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Steve RapsonTue, 10/25/2005 - 4:48pm
By: Candidates Forum
My campaign platform is basically, “Vote for me, I’m just a regular guy, your neighbor, whose only motivation is my desire to preserve the quality of life that brought my family, and probably yours, to live in this wonderful city.” Having recognized this is a great place to live, I’d like to identify some of the things that aren’t so great about PTC and tell you what I believe is the best way to address those issues: Traffic. Traffic stinks. We all hate it and most of us moved here because until the past few years traffic was really a non-issue. Fortunately, help is on the way in the widening of Highway 54, TDK and MacDuff Parkway extensions and with the passage of the SPLOST last year. Unfortunately, it will probably get worse before it gets better as we endure the process of widening and constructing these roads. I worked diligently to find funding for TDK and MacDuff Parkway and to implement traffic improvements at the 54/74 intersection, coordinate traffic signals and install turn lanes. I will continue to pursue means of alleviating traffic congestion during this construction phase. The recreation paths are in awful shape. The golf cart path system has suffered from a lack of maintenance; however, during my term in office we have paved, and have scheduled to pave, more golf cart paths than in the history of the city. We have also increased the standard width (10-feet) for better passing and safety. At the Rotary Forum last week I noticed that many of the candidates’ responses to questions about storm-water, cart paths, public safety were that these programs need more funding. The same candidates say we need to cut our current budget. The truth is we can’t have it both ways. I was elected to council less than two months after the Sept. 11 tragedy. The economic impact coupled with funding the employee pay plan the previous council implemented, soaring health, medical and pension costs and adding new public safety positions necessitated tax increases. During this time we worked hard to stabilize the city’s cash reserve by making tough budget cuts. The city is now in excellent financial shape as evidenced by our recent upgrade to the highest bond rating in the city’s history. By continuing to integrate zero-based budgeting techniques and good old-fashioned common sense we can, and must, stabilize PTC’s tax rate. login to post comments
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