38.0°

Education: Graduated from Kenai Central High School 1972; Graduated University of Alaska Anchorage 1976 AA Surveying Technology

Previous political experience: Soldotna City Council, 13 years

1. With Soldotna developing its new Comprehensive Plan, what would you like to see the city look like five years from now?

My vision of Soldotna is city that is in sync with implementing the goals of "Envision Soldotna 2030" the theme of the Comprehensive plan currently underway. This plan will provide policies and goals identified by the community that will shape the direction of future growth and development by promoting the health of the Kenai River while maintaining the operational and fiscal efficiency of City by providing transportation and other public infrastructure. The success of this plan is reliant on the leadership that the City Council. I will use my experience serving the City as council person for the past thirteen years to help implement these policies, goals and objectives. As a lifelong area resident I will do my best to make Soldotna a place that provides both residents and visitors alike a memorable experience filled with opportunities to enjoy life.

2. What should the city do to assist businesses likely to be impacted by the opening of Wal-Mart in Kenai next year?

The City should has already taken steps to lessen the impacts to our business community by reducing the City budget nearly one million dollars. The present City Council, Mayor and Management cut the budget in the anticipation to the loss of sale tax revenues from the future opening of Wal-Mart. We need to continue fiscal responsibility while promoting the virtues of our existing business community. The City is fortunate to be the home of many quality businesses which provide shopping experiences that are not be easily replicated. The City should continue complementing our business community by offering great parks and recreational opportunities, a vibrant library, good water, well maintained streets and quality police protection. This creates an environment that both locals and visitors will continue to shop in our City because we simply do it better than anywhere else.

3. Should the city's future growth focus on younger families moving in or on more retirees locating to Soldotna as the demographic projections indicate?

We should not focus on any single demographic. A community needs a mixture of people of all ages and backgrounds to be vibrant. I feel Soldotna is truly unique being at the crossroads of the Kenai Peninsula, the center of Municipal government, the home of the Central Peninsula Hospital and having the Kenai River flowing thru the center of town. These unique features provide opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy a high quality of life. We need to provide recreational opportunities for children, teenagers, the middle age and elderly.

4. Having recently failed at annexing four adjoining neighborhoods into the city, how should Soldotna proceed with residential growth and commercial development?

We should limit annexation to commercial areas along Kalifornsky Beach Road and the Sterling Highway. This approach will be beneficial to the residents of City of Soldotna by expanding our tax base while limiting the impacts to surrounding residential neighborhoods. This creates a win-win situation in the annexation process when is the City expands services to where the existing land owners and residents are receptive. The Soldotna has a small geographical size yet has to maintain a large capital intensive water, sewer, police, and animal control departments. These departments can easily provide these services to nearby areas through annexation thus expanding potential tax revenues of the City.

5. How can Soldotna capitalize on the fact that it has become the health care center of the Kenai Peninsula?

The Central Peninsula Hospital is one of our greatest assets. This regional health center has become the core of our business community. The City has already taken steps to help the medical related businesses to locate near the hospital. The City recently rezoned properties near the hospital to limited commercial. We should continue to implement policies which encourage and support our medical community.