John believes we each can more readily achieve whatever we want in our daily lives so long as we have:
• Excellent police, fire, and emergency medical services
• Effective street maintenance and snow removal
• Well-maintained parks and recreation facilities
• Enriching senior programs and cultural arts programs
• Smart water, sewer, and storm water line maintenance and waste collection
• Sensible economic development and sound building planning and code compliance
Maintenance of proven practices and continued steady improvement of our fundamental municipal services are John’s primary objectives as your Council Member.
POLICE, FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
The rapid responsiveness of police, fire, and emergency medical personnel is one of the primary reasons people choose to live in Upper Arlington. For John and his family, one of the defining moments of their lives in Upper Arlington happened several years ago when their burglar alarm went off in the middle of the night and the police immediately responded. As it turned it out, a glitch in the system caused the alarm to go off but he was gratified by the immediate responsiveness of UA’s finest.
Additionally, he has seen first-hand the equally rapid and professional response of UA fire and EMS personnel. John will continue to work to maintain the ability of our police, fire, and emergency medical personnel to respond quickly and professionally when needed.
PARKS AND RECREATION
The pools, parks, playgrounds, and sports facilities of Upper Arlington are among its major civic assets and an important part of John’s commitment to the community. The City operates three outdoor pools, 23 parks, one senior center, 15 baseball and softball fields, 13 sports fields, eight playgrounds, 21 tennis courts, eight shuffleboard courts, eight shelter structures and other recreational facilities. Well-maintained park and recreation facilities are important to all of us who use them for fun, fitness, and sports –– but also for enhancing the property value of all 14,290 homes in Upper Arlington.
STEWARDSHIP OF TAXPAYER MONEY
John believes that City Council must act as the watchdog of public finance. The people of Upper Arlington have conferred upon City Council the responsibility for oversight and careful spending of their income taxes ($42 million in fiscal year 2022), the municipal portion of their property taxes ($12 million in 2022) as well as $15 million in additional revenue from gas tax and motor vehicle license fees, the local government fund, water and sewer surcharges and storm water fees, solid waste fees, municipal investment earnings and other city revenues. The current year’s budget includes $42 million in operating expenses, $42 million in capital expenses and $10 million in debt payments. John respects the fact that the City Council ultimately is accountable for the prudent spending of every dollar of public revenue, and he will continue to closely review every potential expense.
THE ROLE OF CITY COUNCIL
Upper Arlington has operated as a Council-Manager form of municipal government since 1956. The principal roles of the Council are to set policy that reflects the will of the people, enact legislation that serves the common good, adopt and oversee the implementation of the annual budget, and ensure that the needs and priorities of the community remain the focus of the professional administrators of the city. These responsibilities require members of City Council to actively reach out to residents, listen attentively to all those who speak, exercise their judgment and make their decisions based solely on the best interests of our community. To that end, John has made door-to-door campaigning the mainstay of his re-election effort, just as it was when he was elected four years ago, and encourages residents to contact him with their questions and concerns.