My 10+ years of experience in the banking and finance industry, primarily focused on compliance, gives me a unique and essential skill set for overseeing the city's budget.

Absolutely, yes. My commitment to fiscal responsibility requires me to continuously deepen my understanding of public finance and budgeting. My approach to keep educated on public finance will be seeking out reputable sources, discussing with experts, and engaging with residents. I will ensure my knowledge matches the financial complexity of our growing city.

I am willing to make difficult decisions when I believe it is necessary for the long-term fiscal health and well-being of Clinton City. I will make sure residents are informed and included in discussions before the Council is required to act. The most important step after a difficult vote is transparent communication. If I have to vote on a difficult issue, I will:

• Explain my reasoning clearly and in layman's terms.
• Show the public the data and the long-term projections that informed my decision.
• Maintain an open dialogue with residents afterward, ensuring they understand the rationale was rooted in protecting the city's future.

When faced with issues where I lack direct experience, such as complex municipal legalities or specific areas of public works, I turn to a reliable process to ensure I make the best decisions for Clinton.

• My first resource is the city staff. This includes the City Manager, department directors, and City Attorney. I will rely on their knowledge, reports, and legal counsel.
• As demonstrated by my willingness to further educate myself, I will utilize resources like the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT), former connections in the finance world, and education programs to gain knowledge in complex areas.
• I also enjoy reading academic papers and books, and I will use these research skills to seek out best practices and peer-reviewed studies related to municipal governance. For example, I have read the congressional report (over 1,000 pages) about the Financial Crisis of 2008 and have used the findings to help me during my compliance years in the banking world.
• I will seek input from residents who have expertise in the relevant field. For example in this case, discussing finance and budgets, I will consult with local CPAs who live in Clinton.

As a professional with a background in technology and a Master's degree which emphasizes doing research, I rely heavily on verified information. I believe that governance requires understanding the facts such as digging into financial reports, talking with experts, and discussing things with residents.

I use values in my personal life and will use values like honesty, fairness, and fiscal responsibility as my compass for the city. Decisions must align with these values, even if the data presents a purely cost-effective but morally questionable path. I integrate both data and values by requesting input from residents. The "emotions" of the community, their concerns, their struggles, and their desires are essential data points that must inform the analysis. I use my communication background to ensure these voices are factored into the final decision.

The term 'crisis' implies a state of immediate collapse, and our city is resilient. However, my review of our finances shows a lack of alignment between our city budget and external CPA audit reports. I have specifically noted discrepancies between the City's internal budget reports, the CPA certified auditors’ findings, and the data presented on the State Transparency website. When these three sources of financial truth do not harmonize, residents lose the ability to trust the numbers, and the City Council loses the ability to make informed decisions.

Here are some charts showing what the city budget looks like and what the auditor is showing.

Instead of debating a 'crisis,' my immediate focus upon joining the City Council will be to solve the clarity problem. I will push for a comprehensive dive into our general fund, establish a rotating auditor program, and freeze any property tax increases until these numbers are aligned and explained in layman's terms to our residents.

I’m running so residents can have a person on the City Council who will listen to them. Since getting my master’s degree in professional communication, I’m equipped to listen, research, and amplify the voices of our residents. We need more communication channels from the city and more outlets for the residents to express themselves. Coupled with the expert and legal voices, we can have a better discussion around what is affecting our city.

I feel that that plan was negotiated by our city council without seeking input from the public. I’m ok having a reasonable amount of townhomes in Clinton but I think the city should have explained better from the beginning of what was happening and the negotiations they were attempting. Also, the addition of several new townhomes would require expanded infrastructure to accommodate the sizable increase to our population. Not including interested residents in the process led to the petition.

Do you have any opinion on the townhome petition that was filed to put the development to a vote by citizens?

I think that it should be seen as a wake up call for local cities to include residents in understanding the process and listen to their concerns. It shows that residents can take action to put a local government in check. I’m grateful to live in a country that allows such events to happen.

One issue that I see is the city budget. While digging into the city budget for the past 10 years, I’ve seen some discrepancies between the budget, the CPA certified auditors, and the State Transparency website. My opinion is that these three sources of our city finances should align with the revenue and expenses in at least the general fund. I would like to push for a deep dive into the budget and other city expenses as well as establish a rotating auditor program. We should put a freeze on property tax increases until we understand what is happening with the money and make sure that all numbers are aligned.

Bringing in FatCats and other businesses is a great achievement. I’ve lived here for 11 years and have seen the old Macey’s vacant for a number of those years. Convincing Home Depot to come to Clinton is a great increase to our sales tax revenue. Adding more businesses, both large and small, will help our city in the future.

I think people are ready for more full service restaurants in our area. Traffic has become congested and is starting to take longer for residents to go out to eat. Since Clinton is the third densest city in Davis County, we should be able to convince businesses that the surrounding area population along with ours will put them in a prime real estate position.

One rumor that has spread is that we are not able to get liquor licences for a sit down restaurant. However, I have contacted the State about this rumor and found that they have plenty of those licences available. The State is also loosening the restrictions of the number of licences available.

I really want to dive into our budget deeper with not only the city manager, but also our current auditors and others who understand governmental spending laws. I want to also answer the question about cost of living adjustments for our city employees. How do we finance that into the future? All of this needs to be explained in layman terms for our residents to understand where their money is going when they pay taxes.

Communication is key. I think that the Newsletter sent out monthly is a good start but it needs to be expanded to include decisions that the city council is making. Expand our channels as well so it isn’t just social media that we are using but also looking at making short videos of meeting decisions. As a communication manager, I understand these concepts and want to bring that knowledge to the city.

Having the residents informed about what is happening at the city level and in a way they understand, this will increase citizen’s engagement. Having dates and future agenda plans will help inform residents so they can plan accordingly.

Besides what I described above, I think having an agenda set out a month prior to the discussion will be a main point of keeping residents up to date. It makes it easier to share that information in the various channels that they can read, listen, or see what those decisions are without having to wait until a city council meeting minutes are approved.

I think there are several citizens that have come to me about different things but the main one that I’d like to focus on is the small business ordinances. Having seen a small business attempting to start up in Clinton and getting different answers depending on the person they talk to at city hall needs to be addressed. Making it easier for businesses to start up in our city will help improve the economy and bring pride to the residents about using a local business owner. We shouldn’t be losing small business owners because our city ordinances are vague.

I think that the state legislature has helped Clinton grow in the past but I think that we need to have more local control over what happens in Clinton. We understand and know what is best for our community and do not need people in Salt Lake City telling us how to grow our city. Like I believe “your voice, our city.”

Coming from a family of law enforcement officers, I want to keep the city safe. Increasing the police force has been a great thing for our growing population. Continuing to match the growth of our city with the number of required law enforcement is needed.

People are wanting additional parks on the West side of Clinton. I would work hard to get additional parks to allow more fun spaces for kids to enjoy that are closer to their homes. I remember riding my bike to the local parks to go down slides and enjoy the monkey bars. Kids on the West side shouldn’t have to be taken to the East side of the city so they can play. Allow kids to play closer to home.

I believe in data-driven decision making while also including an open dialogue with residents to ensure that city ordinances and policy reflects the true needs of Clinton. As James Madison stated in the Federalist Papers “A good government implies two things: first, fidelity to the object of government, which is the happiness of the people; secondly, a knowledge of the means by which that object can be obtained.” That is why the things I will focus on are hearing your voices, keeping to our values, and presenting a vision of what Clinton can be. Making sure that the people of Clinton are happy to live in their city.