We are supporting Gene Mim Mack for Mayor. We believe that Gene and the present Council have worked hard and diligently to take care of the needs of our community now and in the future.
All of our towns, cities and county governments are going through difficult times trying to manage limited funds and provide essential police, fire, sewer and water services in addition to other obligations.
For many years, we have followed the actions of our Mayors, Councils and City Employees, and they all have done well with what they had. But in the more recent past, it has become imperative that some of our essential infrastructure must be replaced or updated. That, of course, means money! Where does it come from – a limited tax base, fees or rate increases, grants or government programs. We believe the existing Mayor and Council, as well as more recent Councils, have done very well in trying to seek new funding sources and meld those sources with what we have to make the increases as painless as possible for all of us.
The raise in water rates has been painful, more so for some of our residents. Our present and previous Councils worked out a plan which included a raise in rates, however, the present Mayor, Council and City Staff are getting unjustly blamed for the raise. Because of concern for friends and neighbors, we inquired if there was a way to help and found the Council was taking steps to mitigate the impact on those that needed help. There are also many in Stevensville who understand that our water system has needed upgrading for many years. And at some point we all would have to pay for it. We are indeed fortunate to have access to good water. As populations grow, there will be more demands on the resource and it could cost much more in the future.
We are very fortunate to live in a community like Stevensville, to have the services we need, access to our government, friends and neighbors who care and help, a viable business community, and many civic organizations who work for the good of our community. And most of all to have people in elected office who care about the community as a whole and do not impose their individual prejudices and ideologies upon us.
Gene Mim Mack is one of those people. He, Robbie and Alison have volunteered on many projects, given willingly of their resources and time since they arrived in Stevensville. He will continue to do an excellent job and represents us well. We will vote for him, and hope other residents of Stevensville will. Do contact other candidates for the Council, find out about them and their goals, before you vote.
John and Darlene Grove
Stevensville