JOBS that come because companies are attracted to our quality of life and favorable business climate.

There is an economic value to a city's quality of life.  Many cities across the country have found--and our economic development experts in eastern North Carolina and elsewhere have confirmed--that when urban areas build quality into their growth they are better able to keep property values high, keep tax rates low, and consistently attract new residents and businesses.

As your public servant, I will keep my eye on the big picture, the long-term, and all sectors of our city in my efforts to build an excellent city that can sustain itself over the long haul.

SMART, PLANNED GROWTH that benefits all our citizens, small and large businesses, and neighborhoods.

Growth.  Greenville has grown rapidly, and there is every indication our growth is going to reignite in the future, especially when the national economy recovers.  This rapid growth has been and will be driven in part by the growth of ECU and PCC.  It is driven by the fact that Greenville is increasingly an educational, medical, cultural, and business hub of the entire eastern North Carolina region.  Growth of our city is not only inevitable and desirable, it can also be exciting.  It can provide vibrant new opportunities for culture, recreation, and commerce.  However, our growth must be smart, planned, and beneficial to all our citizens, small and large businesses, and neighborhoods.

Growing at the expense of our strong neighborhoods will take our city in a direction that ultimately proves unhappy for everyone.  We want to grow in a way that alleviates, rather than worsens, the increasingly difficult traffic situation.  We want to grow in a way that provides neighborhoods with adequate open, green spaces that make for a healthy city and attract to our city the residents, visitors, and businesses that will build a city of excellence.  We want to avoid unbridled sprawl and the unnecessary encroachment of commercial development on established neighborhoods.

Parks, Greenways, and Bikeways.  Smart growth will include attention to open spaces, pedestrian-friendly walkways, biking paths, natural trails, and beautification.  Greenways, bike paths, and park development are good for our citizens, property values, and businesses.  A beautiful, sustainable, livable city will invite the kind of business, visitor, and resident that we want for ourselves and our children.  Cities with quality greenways in place can increase property values and help reduce crime, because of the large number of people traveling on the greenways who can “community watch” as they ride and walk.  They also enhance the quality of life by enhancing leisure opportunities.  A recent survey finds that Americans would like to walk more than they are currently, but they are held back by “poorly designed communities that encourage speeding and dangerous intersections and whose design is inconvenient to walk to shops and restaurants."
 
The “Greenway Master Plan” provides for sound, thoughtful greenway development as our city grows.  Very often what good plans need is the political will and foresight to stick to the plan and implement it in a timely fashion.  Of course, this plan cannot all be funded at one time, but strong support from city officials, government grants, and citizens who stand ready to help with private fundraising activities can provide greenways that benefit all our citizens and businesses.

Uptown Greenville.  Many good efforts by many hard-working people have been directed to creating a city center that is inviting and inspires a positive cultural focus for our city.  I am working to continue that progress.  I want an Uptown that invites us to stroll through and have dinner there.  I want an Uptown we’re proud to show out-of-town guests.  There is still much potential that can be realized—additional residential space, more stores, more restaurants, mass transit.

A number of Uptown projects are in various stages.  Some wonderful "projects" are at the idea stage, other projects entail quite specific plans and interested parties are moving to put them in place, and still others are in actual production.  In the next few years, Greenville citizens will likely see significant changes in the Uptown area.  Our job is to keep strong our commitment to continued development of an Uptown that all citizens can proudly enjoy.  I want a center city that is FUN for people of all ages to visit, SAFE to go to at all times of day and night, and PROFITABLE for all businesses.

QUALITY OF LIFE initiatives that build a city where people can live, work, and play safely.

Safe, attractive neighborhoods.  Homes and neighborhoods constitute an important part of the environment that nourishes us and contributes to our overall well-being.  It is where we spend most of our time.  For many of you, your home is also your largest investment.  When I invite friends and family from out of town to visit, I want to be proud to drive them through our city and neighborhoods.

Older, established neighborhoods are a strength of Greenville and provide stability and beauty to our city.  As we grow, we must preserve this important dimension of our life together.  When I drive around my community and the other neighborhoods in Greenville, I can see firsthand the importance of being thoughtful and smart as our city continues to grow.

I support the city’s ongoing effort to revitalize West Greenville.  All our citizens, through bond issues and other ways, have invested in this area of our city and we see important results in the Lucille Gorham Intergenerational Center, police substations, upgrading homes, our various Police Athletic League programs for kids, and other things.  We will continue these efforts.  The proverbial notion of a chain only being as strong as its weakest link applies.  It is in the interest of the whole city to have all parts of our city strong and vibrant. 

Safety.  Addressing crime is the number one priority of your City Council.  My wife, Susan, and I did a “ride along” with one of Greenville’s finest on a Saturday night after a home football game.  We observed firsthand both the excellent job our officers do, as well as the need for an adequate number of officers appropriately equipped to do their job.  In my time on City Council, we have hired or budgeted for 14 new police officers, instituted a curfew, significantly upgraded our law enforcement technology, and continued programs with at-risk kids.

The causes of crime are multiple and our response must be multi-faceted.  There are issues over which the city has no jurisdiction—prison overcrowding which can put criminals back on the streets too early, courts which play an important role in the process, and the breakdown of family structure, a deep societal problem not easily fixed by anyone outside the family.  Having said that, I will continue to do what we can to have a safe community.

There are immediate actions that can be taken, like putting more officers on the street.  There are long-term, preventive actions that we can take, like our Police Athletic League (PAL) program.  There are things the city can do, and there are things citizens can do.  For example, I hope your neighborhood has a community watch program.  If not, please contact the city for assistance in setting one up.  You might consider getting involved in our active Police Community Relations Committee, an important forum for conversation and action, and our community's Citizens United Against Violence group.  Creating a safe community is a partnership.