Lemoore Councilmembers' complete remarks regarding priorities

Mayor Ray Madrigal

What are your personal priorities for 2017?

What aspect or program in the city of Lemoore – from water and recreation to sales tax and economic development. What are your priorities, specifically perhaps a “top priority” and what would you like to see the city do to meet your goals?

My personal priority is to maintain a balanced budget through reasonable and prudent spending decisions.  A key to that is to follow the 5-year plan the council recently adopted that contains several strategic initiatives.  These initiatives help focus on achieving a sense of community and small-town feel while still developing into a mid-sized full service community.  In my mind, this means we must embrace and capitalize on the coming expansion of LNAS with the F-35 fighter jet and the new F-18 Super Hornet squadrons that are being located here.  I believe the critical piece in reaching this goal is economic development through retail attraction that increases sales tax revenue for the general fund.

I campaigned on making public safety a priority because intuitively we all know without a safe environment in which to live and work nothing else matters nor would anything else be achievable.  With that in mind, I think our police and fire departments are something that we can be extremely proud of and help us be a vibrant community.  I believe my 30-year career as a law enforcement professional in the California Highway Patrol provided me a particularly unique perspective to answer this question.  What I see working well is the community oriented policing approach that Chief Darrell Smith and his dedicated staff have implemented.  This approach has focused on bringing in community members as volunteers and other programs that reach out to the community and become a force multiplier in many respects.  The PAL program and citizens on patrol are just a couple examples of this.  Chief Gibson and the members of the volunteer fire department, who work so tirelessly and individually, sacrifice their time and energy to keep us safe are another long-time example.  

I also believe that we should always look for ways to improve and should never stop trying to get better.  In that regard, I have personally been working with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters (BBBS) of Central California to bring a High School Bigs Program to Lemoore.  This is a partnership between the high school and elementary schools where high school students act as mentors and tutors to elementary students.  BBBS has created a curriculum that is empirically proven to improve student attendance, graduation rates and self-esteem in high school and elementary students. With the help of the BBBS of Central California, we have raised more than half of the funds needed through private donations and are seeking grant funding opportunities to make this a sustainable reality.  I believe when the community gets involved and makes a small investment on the front end, long-term benefits on the back end are achieved.

What are we doing “right” as a city, and what would you do to foster, expand, improve that program?

I am extremely proud of the Five-Year Community Investment Program (CIP) recently developed by city staff and adopted by the city council.  The CIP is part of a new, more comprehensive process to engage the City Council, staff, and community stakeholders in the planning, funding, and financing of infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects and initiatives, such as Parks and Recreation, which improve the quality of life in Lemoore.  The most pressing need we addressed in the near term is the need to improve water quality to meet changing state and federal standards.  The CIP project calls for a filtration system that will improve quality and will provide for expansion of the system to meet future growth needs of the city.   

Is there something that you have a strong feeling about within the city, something we might not have asked, but that you feel is important and the citizens should expect from you?

I personally want to invite members of the community to become engaged and involved in some way to improve the city.  I strongly encourage residents of the city to attend our city council meetings to provide their input and comments on items that come before the council.  We need their perspective so that we do not make decisions in a vacuum.  I firmly believe the more diversity of ideas we must base our decisions upon, the better our decision-making process will be.  Newly elected council member Dave Brown and Mayor pro tem Eddie Neal have had informal talks about town hall meetings facilitated by the individual council members on a rotating basis to improve access and communication.  I fully support this idea and will do whatever I can to help them make this a reality. 

Mayor pro tem Eddie Neal

What are your personal priorities for 2017? What aspect or program in the city of Lemoore – from water and recreation to sales tax and economic development. What are your priorities, specifically perhaps a “top priority” and what would you like to see the city do to meet your goals?

My constituents have a great concern with the employment rate of Lemoore citizens.  Many of my constituents during my campaign requested that the city council find a way to create jobs, and after attending our recent general plan meeting and learning that 60% of Lemoore employees do not reside in Lemoore, I am looking to bring a balance to this concern. 

Is there something that you have a strong feeling about within the city, something I might not have asked, that you feel is important and the citizens should expect from you?

I would like to work with city planners and developers to improve Pioneer Square and the area surrounding West Hills College.  We need more retail sales opportunities to employ Lemoore residents, especially our college communities.

Councilmember Dave Brown

What are your personal priorities for 2017? What aspect or program in the city of Lemoore – from water and recreation to sales tax and economic development. What are your priorities, specifically perhaps a “top priority” and what would you like to see the city do to meet your goals?

Priorities for 2017: To listen to the people of Lemoore, work hard and do my best to represent ALL the people. Work with the other council members to guide our city in a safe, financially responsible and successful direction. To give our City Manager the direction and guidance required for success. Ensure we have an open and transparent city government. Work on the short and long range goals to improve our sanitary sewer and domestic water infrastructure. Start the process of developing new ways to support existing business and to spark new economic development in Lemoore. Find new ways to open effective lanes of communication and build strong working relationships. Study if it is feasible to hire a certified full time City Planner. Find the resources to make needed improvements to Pederson Park and other parks throughout our city. Increase grant research and writing; find private, county, state and federal dollars to support projects which will benefit our city. Control and reduce costs by reviewing our processes and ordinances, find logical ways to improve efficiency and streamline our methods of doing business. Ensure we have an affective, all-encompassing update to our General Plan.

What are we doing “right” as a city, and what would you do to foster, expand, improve that program?

What is right…Our people…I believe that we have many dedicated, hardworking citizens that live here in Lemoore who care about its future. Our city employees truly care about quality of service and the people of Lemoore. They understand who we work for and that is the people.

Our police and volunteer fire department are both top notch. We have a great rec department and our other departments are working hard. As a Council, we need to ensure all the departments have the proper direction, guidance and the tools necessary to do their jobs professionally, efficiently and safely. We have started working on improving communication internally but we have to strive for constant improvement as without it we become ineffective. I believe a program we could greatly benefit from is a Senior and Youth Advisory Board, the cost would be zero and the improved communication will only benefit us as a city.

Our indoor rec center is a great success, I believe we need to work to improve on this and find ways to expand on this idea if fiscally possible. Our relationship between the city and our service organizations needs to remain strong. These service organizations are a great benefit to our city and truly represent what Lemoore is all about.

Is there something that you have a strong feeling about within the city, something we might not have asked, that you feel is important and the citizens should expect from you.

The citizens should expect their council to find common ground, work together and do the people’s business. To be professional, have integrity and be accountable for our actions. We are your city council. You should expect no less.

Councilmember Holly Blair

What are your personal priorities for 2017? What aspect or program in the city of Lemoore – from water and recreation to sales tax and economic development. What are your priorities, specifically perhaps a “top priority” and what would you like to see the city do to meet your goals?

I’d like to address the city’s unemployment rate by continuing to pursue economic development opportunities beyond retail development. I’d like to explore industrial growth and infrastructure projects that both address the city’s water improvement plans, as well as, offer the opportunity to hire local talent to complete projects. I’d also like to connect with the local Carpenters hall, and other building trade organizations, to bring training and apprenticeship programs here to Lemoore. I strongly support vocational education, and I’d like to see more job training resources brought to our city.

I worry constantly over our city’s raise in water rates – even while our water treatment still needs improvement. I’m glad to see that the city has already begun the process of addressing our water treatment and infrastructure. However, the rates continue to climb, and this coupled with the city’s crack down of small, municipal fines, has me worried. I understand that we need to pay our bills, but let’s be mindful of the cost to the majority of our citizens, and work to ensure that the cost is not excessive to the individual tax payer. As an example, a citizen working at minimum wage, must work half a day simply to pay off the fine if they leave their trash cans out a day too long. They must work even longer if they are parked in one place too long. At what point, do we say enough? The poverty and income disparity in our area concerns me deeply, and I do not support regressive taxation. I want to make sure that perspective is being heard at council meetings, before any new taxes or “fees” are enacted.

To facilitate the city’s growth and new development opportunities, it is imperative that we bring back our planning department. I consider this a top priority.

There is a special place in my heart for the veterans of our community, and I have already spoken to city officials about some of the needs facing our Lemoore Veterans Memorial Building. I’d like to explore the possibility of finding grants to fund further improvements. Beyond this, I’d like to work with businesses all over the area, to see if we can compile a comprehensive list of which businesses in Lemoore offer military discounts – a “military friendly” list, so to speak. Lemoore has a long, honorable tradition of being a military town, and I’d like to build a better partnership between the LNAS and our city.

As a millennial, I am always eager to utilize new technologies wherever possible. The city’s website is in desperate need of revamping, and we should have a page that is responsive to mobile users. You may think it’s a small thing, but when businesses consider coming to Lemoore, or when families consider relocating here, what do you think the first thing they are going to do is? What is the first impression of the city that you want seen? As mentioned on the campaign trail, I’d like to explore the possibility of bringing a Wi-Fi access point to the downtown area. And, let’s finally get our city council meetings online! It’s time we start to engage the entire community – many people work at the time we hold our meetings and they have a right to know what is going on, in the easiest format available. Our current system of audio recordings is archaic, and it is time we moved into utilizing video recordings.

What are we doing “right” as a city, and what would you do to foster, expand, improve that program?

 The city’s plan to treat our municipal water, as well as, improve the city’s water infrastructure is fantastic! We should have fixed some of our failing infrastructure needs years ago, and we are on the right track to having new pipes and cleaner water throughout the city.

One of the best things about Lemoore, is the involvement of so many community service organizations. Unfortunately, changes to city ordinance enforcement, have led to some organizations feeling less than appreciated. I’d like to turn the page of the past, and foster in a new era of communication and cooperation between the city and our service organizations. I do not take for granted the wonderful volunteers in our city, and I’m sure that we can better accommodate the needs of these organizations going forward.

Our city’s police department, and volunteer fire department, are two things we definitely get “right” in our city. Even though Measure K lost by a slim margin county-wide, it passed with the overwhelming support of Lemoore citizens. With this in mind, I think it is important to be responsive to the voters and find a way to prioritize these departments in our budget going forward. The safety of our families is too important to be ignored after an election. 

Is there something that you have a strong feeling about within the city, something I might not have asked, that you feel is important and the citizens should expect from you.

I’m young, energetic and passionate about improving our city. I’m a “go big or go home” kind of person. Those who know me, might even call me a little loud, too. I am also a person with a deep faith in God, and I strive every day to do the right thing. I have a sincere heart to serve our community as best I can. Now, with all that energy and enthusiasm, comes a lot of new ideas. I’ve already mentioned a few above, and I have a lot more too. That being said, I’m going to make some mistakes along the way. I’m going to stumble, and I may even fall flat on my face at times. I accept that this is part of the territory when elected. I accept this as being human, really. So, if there is ever a time you feel I can improve somewhere, please reach out. I’m always willing to listen, and take advice to heart.

 I’d like to take a moment to thank our community for entrusting me with this leadership role and invite anyone who wishes, to contact me with any comments or issues they would like to see addressed. In order to make myself more accessible to our citizens, I have made my social media accounts public, and I have a google voice phone number set up for anyone who wants to call or send a message. Links attached below. Thank you.

Facebook.com/hollyandradeblair

Instagram - @hollyandradeblair

Snapchat - @hollyandradeblair

Twitter - @hollyAblair

Councilmember Jeff Chedester

What are your personal priorities for 2017? What aspect or program in the city of Lemoore – from water and recreation to sales tax and economic development. What are your priorities, specifically perhaps a “top priority” and what would you like to see the city do to meet your goals?

To see our multi-year plan to upgrade our water infrastructure and filtering system to come to fruition.

What are we doing “right” as a city, and what would you do to foster, expand, improve that program?

We have rejuvenated our finance department and receive quarterly reports now. Our finance departments accountability to its citizens, is the backbone of our city’s pathway to continued financial success.

Is there something that you have a strong feeling about within the city, something we might not have asked, that you feel is important and the citizens should expect from you.

I feel that we should continue to grow our city in a responsible and professional manner, and to conserve the character and integrity of our small-town feel.

 

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