February 7, 2006
From reading the article in the Telegraph about the “State of the City” it sounds like kudos is in order for the mayor. I think it is great that the city has made progress in reducing crime by 24% in a ten year period and that we now have over $5M in reserve. However, there is still a lot that the city of Alton needs to do, such as bringing in new businesses that pay more than minimum wage. The reports indicated sales taxes were up, which is good, but look at the new businesses brought into Alton. To my knowledge none of these are highly skilled or paid positions.
Most of the article focused on traffic violations, the park facilities with the highlight being centered on the renovation of city hall. No doubt that city hall needed renovation, but the citizens of Alton are demanding more. Involving citizens in decisions needs to be a high priority instead of just listening to consultants present their data analysis. The consultants bring value as far as analyzing financial data and impact, but there is more to understand by analyzing the impact of any change that will affect the citizens. The only way to understand impact to the citizens is open the communications line both ways.
I have made challenges to citizens of Alton in the past few months, and now is the time for people to stand up and make Alton a better place to work and live. Even though the election for mayor and aldermen are 2 years away, now is the time to start looking for candidates that will listen to the citizens of Alton. With that said, I have decided to challenge people to meet with me and review my plan on improvements of Alton as I have decided to run for Mayor of Alton in 2009. This city needs to be run by a person with experience in financial funding and savings techniques, which I have under my belt. I have a long career with my employer, certified in business methodology to improve processes and save money. I am a small business owner in the city of Alton. Additionally I volunteer for the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps for 7 years in which I have been Treasurer and been successful in keeping the organization in the black in most years. I am for the citizens for Alton; truly believe that the government needs to be brought to the people, not that the people need to come to the government. I will be holding meetings soon, and hope you can be there to learn more about my ideas for the future of this historic city. In the meantime, any comments or ideas can be sent to me via email to: jennings4mayor@sbcglobal.net.
My final thought is I want to pat our current mayor and aldermen on the back as they have made good strides with their efforts, but the city now needs a new infusion of leadership that have fresh ideas to continue the effort in place today. We need someone from the outside to bring those ideas to the people of this community which I feel I can supply. Thank you Mayor Sandidige for your community efforts in the last 10 years.
Most of the article focused on traffic violations, the park facilities with the highlight being centered on the renovation of city hall. No doubt that city hall needed renovation, but the citizens of Alton are demanding more. Involving citizens in decisions needs to be a high priority instead of just listening to consultants present their data analysis. The consultants bring value as far as analyzing financial data and impact, but there is more to understand by analyzing the impact of any change that will affect the citizens. The only way to understand impact to the citizens is open the communications line both ways.
I have made challenges to citizens of Alton in the past few months, and now is the time for people to stand up and make Alton a better place to work and live. Even though the election for mayor and aldermen are 2 years away, now is the time to start looking for candidates that will listen to the citizens of Alton. With that said, I have decided to challenge people to meet with me and review my plan on improvements of Alton as I have decided to run for Mayor of Alton in 2009. This city needs to be run by a person with experience in financial funding and savings techniques, which I have under my belt. I have a long career with my employer, certified in business methodology to improve processes and save money. I am a small business owner in the city of Alton. Additionally I volunteer for the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps for 7 years in which I have been Treasurer and been successful in keeping the organization in the black in most years. I am for the citizens for Alton; truly believe that the government needs to be brought to the people, not that the people need to come to the government. I will be holding meetings soon, and hope you can be there to learn more about my ideas for the future of this historic city. In the meantime, any comments or ideas can be sent to me via email to: jennings4mayor@sbcglobal.net.
My final thought is I want to pat our current mayor and aldermen on the back as they have made good strides with their efforts, but the city now needs a new infusion of leadership that have fresh ideas to continue the effort in place today. We need someone from the outside to bring those ideas to the people of this community which I feel I can supply. Thank you Mayor Sandidige for your community efforts in the last 10 years.
posted by Rodger Jennings at 9:03 AM
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