Robert Carney on the Issues
Cornelius has reached a critical moment. The decisions made over these next few years will dramatically impact our quality of life.
I want Cornelius to own its development future. A community that uses creativity, innovation and discipline to ensure tomorrow's growth demands makes us better, not worse.
It's common for communities in our situation to become highly reactive to the interests and demands of the private sector. When this happens, you're choosing which best bad decision is suitable for your community, and that's the problem. Whether you're "pro-growth" or "anti-growth," in both cases, you're reacting to how the market values Cornelius. This is backwards, and I will work with town staff and elected leadership to change this.
The market focuses on how it may pull or draw value out of Cornelius when it should be the other way around. Our focus must be on leveraging development that aids the improvement of traffic, generates revenue for the community in order to keep our taxes affordable, and adds amenities that improve our quality of life.
Because of our proximity to Charlotte, we see growing concerns with crime coming up I-77 and into our Town. I want to ensure we have the necessary public safety infrastructure to protect our community. I will work to:
- Balance our public safety needs against responsible fiscal management of our tax dollars
- Provide our public safety personnel with the resources needed to protect them as well as enhance their ability to protect our citizens
Given the geography of our Town, no single transportation project can improve our traffic problems more than the proposed Exit 27. As commissioner, I will use my experience as well as my personal relationships to:
- Work with NCDOT and our representatives in Raleigh to make Exit 27 a priority
- Explore all available funding options at the local, state, and federal level
Our residents have made it clear that prioritizing parks, greenways and recreational amenities must be a continued focus for Cornelius.
Championing innovative ways to proactively communicate with residents in order to keep our community up-to-date on vision, priorities and progress. I will also work with town staff to create new communication channels to better understand the needs and wants of our residents.