When I ran for Mayor in 2011, I made 3 key promises to the people of Garrett.

Below you will find how I have taken action for my Vision for a Greater Garrett.

¶We will provide all city departments and services with the leadership they need to effectively serve the citizens of Garrett and work together as a team to serve our community.

• Our city had been without a full time city planner/code enforcement director for some time prior to taking office.  An interview committee interview 4 strong candidate and chose Milton Otero from the City of Hamilton with his City Management certification and  5 years of experience.  Milton has done an outstanding job working with our community, Dekalb County Economic Director and the Dekalb County Planning.  We have a very active Plan commission, Redevelopment Commission and Board of Zoning and Appeals.

• In  my opinion and in speaking to residents in our community, a new police chief was a main goal of my campaign.  It is imperative to have a police department that is well trained, fully staffed, and  has the respect of the community.  Several applications and interviews were reviewed before offering Keith Hefner who had served as a law enforcement professional for over 36 years.   He brought not only leadership, mentoring,  and high standards to our community, but embraced our community and has been a champion for our GPD since his hire.

• Our city is one of 72 communities across our great state that has its own electric utility, this benefits our community to ensure local maintenance and quick responses to outages by our own Garrett Electric.

¶I look forward to working with community organizations and leaders in a city wide beautification project, to bring Garrett back to its days of charm and a sense of hometown pride.

• United Way Day of Caring - Railroad Street project, beautification of 4 homes, adding landscaping to Eastside park

• New lighting on both North and South Randolph St.

• With our 50/50 Sidewalk Replacement Program we have so far installed $60,000 all together since 2013. With a projected $25,000 Local funds and $25,000 in residential funds expended each year for this program; we are looking at a projected $200,000

• In additional sidewalks being installed.

• Our 2014 Blight Elimination Grant of $75.000 will allow us to tear down 3 homes in Garrett.

• Active Summer street crews cleaning parks, painting curbs and crosswalks, helps to make our community inviting to visitors and potential residents.

• Volunteering with both youth baseball and softball at Feick Park to improve ball diamonds and areas for our youth to develop and showcase our parks during games and tournaments.

• Volunteering to prepare the city pool for opening, working with staff to offer a great summer attraction to our residents and visitors.

• Adding 5 doggie depot stations throughout the city to encourage responsible dog walking and clean up efforts.

• Adding ADA (Americans with Disabilitiy Act) cross walks to areas on North Randolph Street, South Randolph Street and Second Street

• Railroad crossing walk ways on Houston St., Warfield St., and Edgerton St.

• Working with the Historical Society and Garrett Museum of Art to share these two jewels in our community.

¶Our city administration can do more to support city businesses and aggressively pursue new businesses to bring jobs and economic development to our city and region.

• 21 Alive’s “Life’s Better Here in Garrett”  Series: 2013, 2014  

• Shoppe Small Saturday activities

• Welcome bags to new residents from Chamber of Commerce members

• Contacting and touring industry with the DeKalb County Economic Partnership

• Developing and maintaining our city web page and fb page to showcase our city and  communicate with our residents.

• Listing and sharing  restaurants and drink establishments on our city web site

• Downtown trick or treating with our local businesses.

• Attending monthly meetings and working with our Garrett Chamber of Commerce.

• Serving on the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management Board, Career Success Coalition Steering Team, Member of Momentive Citizens Advisory Panel, Dekalb County Central Dispatch 911 Governance Board. City of Garrett  Chair United Way Campaign, Northern Indiana Mayor’s Roundtable, Mayors and Commissioners Caucus, Police Pension Board,  DeKalb County Homeland Security, Well Head Protection Team Member.

• Representing the City of Garrett at the DeKalb County Job Fair 2012, 2013, 2014

• Spring/summer and Fall/Winter City Newsletters 2012, 2013, 2014,2015