I grew up in Madison Wisconsin, graduating from UW with a degree in history. I settled in Boston, lucky to be a stay-at-home mom with my three boys. I returned to paid employment over 23 years ago at a large insurance company, where I continue to work as a research analyst.
In 2011, ready for a warm winter, I arrived in Daytona Beach. I worked all day, walked on the beach, and rode Votran everywhere. Chatting with other passengers, rolling through all our neighborhoods, I fell in love with this community on the Votran bus.
In 2013, I made the move permanent. A year later, I got the best gift a homeowner can receive, great new neighbors. We are different enough to be interesting to each other and alike enough to have fun.
Just for fun, in the fall of 2015, my new neighbor, Sandy, and I decided to go to a Daytona Beach City Commission meeting. We kept going to Commission meetings, then CRA meetings, Planning Board meetings, Redevelopment Board meetings, County Redevelopment meetings, Developer Initiated Meetings, and several neighborhood meetings each month.
In 2017 Sandy and I co-founded the non-profit Citizens 4 Responsible Development. Our dedicated group of four set out to push City Hall to make the small, immediate changes needed to create sustainable pleasant neighborhoods.
I attended the Citizens Police Academy and the Citizens Academy to learn more about the day to day operations in our city. It was an honor to meet the men and women working so hard on our behalf every day, keeping us safe and keeping the lights on. I value their pride in their work and their commitment to our community.
All this learning, all this listening, led to questions, which led to public records requests and research, which led to more questions, and finally, frustration. Who's representing citizen interests when City Hall makes deals with big campaign donors? Who monitors the employment metrics promised in those deals? Why are our older neighborhoods so persistently ragged? Where does all that CRA money go? Why isn't code enforcement more effective? Answers to these questions, and more, are vital to the future of our community.
I want ANSWERS, I want ACTION, and I intend to get both, seated on the dais of the Commission Chambers. Bring me your questions, I will get them answered as well.