Public Safety: Fully Funded

Public safety is not a budget line to negotiate. As mayor, I will create a dedicated, protected funding stream for Police, Fire, and Public Works that cannot be redirected to other priorities. There will be annual public reporting on staffing levels, response times, and equipment status.

GOAL: Published public safety scorecard within the first 90 days.

Development Done Right

Shelbyville is a desirable place to live — and that means growth is coming whether we plan for it or not. The question is whether we manage it on our terms or let it manage us. My position is simple: we should not have to compromise our current standard of living to accommodate those who wish to reside here. Instead, we should strive to raise it.

That means requiring new development to demonstrate it will improve — not just add demand to — our roads, schools, utilities, and emergency services before a single permit is approved. Developers who want to build in Shelbyville are welcome, but they will be held to the same high standard our current residents expect and deserve.

It also means being intentional about the kind of growth we pursue. Shelbyville should be actively recruiting corporate headquarters and professional employers — the kind of businesses that bring careers, not just jobs. We have the location, the character, and the workforce to attract them. Continuing to expand warehouses and gas stations at the expense of that vision is a choice, and it is the wrong one.

GOAL: Development review process updated to include infrastructure capacity assessment within the first 90 days.

Street Paving: Transparent and Accountable

An independent engineering assessment of every city street, followed by a prioritized paving schedule published on the city website. You will know when your street is scheduled and why. No more guessing, no more politics in the paving order.

GOAL: Schedule online within 90 days. First phase of paving begins in year one.

Better-Paying Jobs

Economic development should work for workers, not just employers. The businesses I want to recruit are the small professional firms looking to leave bigger cities — engineering, architecture, accounting, and similar practices employing five or ten people. Many of their employees already live out here and drive into Louisville every day. I want the firm to follow them.

The incentive is a published standard, not a negotiated deal: at least three full-time positions, with the local payroll tax cut in half — not eliminated — and a five-year sunset on both the payroll and property tax portions. That's a shorter commitment than state programs allow, and the city keeps collecting the entire time.

The wage threshold should be indexed, not fixed. The $45,000 figure I proposed was written during COVID, and it has not aged well — today that is roughly the living wage for a single adult with no children in Shelby County. Writing a fixed number into an ordinance guarantees it goes stale. Instead, the threshold should be tied to a published living wage benchmark for Shelby County and reviewed annually, so it keeps meaning the same thing in five years that it means today.

To be clear about what this is not: I am not telling any business what to pay. Employers set their own wages. This only determines what the city will and will not offer an incentive for.

Large companies arrive with site selection consultants who know how to negotiate with cities. A six-person firm doesn't. Publishing the standard means anyone who qualifies gets the same terms, whether or not they know who to call.

GOAL: Ordinance drafted and voted on within the first 100 days in office.

More Dining in Downtown Shelbyville

Shelbyville has the character and the foot traffic to support great dining. Working with the planning commission, I will streamline restaurant permitting, identify vacant downtown properties suitable for sit-down dining, and build a recruitment package for prospective restaurant owners.

GOAL: Permitting review complete and recruitment package ready within 60 days.

Shelbyville to Simpsonville Multi-Use Path

A connected community is a stronger community. A multi-use trail between Shelbyville and Simpsonville would serve cyclists, walkers, and families while boosting tourism and property values along the corridor. I will pursue KYTC and federal recreational trail funding to make it happen without raising local taxes.

GOAL: Grant application submitted in year one of term.

Film and Creative Economy

Kentucky has one of the strongest film tax credit programs in the South, and Shelbyville's historic architecture and proximity to Louisville make it a compelling filming location. I will designate a film liaison in the economic development office to actively market Shelbyville to production companies and capitalize on the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive.

GOAL: Film liaison designated and first outreach completed in year one.

Weissinger Golf Course

Weissinger Golf Course is the largest tourism draw the city owns, and we're not taking full advantage of it. I want to repair the barn, and develop stay-and-play packages with our local hotels, Airbnbs, restaurants, and bars, turning a great golf course into a full visitor experience that puts money back into our local economy.

GOAL: Barn repair plan and first stay-and-play package developed with local partners in year one.

1. Vision for Shelbyville

"Growth for the people, not the powerful." Shelbyville's growing whether we like it or not. The question is who's in charge of it. New development has to earn its way in, better roads, schools, utilities, and emergency response, not just more strain on what we've got. Go after corporate headquarters and career employers. Not another warehouse or gas station. Fix properties the city owns before buying more.

For families: fund police, fire, and public works fully. More downtown and outdoor dining. A city hall that stops hiding: council meetings back at 6:30 PM, so working people can show up.

16 years on council. I didn't move here for politics. It's home, four generations deep. I want the next generation to stay, build a career, and raise a family here.

2. Large Data Centers

I called for a moratorium on new data center projects until we have an ordinance in place, and I stand by that. These facilities can draw as much power as tens of thousands of homes while creating relatively few permanent jobs, so the math has to work for our town, not just the developer.

I'm not against development. I'm against signing away tax breaks and grid capacity before we've written rules that protect us. The pause buys time to study water and power impacts and negotiate from strength.

Any ordinance must require the developer, not ratepayers, to cover infrastructure upgrades, limit water use and noise, buffer neighborhoods and farmland, and direct revenue to schools, fire, and EMS, all in the open, with no NDAs and real public hearings.

If it comes here, it comes on our terms.

3. Racial Equity

Trust and representation in local government have to be earned, not assumed. If decision-makers, boards, city staff, contractors, don't reflect our community, that's a gap I want to close. That means being deliberate about who gets appointed, transparent about hiring and contracting, and publishing the data instead of assuming things are fine because no one's complained.

The same applies outside government: people need to see how decisions get made and get a seat at the table before decisions are final, not after. That means real public hearings, real notice, and inviting people from every part of town in, not just the folks who already show up.

No single policy fixes this. It's a habit of governing in the open and holding our institutions accountable to everyone they serve.

4. Our Immigrant Neighbors

Shelbyville is a small town, and the people who live here, including our immigrant neighbors, are part of what makes it work: coworkers, church members, business owners, friends. Nobody should live in fear because of where they're from: anti-immigrant hate has no place here.

Immigration law is set and enforced federally, not by city government, and I won't pretend Shelbyville has authority it doesn't have. My job as mayor is what's in my control: treat every neighbor with decency and due process, keep local police out of the profiling business, and respond swiftly when someone is targeted by hate.

I won't pit neighbor against neighbor over this. I will keep Shelbyville a place where people can work, worship, and raise families without fear, regardless of where they started out.

5. Protecting LGBTQ Neighbors

What's happening to some of our LGBTQ neighbors isn't a difference of opinion. Stealing books off library shelves and running people out of business is theft, vandalism, and harassment, and I'll treat it that way. Those are crimes already, enforced the same way for anyone else. Nobody gets a pass because they've decided their target deserves it.

Staying silent isn't neutral. Shelbyville's LGBTQ neighbors run businesses, work, and raise families here. I'll say directly that discrimination and harassment aren't welcome, and back that up by supporting targeted businesses and making sure police take harassment reports seriously, not brushed off.

Protecting people is basic government responsibility: enforce the law evenly, and say plainly that everyone here gets to exist without fear.

6. Affordable Housing Without Sprawl

Sprawl isn't the answer to our housing crunch. Building further out adds infrastructure costs and eats up farmland without making housing more affordable. I want to focus on redevelopment: tax incentives for rebuilding and reusing property we already have inside city limits, instead of pushing outward.

That means incentives for developers who renovate vacant downtown buildings into housing, build infill on blighted lots, and include real affordable units, not just top-of-market condos. Tax breaks should come with strings: a share of affordable units, a commitment to build within our footprint, and a timeline so incentivized land doesn't sit vacant.

Done right, this grows our tax base without growing our sprawl, and keeps Shelbyville's character intact.

7. Flock Surveillance Cameras

I share the concern. A camera network that tracks people's movements with no warrant and no real limit on data retention isn't something we should leave unregulated just because it's already running. Since Shelbyville already uses Flock cameras, my instinct: keep the stolen-car and Amber Alert use cases working, but write down the retention limit, require a warrant for historical searches, and cut off data sharing outside Kentucky without consent. Use the tool, but make the rules for using it something the public can actually see and enforce.

1. Why This Office

I grew up here, raised my family here, and spent the last 16 years on the Shelbyville City Council watching this town change. Some of that change has been good. A lot of it has been growth for its own sake. Land filled up with warehouses that sit empty and gas stations while the things that make a town worth living in get put off another year. I decided to run because I don't think we have to accept that. Shelbyville can grow and still be a place where people are glad to live.

The other reason is that this office needs someone who isn't running on behalf of anybody. Mayor is a non-partisan job, and I intend to keep it that way. I have spent 32 years working at Toyota, where you don't get to argue about a problem forever. You have to evaluate it, make a plan to fix it, and then check whether the fix worked. We have to do that to stay competitive. That's the habit I want to bring to City Hall. My campaign is "Growth for the People, Not the Powerful," and I mean that literally. The people who live here should get the benefit of what is built here.

2. Projects and Goals

Start with what's already done, because it tells you what I'd do next. Renovating the Seventh Street corridor and closing Sixth Street to traffic were both my ideas. I brought them to the Council, made the case, and they got built. That's not a study or a plan. It's finished, it's on the ground, and you can walk it. The next step is filling it in with entertainment and dining downtown, so what we built gets used instead of sitting empty. I also want a golf cart initiative so people can actually move around the core of town.

Weissinger Golf Course is the other one I'd push hard. It is the largest tourist draw in the city and the second largest in the county, and I don't think most people realize that. We own an asset that already brings people here, and we've never really tried to expand it. I'd build it out as an event space and put together stay-and-play packages, so a visitor books a round, a room and a dinner in Shelbyville instead of playing eighteen holes and driving back to Louisville. That's tourism money staying in town, and it costs us no farmland.

I also want to make Shelbyville an easy place to open a business, because right now the process is something you must already know how to navigate. I'd put how-to guides right on the City website: steps to open a restaurant, steps to build a home, steps to get a liquor license, laid out plainly so somebody with an idea and no connections at City Hall can see the whole path before they spend a dollar. Streamlining permits and approvals starts with just telling people what the steps are.

Alongside that, I'd go recruit. We tend to wait and see who shows up, and then we're stuck reacting to whatever that is. I'd rather go after the businesses residents tell us they want and make the case for Shelbyville directly. And I'd build a business-friendly reputation the way you actually build one, by sitting down with the businesses already here on a regular basis and asking what obstacles are in their way. Being business-friendly doesn't mean handing over whatever gets asked for. A town that takes care of the employers it has doesn't have to work as hard to attract new ones.

Then there's the basic stuff people notice every single day. I want a road paving plan that isn't a mystery: rate every street in the city, publish the paving schedule on the City website, and let people see where their street stands and when it's coming. Families are next. Clear Creek Park and the FAC are a big part of what young families look at when they decide whether to stay here or move, and I'd like to see us add a splash pad. That one isn't planned yet. It's something I want to push for. I also want the comprehensive plan update done in the open, with public meetings people can actually attend, because that document decides what gets built here for the next 20 years.

3. Data Centers

My position is simple: I don't believe data centers are a good fit for Shelbyville. We are the gateway to the Bluegrass. We have a strong agricultural business community, we're an equine hub, and we are the American Saddlebred Capital of the World. Those are not just slogans we print on a brochure. Every one of them describes an actual industry here, with farms, barns, trainers, feed and equipment businesses, veterinarians, shows, and all the visitors who come with them. That industry runs on land, water and quiet. A hyper-scale data center runs on enormous amounts of power and water, puts out constant noise, and only employs a couple dozen people once it's built.

You don't set one of those down next to the thing that makes your town what it is and expect both to thrive. I was the first person to call for a moratorium on data centers in the City of Shelbyville, and as of August 20 we have one. There are no data centers inside our city limits today, and I'd like to keep it that way.

I'll also say something no other candidate in this race has said: no non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). If a company wants to build in Shelbyville, the people who live here get to know who it is, how much power and water it wants, and what it's asking the city for, before a vote, not after. I'm not signing a NDA to negotiate on behalf of the public. That's how communities end up finding out what got approved by reading about it in the paper, and I won't do it.

That said, "no" isn't a land use plan, so my advice is to use this moratorium to write real standards into the comprehensive plan instead of leaving the door propped open. Power, with a guarantee that residential ratepayers aren't subsidizing anybody's substation. Noise limits and setbacks from homes and farms. A decommissioning bond so taxpayers aren't left holding an empty building in 15 years. And a plain test for anything that does come forward: how many permanent jobs, at what wage, per acre and per megawatt? Frankfort already handed these companies statewide sales tax breaks, which is why developers are circling counties across Kentucky. Shelbyville doesn't have to add to it, and we don't have to take a project just because somebody offers one. There's better growth available to us: employers with careers, downtown business, and the horse and agricultural business economy we already have. That's what I'd go after.

4. Growth and Rural Character

The honest answer is that you protect rural land by being deliberate about where growth goes, not by pretending you can stop it. Shelbyville sits on an interstate between Louisville and Lexington. Growth is coming whether we plan for it or not. The only choice we have is whether it lands where we've already put infrastructure or wherever a developer happens to buy ground. That's why I keep coming back to the comprehensive plan and to downtown. Every business we put back into the existing core of the city is one that didn't get built on a field.

I also think we've been measuring the wrong thing. We've treated any development as a win because it's development. I'd rather have fewer projects and better ones. A corporate headquarters instead of another warehouse. Great restaurants and storefronts instead of another gas station. That's more tax base per acre, and it takes less farmland to get there. Shelby County's identity is horses and farms and a real historical downtown. People hear that and think nostalgia. It's an asset. It's the reason people want to move here in the first place, and if we develop in a way that erases what makes us special, we've sold the thing that made us worth moving to.

5. Why I'm the Best Candidate

Sixteen years on the City Council means I know how the budget works, how the departments work, and which problems are difficult to solve, versus which ones have just never been anybody's job. I'm not going to need a year to learn the system. It also means there's a record to look at. The Seventh Street renovation and the Sixth Street closure started as my ideas, and both are finished and standing today. I'd rather be judged on that than on anything I say in a questionnaire. And 32 years at Toyota taught me how to run something at scale. You measure what's happening, you fix the root cause instead of the symptom, and you confirm it stayed fixed. Most of what a mayor does is running operations. That's the work I've done my whole career.

The other thing I'd point to is that I'm not carrying anybody's water. This is a non-partisan office and I've run it that way. There is no developer with a claim on me. When I say growth for the people and not the powerful, that's a description of who I owe. I've lived in this town my whole life and I'll still be living here after the election, running into the same people at the grocery store. That tends to keep a person accountable better than any campaign promise does.

6. Bringing People Together

You bring people together with transparency. Most of the friction I've seen in 16 years hasn't been about ideology. It's been about people finding out too late. When a decision gets made and the public hears about it after the fact, they stop trusting the process, and then every decision after that one is a fight. My approach is to start the conversation earlier in the process. The comprehensive plan update, the paving schedule, any large development: publish it, hold real meetings, and let people push back while pushing back can still change something. That alone eliminates most of what looks like division.

Open government means a few specific things to me, starting with the two simplest. Move City Council meetings back to 6:30 p.m., because a meeting held while people are still at work is a meeting most of this town can't attend. And always allow public comment. Always. You don't get to take that off the agenda because you'd rather not hear what people have to say. That's exactly when they most need to be heard, and the mayor sitting up front is the one person who doesn't get to be too uncomfortable to discuss it.

From there: publish the paving schedule and the road ratings on the City website so anybody can see where their street stands without calling City Hall. Get agendas and backup materials out far enough ahead that people can actually read them before a meeting. Say who is asking the city for what. I'd rather have no NDAs at all, but if a developer insists on one, the entire council signs it, not just the mayor. And on data centers, no NDAs, period. If a company wants something from this town, the people who live here get to know what it is before a vote. And when the answer is no, say no and say why. People can live with a decision that went against them. What they can't live with is finding out they were not part of the process.

The other part is talking about things people actually feel. Nobody's street is Republican or Democrat. Nobody's water bill is. Potholes on the way to work, a splash pad at the park, those are things a room full of people who disagree about everything else can still agree on. I try to talk plainly and avoid the political language, because the second a discussion turns into a national argument, it stops being about Shelbyville. My job is to keep it about Shelbyville.

7. Shelby County Issues

The biggest one right now is who decides what gets built and under what rules: data centers, warehouses, subdivisions. The city and the county share planning and zoning, so the comprehensive plan update is the most consequential thing on the table, and it's happening right now. Utilities are tied directly to it. Water, sewer and electric capacity determine what Shelbyville can say yes to, and I'd rather know our limits before we make a promise than after.

Beyond that, roads and paving, which the city owns directly and which people judge us on every day. Downtown development: with Seventh Street renovated and Sixth Street closed to traffic, the live question is what fills that space, and that's city ground and city money. Parks and recreation, meaning Clear Creek Park, the FAC and the splash pad I'd like to add, which is how we hold onto young families. Underneath all of it is the same question. Shelby County is going to add people. The city's job is to make sure the people who already live here end up better off for it. Right now a lot of them just feel more crowded.

Government Experience

I have served on the Shelbyville City Council for 16 years, building hands-on experience across virtually every area of city government. I've been a consistent presence on the committees that keep Shelbyville running, including eight years on the Budget Committee, plus Public Works, Fire Department, Code Enforcement, Economic Development, and the Weissinger Golf Course Committee. I also served eight years on the Shelbyville/Shelby County Parks Board. After 16 years, I don't just understand how city government works, I've been in the room making the decisions.

Business Experience

I spent 32 years with Toyota Motor Manufacturing, and that experience shaped the way I think about just about everything. The Toyota Production System isn't just a business philosophy, it's a mindset built around doing things the right way, cutting waste, and holding yourself accountable. I want to bring that same common-sense approach to Shelbyville city government, so your tax dollars are spent wisely and your city runs the way it should.

Why This Race?

Shelbyville isn't a stepping stone for me, it's home. I grew up in downtown Shelbyville, went to school here, played in the park leagues, and graduated from Shelby County High School. I drive 100 miles a day for work because I choose to live here. This is where I'm raising my children, and I want them to have the opportunity to raise their families here too.

I'm also the only candidate who currently owns a home in the city for years, not months. That's not a talking point, it's a reflection of my commitment. I have real skin in the game.

Shelbyville is worth fighting for, and that means protecting what makes it special. We need design standards that preserve our small-town character, and we need growth that serves everyone, not just a select few. I want to attract corporate headquarters and quality investment, not more warehouses and gas stations on every corner.

Projects I'd Like to Work On

My first priority would be updating Shelbyville's comprehensive plan, but doing it the right way, with an open and transparent process where citizens are at the table. How our city grows should be decided by the people who live here, not behind closed doors. Growth for the people, not the powerful.

That commitment to transparency runs through everything I want to do. Board appointments should be open to everyone, not handed to the same familiar faces. Meeting start times should work for working people, not just those who can leave the office at 3pm. And agendas should be released 48 hours in advance so citizens actually have time to show up informed and engaged.

I also want public comment on the agenda at every city council meeting, not just the ones where it happens to be convenient. Notice, access, and a chance to speak are what separate a public meeting from a formality. If residents can't be heard before a vote, then the vote was never really theirs to influence.

I'd also like to re-introduce my golf cart initiative, giving residents a fun, practical way to get from their neighborhoods to downtown. It's a small-town idea that fits who we are.

Speaking of downtown, I want to see it become a true entertainment destination. That means expanding outdoor dining options for our existing restaurants and bars, and investing in the kind of atmosphere that draws people in and keeps them coming back.

Weissinger Golf Course is the largest tourism draw the city owns, and we're not taking full advantage of it. I want to repair the barn, and develop stay-and-play packages with our local hotels, Airbnbs, restaurants, and bars, turning a great golf course into a full visitor experience that puts money back into our local economy.

We'll also continue investing in Settle Gym, Daniel Field and the Shelbyville Skate Park, because quality recreation is quality of life.

And through all of it, public safety stays front and center. Our police, fire, and public works departments must be fully staffed and properly equipped to keep pace with our growth. That's not negotiable.

What Makes You a Candidate People Should Vote For?

I don't just talk about ideas, I've turned them into reality. Projects I championed over the years have become part of Shelbyville's fabric, including the Seventh Street corridor renovation and the closing of Sixth Street. I know how to take an idea from a council chamber to the ground.

I bring more elected experience in Shelbyville city government than any other candidate, 16 years of showing up, doing the work, and learning every corner of how this city operates. That's not something you can fake, and it's not something you can learn on the job.

But experience alone isn't enough. What drives me is simple: I genuinely love this city. I want Shelbyville to be a place my children choose to live and raise their own families, and that means making decisions today that we'll all be proud of tomorrow. I believe in being open, honest, and accessible to the people I serve.

I've spent 16 years working for Shelbyville. If you give me the honor of serving as your mayor, I won't stop.

Accomplishments in Office

I could list the police cars, fire trucks, and public works vehicles added on my watch, the miles of road paved, the improvements to Weissinger Golf Course and other city properties. But I'll be honest with you: those things should happen regardless of who's in office. Public safety and basic city services aren't accomplishments, they're the baseline. They're the job.

And that baseline matters. Public safety is the single most important responsibility a city government has. Every resident deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, and every first responder deserves the equipment and staffing they need to do their job. I have never wavered on that. I will always fight to make sure our police, fire, and public works departments are fully funded, properly equipped, and never left short-handed, no matter what else is competing for the budget.

What I'm also proud of are the things that didn't have to happen, the ideas that took vision, persistence, and someone willing to push for them.

When I was first elected to the city council, I initiated the Seventh Street corridor plan. My concern was simple: that stretch is a gateway to our city and an entrance to one of our parks, it needed to reflect who we are. That project is now complete, and it's also home to the Shelbyville Conference Center.

I also came up with the idea of closing Sixth Street to traffic and converting it into a pedestrian-only space, creating the kind of walkable, people-first environment that makes a downtown worth visiting.

And throughout my tenure, I have voted five times to lower your property taxes and have never once voted for a property tax increase. Your money is yours, and I've always treated it that way.

What Is the Most Pressing Issue Facing Shelbyville?

The most pressing issue facing Shelbyville right now is growth, specifically, making sure it happens the right way, for the right people.

For too long, decisions about how this city grows have been made by a select few rather than the community as a whole. That has to change. My top priority is redoing the comprehensive plan through an open, honest, and transparent process, one where everyday residents have a real seat at the table, not just developers and insiders.

Growth is not inherently bad. But it has to serve the people who already live here. We should never have to lower our current residents' standard of living just to accommodate new development. That's backwards. Anyone who wants to be part of Shelbyville should be raising our standards, not lowering them.

We get to decide what kind of city we want to be. I want Shelbyville to grow in a way that preserves our small-town character, protects our neighborhoods, and makes life better for the people already calling this place home.

"Growth for the people, not the powerful."