You have to be both (a facilitator and check). There has to be a place where you can see your battles and know which one you’re going to win. You can’t go in on one side of the fence or the other. You have to be in the middle and adjust to both sides. It would be dumb for anyone to go in and think they could sit on one side or the other. There are too many issues that require different kinds thinking. The good thing about me is I’m very independent. I have no ties with anybody. No ties with city people or churches. I’m coming in as me, with my mind. I will give the people the best part of that.
(Regarding issues that could have used more oversight), there’s a couple that keep coming to mind. One is city council members getting free ambulance service. I’m finding more and more people had no idea that’s what was happening. There’s also some issues with new businesses. If we get more pawn shops, we’re inviting the wrong kind of people. I’m not trying to be arrogant, but I think pawn shops tend to invite people that are not always on the up and up.
For more information on free ambulance as well as what the city is doing about pay day loan/pawn shops see:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.standard.net/stories/2011/10/13/riverdale-considers-restricting-title-loan-companies
and
http://m.standard.net/stories/2011/10/06/riverdale-council-and-candidates-grapple-over-ambulance-benefits