rebuild our other public
services such as our police, fire and street departments. I want to
make Lincoln the type of community everyone wants to live in. This
is a challenge I feel that I can accomplish during my term as mayor.
Another motivating factor in my
decision to run for mayor is my love for the people of this
community. It is my desire to give Lincoln the type of mayor who is
interested, available and involved with our citizens, in the
community and in all of the positive activities they participate in.
The citizens of Lincoln deserve a leader who can relate to them,
communicate with them and sincerely care about and address their
concerns. I hope to be that leader.
[Text copied from file received
from Pat O'Neill]
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