Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Town of Southern Shores Election 2015

My motivation to retain the office of Town Councilman is to seek and promote consistency, stability, and progress.

As both an observer and participant in town government I have witnessed a decade long period of turmoil and political confusion in the community.  In 2003 the Town of Southern Shores hired the first professional Town Manager.  But, from that year to date, there have been a total of three different mangers hired, and four instances of Interim Managers being appointed to fill in between those new hires.  Due to alternating election cycles there have been, four Mayors (one serving two non-consecutive terms), and seven different council members, many serving single terms.  This, I firmly believe, resulted in several 180 degree turns in direction for town staff and services.  During this period there were several staff resignations, reductions in service, and a definite lack of progress in needed capital improvements.


Over the last six years though, I have seen a considerable amount of progress which I believe is due to a consistent direction of both staff and town resources, resulting in: the reorganization and streamlining of town staff, the restoration and improvement of services, the completion of our canal and channel dredging projects, complete rebuilds of numerous streets, along with a new process for evaluating and prioritizing capital projects.