By William G. Faust Jr.
William G. Faust Jr. is a resident of Dover.
Circle the wagons and prepare for the comedy show that will be unfolding shortly, when individuals can officially file to get on the ballot to run for the mayor of Dover.
I encourage citizens to review prior City Council meetings that are in the video archives, to view the actions of current council members who have stated or indicated that they will be running for mayor. Some of these individuals have a hard time making any type of decision when it comes to a controversial or hard topic. I am not going to mention names currently but encourage citizens to view the past council meetings and decide for themselves.
Remember, most council members have voted to pass on utility increases, fee increases and tax increases. Remember, the only council members who voted not to pass on any type of increases were Brian Lewis and Dr. Roy Sudler.
The new mayor must have the following attributes:
- A knowledge of budgets and contracts.
- The ability to bring in required revenue. What is the city but a big corporation? The desire of any business is to make a profit or at least break even. The city was $7 million short before council cut items out of the current budget and passed costs onto the citizens to balance the budget.
- The ability to encourage and bring in new business to Dover.
- The ability to stand up to council members or the council president when they suggest or do something that would adversely affect the city.
- The ability to bring in the correct individuals to make positive changes. Example: Get one or two grant writers to bring in much-needed revenue and resources. They could get a well-educated individual who is retired and who wants to give back to the city.
- Proactivity in updating our city charter, which seems to have many flaws and shortcomings, and hinders the city at crucial moments when change is required immediately.
- The ability to support and encourage council members and department heads to answer easy questions that may arise during the public forum sections of the council meetings.
In my opinion, we need a drastic change that will result in positive changes in our city.
Something to think about if a current council member is running for mayor:
- Did he or she reply to your calls and emails in the past?
- Did he or she speak to you at council meetings or snub you?
- Did he or she make time to visit your neighborhood or business if you shared a problem or issue?
- Is the only time you hear from a council member when he or she is running for reelection?
- Did the council member sponsor ordinances and policies that you believe were worthwhile to make Dover a safer and more affordable city?
- Do you feel that the council member is doing things to make a name for him- or herself and truly does not have the citizens’ best interests at heart?
I encourage the residents of Dover to register to vote and to come out on election day, so their individual voices can be heard.
This is submitted by a very concerned citizen.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
