Hi! I’m Larry Betsch, Candidate for the Newcastle City Council.
The current council member’s term ends on December 31st of this year. I see elections as a job interview — a really long, arduous job interview! When a term ends, the job becomes open. I and two others are “applying” to you for the job, and it’s up to you to determine who will best represent your interests at City Hall for the next four years.
Community Involvement
The people who lead us in the future will make crucial decisions which will impact us all. I believe good government should listen and respond to the needs of our families, neighborhoods, and our current and future business partners with effective communication and strong leadership. This will ensure the foundation this city was built on will remain vital and strong. We need to work together to improve our neighborhoods by communicating with our residents and dealing with their issues.
City Finances
Now is the time to strengthen the financial condition of Newcastle. We must evaluate our budgeting and prioritization process to ensure we are efficiently allocating and measuring the utilization of our limited tax resources. As a financial controller, I will bring needed experience to the council and the leadership to work towards creating a more robust and healthy financial future.
Economic Development
As we move forward from our current economic environment it is critical that we fully understand the impacts of our Community Business Center (CBC) plan. The CBC is a cornerstone in achieving the vision of our city’s Comprehensive Plan and is critical to our future. Diversity in our revenue base is imperative; however, we must also control growth in such a way that we do not impact the values and quality of life that brought us all to this community.
By the same token, we must ensure that our residential development process is as streamlined and nimble as required, and provides incentives for potential development that increase the tax base and yet protect our unique Newcastle community.
Public Safety
At the same time we work to increase our economic development, we need to devote time to the issue of public safety. It’s the city’s responsibility to continue to maintain an environment where citizens feel safe at any hour of the day, in our downtown, transit center and in our neighborhoods, even as our city grows. We must evaluate our public safety policies and services to ensure appropriate resources are available.
Your support and the support from many endorsers remind me that I am not alone in this campaign. Together, we will work to keep Newcastle a place we can be proud of.
I will bring this city together, and you will see a new Newcastle that you will love.
Please join me as a friend, and let me know what issues are important to you.
