Ensuring our families, businesses, and our community remain safe should be the top priority for our town.  I will always speak up for our police officers, our firefighters, and our emergency services personnel. We must always ensure they have the resources, training, and support they need. Two areas I will be focused on in my next term are ensuring the successful transition of our Fire Department to a full-time department and working with Mecklenburg County Medic Services to bring more efficient service to Cornelius.

We must keep our tax rate the lowest in the region while continuing to provide for the needs and expectations of our families and small businesses.

Our town must grow in a responsible manner that doesn’t overburden our roads, schools, and emergency services. We must continue to redevelop our downtown and bring new jobs and economic development to our town, but we must always do so in a way that ensures Cornelius remains the town we all love.

Traffic issues remain a major challenge for Cornelius and the entire Lake Norman community.  We have secured approval for 13 significant Cornelius transportation/road projects beginning in 2023.  This is a great start, but much work remains to be done. We must continue rebuilding our town’s relationship with our state government agencies like NCDOT, so that they understand the challenges we face, that they make funding and completing our scheduled projects a top priority,  and that they pursue real solutions like a new Exit 27. We also must work closely with Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, and our neighboring Lake Norman Towns to ensure their support for our priorities and to develop regional solutions to the traffic challenges we face.

We must continue maintaining and expanding our parks, greenways, and park programming. Top priorities for Parks and Rec should be focused on the demands and desires of our citizens which include expanding and enhancing our pickleball and tennis facilities and completing the remainder of the Emerald Necklace Greenway system.

It is imperative that people who work here can afford to live here.  Currently, 90% of those working in Cornelius do not live here-that includes our Police Officers, Firefighters, town workers, teachers, and many retail workers.  We need to further support the new Community Development Corp. to help bridge this growing gap.  I intend to continue my years of support for the redevelopment of Smithville.

I will continue my popular listening circles and citizen meetings as well as our new Town Talk series.  By listening to our citizens and businesses and responding to their needs and concerns, we can ensure that our future remains bright, and Cornelius remains one of the best places in our nation to live, work and raise a family. The best ideas for improving our town come from our people!