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Scott Furgeson announces policies for platform as candidate for Shelbyville mayor

Republican Scott Furgeson addressed policies for his platform as a candidate for Shelbyville mayor in the following submitted article.

 

 

Building a Stronger Shelbyville
Community Resources to Improve Mental Health
Building a stronger Shelbyville requires a team effort. Our police officers do a great job keeping our citizens safe, but our city needs additional tools to better serve the members of our community who have mental health conditions. I support the addition of a paramedical community resources program that would utilize current community, healthcare, and public safety resources to proactively assist community members with non-emergency health needs.

This programming would provide active crisis response, provide follow-up services focused on a path to recovery, and conduct community outreach initiatives.
By better coordinating existing services and by identifying and filling gaps, we can provide important tools, training and resources to our community support system, while also achieving improved mental health for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Beautifying Shelbyville
Because Shelbyville is the place I call home, I want to ensure it is a place we are all proud to work, play and live. Shelbyville is blessed with the natural beauty of the Blue River. We must continue to invest in the parks and trails around the Blue River and invest in connectivity across the city. We’ve made a lot of investments in our amenities over the last several years, and we must ensure that they remain in great shape for generations to come.

It’s also important that we plan for and prioritize the maintenance of our roads and sidewalks in our neighborhoods.
Shelbyville’s neighborhoods are one of our most important assets. We must do everything possible to ensure our neighborhoods are well-maintained and kept clean. As Mayor, I will ensure that our staff is empowered to enforce our city’s code and clean up blighted properties and nuisances.

Economic Development
Access to Good Paying Jobs in Shelbyville

As a business owner and job creator, I understand the need to provide good-paying jobs for our community members. Providing access to good paying jobs for residents is a two-pronged approach: (1) business retention and expansion and (2) new business attraction.

Business Retention and Expansion
On average, 80% of new jobs in a community come from existing businesses expanding. To continue providing the opportunity for our residents (both current and future), Shelbyville must ensure our existing businesses have the resources they need to continue growing. In my previous terms as mayor, I made regular visits to industry and business leaders to listen and learn about their needs. I will do so again so that Shelbyville can provide the appropriate resources to
nurture and grow our existing businesses

Business Attraction
We must also focus efforts on attracting good, high-paying jobs to our community. Business attraction requires collaboration between the city, county, and Shelbyville Development Corporation to strategically provide the needed infrastructure to support the right kinds of jobs inour community. Our efforts as a city must focus on bringing good, high-paying jobs with strong benefits for our residents.

Attainable Housing
Shelbyville should be a place where people can find meaningful work, attainable homes, quality learning opportunities, and all the other elements of a healthy community. Because housing costs are rising faster than incomes, we need to make sure that good places to live are within reach.

Designing a vibrant community is like solving a puzzle. If a community doesn't have key pieces like good homes that people can afford, the puzzle doesn't fit together. Local government has an important role to play. As mayor, I will collaborate with our community development organizations, our county government, and residential developers to bring new, diverse, and attainable housing options to our community.

City Leadership
City Services

As a business owner, I understand the importance of customer service and will make sure that all city employees understand that we are employees of the citizens of Shelbyville. I will ensure that city services are delivered with a high level of professionalism and that processes are streamlined and made more efficient.

Financial Responsibility
As your mayor, it is my responsibility to be a good steward of taxpayer money. I stand for balanced budgets, and I am opposed to reckless spending and inefficient government. We must continue to invest in our city to meet both current and long-term needs. We must be strategic in the way that we spend money and stay focused on keeping local tax rates low. I am committed to listening to what the citizens say, and I will continue to work hard every day to deliver on
what they say is important to them and the future of our city.

As a taxpayer myself, I will ensure the best return on investment for every tax dollar spent. As mayor, I promise to always make sure that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, that elected officials are accountable for their spending decisions and that the best interests of the taxpayers always come first.

Responsive Leadership
While having a plan and goals is very important, having the ability to adjust to meet the community’s ever-changing needs is also very important. A strong leader must proactively identify the community’s needs, be flexible enough to change course as needed, and be willing to make quick and difficult decisions that will best serve the community.

I have proven experience in all of these areas during my prior tenure as mayor, and more recently in successfully leading my restaurant business through the pandemic. At the onset of the state’s stay-at-home orders, restaurants were required to make huge adjustments on short notice to help ensure the safety of their employees and their customers. I made many changes, discovered new opportunities, retained nearly all of my long-term employees, and maintained a strong customer base.

I will bring these skills to City Hall to help our community build on our strengths and remain vibrant.

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