I tell the kids I teach two things. First, the key to happiness is doing things for others without expecting anything in return. Second, that success is the result of putting in the work. I absolutely love our small City of Washington NC and plan to live here with my family forever. That’s why I want to make sure it maintains its small town charm and history, while also thinking towards the future. Basically I want to make sure common sense and not greed shape our future. I want to make sure we don’t lose the historic small town charm that makes Washington great. I don’t want our community divided by a four lane road with a concrete divider on 15th street. Raising property taxes via a county reassessment on our seniors is just wrong. Join me and Let’s Build The Best Possible Future for Washington.

Freeze the property tax for Seniors over 65. It’s not fair to push seniors out of their homes by increasing their property taxes. If you own a home in the City of Washington and are over 65 I will fight to freeze your property taxes at pre-assessment 2024 levels for as long as you own your home.

They may have added sidewalks to the NCDOT Plan but it is still a poor choice when compared to the Stantec Plan. I’ll just say it, who thinks a four lane road with a divider is a great idea? Who thinks taking residents property by eminent domain is ethical? Who thinks increased speeds and fewer opportunities to turn left will help business? “Cutting down all the trees along the roadway sure made it look better” – said no one ever! Smart Cities all over the country are reshaping their roadways to slow cars down and create more right of ways for pedestrians. We can do better than the NCDOT plan!

• Only allow local businesses in the downtown corridor (between E. 3rd and E. Water St.). Ban franchises with more than 5 locations. We don’t need a Starbucks killing our great local coffee shops.
• Offer 1 Year of Free Taxes to new locally owned startups/ businesses in the downtown corridor.

We need to improve the ability of our citizens to walk, bike, and drive golf carts without risk of being run over. I would lead an effort to create a walk/ bike/ golf cart lane system throughout the City. Improving the Walk/ Bike Score will increase the safety of our citizens while having the added benefit of increasing property values.

I would put forward a plan working with the local historic organizations to make the entire downtown corridor (between E. 3rd and E. Water St.) a historic preservation zone. A zone in which Common Sense is used to preserve or build in the style of the historic architecture. This would not be an overly restrictive zone blocking homeowners or businesses from making changes to their properties. A downtown that respects its history is a downtown that brings in business.

Let’s be proactive and install traffic barrier bollards in key areas around downtown events. The bollards are installed in the road and can be raised quickly and easily by officials. Each bollard only cost a few hundred dollars and the overall cost would be minimal. They stop cars from entering events and save lives.

Beaufort County and The City of Washington currently have EOP Emergency Operation Plans. However Hurricane Helene showed that sometimes a disaster can overwhelm or block necessary services.

• Form a committee of citizens made up of leaders from each neighborhood.
• Have a readily accessible list of neighbors with key skills. If there’s retired nurses, people with chainsaws, or a neighbor with an emergency radio in your neighborhood, that would be vital to know in a disaster.
• This committee and its citizens would work with local officials if called upon.

Working on the NYE committee has shown me that the process of bringing an event to Washington needs to be fixed. The Mayor, Council and the Public Works departments are extremely accommodating but the process needs to be streamlined through the Tourism Board. If we want Washington tourism and events to grow we need to make it simple to bring an event to the City.

I’m not taking any campaign donations. I will always do what is best for my neighbors and locally owned businesses. Nothing will influence my votes.