Candidate for
Council Member; City of Riverbank

Our sewer system: This is a huge health concern if our system were to fail. It has been mandated by the state to be upgraded. This is not a tax it is an assessment fee, an increase of up to 6 dollars in a 3 year period. The City followed the requirements of prop 218 and the public response that opposed the fee increase did not meet a majority, in fact I believe we had only 9 or ten people oppose, therefore we need to move forward on upgrading this vital infrastructure. Public safety: Violent crime, drugs and gang activity are increasing. I commend Chief Pooley and our local law enforcement officers in their efforts this month in removing illegal drugs off our streets,and in the recent arrest of the three gang members that maliciously murdered a young Riverbank resident. We need to work with law enforcement in areas of drug and gang prevention. Riverbank is a zero tolerance community. With the loss of the DARE program in our schools we need to develop a year round action plan to help to keep our kids safe from drugs and out of gangs. Finances: We need to budget wisely and conserve wherever possible. I believe we need to think outside the box and come up with innovative ways to save money. Encourage and develop the use of a volunteer pool of local service and civic organizations and residents that can take on projects within the city. I see this as a twofold benefit, one it addresses the cost saving issue and second it builds civic pride and community relationships. Not only do we need to cut costs, but we also need to address how to bring in more revenue, we need to help the downtown bring in more small business, let's work with small business and develop agreement plans that can retain businesses in our new downtown. I want to get Riverbank working together. Thank you, Dotty Nygard