BY AMANDA CUTSHALL & SIERRA MARTIN
*Incumbent
What lessons have you learned that you plan to implement if reelected? Infrastructure is costly, and small cities must be creative to fund major projects. Fiscal discipline means setting priorities, and creative problem- solving means securing outside funding from developers or the state. The right opportunities make big projects possible, and I’ll keep working to expand Bastrop responsibly without overburdening taxpayers. Collaboration between the council and city leadership is vital to ensuring that the overall ability of the council to address city business is not inhibited. I would like to enhance communication resources to ensure that city business is communicated to the council and the public more eciently and eectively.
Bastrop City Council, Place 5
What challenges are BISD currently facing, and what is your plan to address them? Financial Constraints – legislative inaction and ination. I am committed to optimizing resource allocation, prioritizing classroom instruction, and enhancing student engagement to continue to boost attendance rates which have a signicant impact on the bottom line and creates a supportive and eective educational environment for all students and sta. BISD is in a stang crisis. High turnover rate among teachers. The answer to this challenge begins with this premise: Education takes place in the classroom; it is the hub of learning. Objective 1: Order must be restored in the classroom through implementing discipline, engagement and accountability. What are your top 3 priorities if reelected? Preserve Bastrop’s historic character, ensuring its identity and charm for future generations. Protect Bastrop’s best City Manager in decades, maintaining strong, trusted leadership that is driving Bastrop’s current success. Advance retail growth with grocery stores, hotels, recreation and restaurants, attracting businesses that strengthen our economy, and quality of life. I am committed to managing growth through responsible planning for hard infrastructure such as roads and utilities, and soft infrastructure like education and public services. Additionally, I will focus on strategies to increase income-based housing to ensure our community thrives with sustainable development for all residents.
John Kirkland* Experience: Acting Mayor Pro Tem, council member, [Bastrop Economic Development Corporation] board member, expert data analyst www.kirklandforbastrop.com Cheryl Lee Experience: Master’s: Business Administration, current council member, certied Municipal Ocer, [Planning and Zoning] Commissioner Facebook: Cheryl Lee for Bastrop City Council Place 5
How will you prioritize maintaining the quality of education while keeping taxes low? I have helped guide Bastrop ISD through a 50% increase in student enrollment. Under my leadership, voters have approved over $500 million in bonds, funding new facilities and infrastructure to support students and educators. All of this without an increase to the infrastructure tax and an overall tax rate decrease.
Bastrop ISD, Place 5
John Eason Experience: 40 years organizational leadership, 5 years classroom instruction, and 25 years of Board experience. Facebook: John Eason, for BISD School Board Place 5 Chris Dillon* Experience: Husband. Father. 25+ years attorney & small business owner. Community advocate. Proud school supporter. Facebook: Chris Dillon, Bastrop ISD Trustee
Bastrop is not the rst community to experience explosive growth in Texas. I think it would be wise to consult with other communities that have experienced explosive growth and learn from their mistakes and glean from their successes. It is not the size of the district that is the problem it is the size of the classroom that makes the dierence.
• Fair, Impartial, and Insightful Information • Candidate Forums • Voter Information
An initiative of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce
BASTROPVOTES.COM
15
BASTROP CEDAR CREEK EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook