Increase Transparency, Accountability, and Accessibility

I believe government should be transparent and strive to exceed the legally mandated minimum. Your government has an obligation to be open and honest, accountable, and accessible. 

Listening to residents, I’ve learned they feel out of the loop, that decisions are made before they hear about them, or they don’t have opportunities to contribute or give feedback. I want to change that.

Through my leadership, we began livestreaming our council meetings online — the pandemic has made this the minimum standard. More must be done.

As mayor, I will:

• Put customer service and transparency first.
• Proactively communicate and empower you to provide feedback.
• Improve processes and modernize the city website to make your interactions with the city easier.
  

Pride in Community

I will protect the reason we all live here – the culture and sense of community. Our city must be a place that works for its residents. I will make decisions that are in the best interests of the people who already live here. Cle Elum is a special place – it’s why my family lives here, why we immerse ourselves in opportunities to be involved, and why we all work to keep it a place people want to live, work, and raise a family.

We must provide more opportunities for residents and businesses to be involved, be heard, and be engaged. If we all have skin in the game, we will all work harder to keep our community great and have immense pride in it.

As your mayor, I will: 

• Strengthen the bonds between the city and our community organizations, cultural institutions, and service clubs that do so much to make our city better so they are well supported in their work.
• Improve our parks, open spaces, and community facilities.
• Actively support and advocate for projects and initiatives that improve our city and the lives of our residents.

Plan for the Future

Our community is growing – there’s no stopping that – and it’s incumbent on all of us to participate in it so that we maintain the things that make Cle Elum great. We can do a lot to guide the changes that are happening, but it requires everyone to do their part. City government needs to be more focused on achieving the goals set forward in our comprehensive plan to build a better community for all of us.

As your mayor, I will:

• Encourage the building of workforce housing in the greater Cle Elum area.
• Improve relationships with our neighboring communities, districts, and the county so we are all working toward mutually beneficial goals.
• Create a youth advisory council to ensure the next generation is included in community conversations.
• Keep our boards and commissions filled with diverse, qualified members and provide them the support they need to put their unique talents to good use.
• Ensure developers pay their fair share, and any new development fits our community character and accomplishes our housing goals. As a candidate, I do not believe the proposed “47º North” major modification to the Bullfrog Urban Growth Area Master Site Plan and Development Agreement accomplishes either of these criteria and I am opposed to it.