• Ask the Candidates: Why do you want to be a Councilperson?

    By Staff
    September 5, 2017
    33 Comments

    Ask the Candidates: Why do you want to be a Councilperson?

     

     

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    No wonder, they call him...

    "I did not run ... to play petty games."

    So who did?

    "I ran to ..."

    Yes, you ran because Bodker and Davenport backed you up, so you can be their trusted ally on the Council.

    "We paved OUR neighborhood roads."

    Okay wiseguy, who else do you think was supposed to do that. Do you think our neighboring cities should have done that for us?

    "We lowered the millage rate"

    Thank you, Stephanie Endres.

    "We reduced operating expenses..."

    Again, thank you Stephanie Endres and Chris Coughlin.

    "Live stream our council meetings."

    Even some third world cities and towns are doing it.

    "Safe city, good schools..."

    Not for too long... with your puppet-master Bodker's plans to bring affordable "low income" housing for the fast food workers and public transportion to bring in more medicaid patients to your chiro practice.

    "I'll vote for term limits."

    Too late, you had your chance but instead chose to protect your puppet-master Crooked B.

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=358704977896904

    Term Limits

    Zaprowski has had 4 years to implement term limits, but he has not done so, even though the city has conducted two charter commission reviews during this time. He is now all for term limits now that he is up for re-election, but what makes us think he will keep his promise?

    John Hawkins

    whats the story with Venco and Holladay not even bothering to respond? every candidate running responded except them. Too busy? Not organized? Not a good way to get their campaigns kicked off.

    ABB

    Speaks volumes about those candidates. If they cannot even bother to answer this, how will they ever have time to be a council member. I will not vote for either of these two.

    Mark Venco

    John,

    Just so you are aware late in the week the questions were due, we found out that my father-in-laws wife with stage 4 cancer had taken a turn for the worst and her time was limited. Everything got put on hold!

    She passed away this week and the viewing is tomorrow at Roper funeral home in Jasper and the funeral is Friday.

    I ask that everyone please keep in mind that me, John, Vicki and Trey all have families and have issues that come up. We are running for public office and everyone has the absolute right to question us, so reach out and ask us directly instead of speculating. We all are just starting to ramp up our campaigns but we all have ways of being contacted and I think that each of us will welcome the opportunity to respond to you directly. We may even miss an email or a text, just remember we are human just like everyone else.

    Best Regards,
    Mark Venco
    Candidate - Post 3

    Paul

    I think they are smart. Why let their answers be twisted, distorted , and ridiculed by the JCPost fans?

    Suzi

    Paul...huh?
    This was just one forum where a candidate could speak his or her mind and tell the Johns Creekers why they are running. Simple as that. It;s not like they are writing their Master's thesis. Sheesh! Can they not tell us why they are running???? I guess they could say that Bodker wanted them to run? Or on a whim? . LOL

    ABB

    Suzi, I agree. Maybe they had to ask Mike for their answer and he did not get back to them in time since he is now hot and heavy on the campaign trail.

    One JC Voter

    From this article, it appears that Chris Jackson is against Mayor Bodker.

    Multiple JC Voters

    No, on the contrary, he blames the Council.

    And why run against Stephanie, the best representative on the Council the taxpayers/citizens ever had.

    BTW, who is Chris Jackson, Never heard of him before.

    #BootBodker

    I see differently.

    I disagree. If you are against Bodker why run against Endres. She is the most principled and has not worked with Bodker well. Because Bodker does not like to be questioned.

    The "divisiveness" he is referring to is the one between Bodker and Endres.

    What are the goals of the city?

    Because right now, those goals are to build high rise apartment buildings, continue with high density housing, increase traffic and claim the residents want it.

    Heather M.

    My first impression from what I have seen and heard from the campaign so far is that Bradberry seems to have the best grasp on our situation.

    First impressions can be misleading...

    If Mr. Bradberry is a straight-shooter. let him put his money where his mouth is. Will he be supporting/endorsing and voting for soon-to-be-Mayor Alex Marchetti and future councilwoman Issure Yang, or will he ultimately side with the LOSERS?

    Phillip

    Ms Endres...running for office because your neighbors want you to is not sufficient reason for me to vote for you. I want to know what you see are the top 5 priorities/challenges for the City and how you will approach addressing them?

    Tyler

    Go online and watch Endres during the council meetings. Her record is clear and consistent. Here's a link to make it easier for you.

    https://www.johnscreekga.gov/Residents/City-Clerk/Meeting-Agendas-Minutes

    As for her opponent...who asked Jackson to run? Was it Bodker or Broadbent on behalf of Bodker?

    Stephanie Endres

    Phillip – Thank you for your question and I am happy to share my views. The top priorities facing the city of Johns Creek (all of equal importance) are 1) implementing congestion relief initiatives, 2) reviewing and implementing the updated Comprehensive Land Use Plan, 3) implementing our Parks Strategic Plan, 4) establishing a competitive tax structure for businesses, 5) strong fiscal management and 6) effective transparency through strong and active engagement with residents.

    1 The traffic congestion issues are being addressed through operational improvements and effective capacity improvements. I have been working to connect residents and city staff to discuss and work through appropriate initiatives which have resulted in incremental improvements like the left turn lane being added at Grove Point Road (Medlock Bridge subdivision). And I have also worked on strong defined capacity improvements that have minimal impact to residential properties and maximum impact for traffic.

    2 The City of Johns Creek’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan will be updated within the next year. This is the document that controls the size, scope, type and zoning development of Johns Creek. It is critical we get this right because it will set the parcel zoning classifications that affect our premier residential bedroom community status for the next 10 years. I have supported the existing Comprehensive Land Use Plan in zoning cases that have come before the City Council in the last 18 months.

    3 Implementing our Parks Strategic Plan is critical as a bond referendum was passed last year and the financial resources are available to expedite maintenance on existing parks/green space, development of new parks/green space and possible acquisition of available green space. Prioritizing park maintenance has been a focus of mine so existing fields are operational. I drove the discussion to prioritize the turf fields that are being installed at New Town Park and Shakerag Park this fall. Also prioritizing the pocket parks that the city purchased over the past five years should be addressed for neighborhood access and utilization.

    4 Streamlining business taxes, licenses and fees process as well as reforming taxes for businesses to be more competitive have been a priority of mine. The majority of businesses in Johns Creek exist to provide goods and services to the residents. Keeping the process easy for compliance and taxes competitive will assist in retaining and attracting new businesses.

    5 Strong fiscal management is critical to ensure our City can financially sustain the infrastructure of all the public safety staff and equipment, public roads, sewers, buildings, property, parkland and now city hall the city owns. This also includes ensuring financial decisions are fiscally sound and limit waste. The first millage rate and budget discussions I was able to engage as a council member (summer of 2016), I co-lead the effort to rollback the millage rate and identified $1.0 million in excess expenditures to be removed from the budget. I co-assisted in the implementation of the 10 year financial forecasting tool the city is using to financially manage the day to day operations as well as capital outlays. The current budget discussions are occurring now and I am focused on more savings to be realized through future contracting or expenditure budgeting while still providing exceptional services.

    6 Effective transparency through strong and active engagement with residents with city staff and city council is critical to ensure residents are aware of decisions that will affect them either in their backyard or city wide. I lead the effort to pass a resolution supported by all Council members to support the Fulton County Commissioners effort to rollback the 2017 residential property tax assessments to 2016 assessment levels. I am continuing to work on establishing strong lines of communication between residents and city staff to ensure we are working on these projects in tandem.

    If you have any questions, please contact me at (770) 359-7934 or email me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

    ABBAZ(Anyone But Bodker And Zaprowski)

    Bravo Stephanie!

    Unlike the wimps who choose not to answer the voters, you got game Missy!

    You have always been for the people, unlike all of the Clowns( Chris is not!) on the Council.

    Keep up the good work and be assured you will be returned to the Council by a vast majority of us who crave for a GOOD government - of, by and for the people.

    Carlos Carbonell

    Masterful Stephanie! Thank you so much for what you do for all of us. Keep it up!

    Trey Holladay

    Due to a computer malfunction my responses to the Johns Creek Post questionnaire were not received until Sunday morning a few hours after the deadline. Unfortunately, the JCP editor chose not to post them. You can find my answers at my Facebook page:
    https://www.facebook.com/treyholladayforcitycouncil/

    ABB

    Good lesson why you should never wait until the last minute to do something that is important to be done on time.

    Computer Malfunction?

    Hola, Mr. Holladay!

    In this day and age where the average household in JC has access to at least a dozen or so web-connected gadgets, your brilliant excuse is nothing but an insult to the voters. Even little kids nowadays are smart enough to refrain from the dog ate my homework excuse.

    And your delayed response just gets a D- (nothing impressive!).

    Editor

    "Computer malfunctions" is NOW the reason you couldn't meet the deadline?
    Interesting, I thought it was email issues.

    As a refresher, Below is your email, that you sent TEN hours after the deadline, not a few.

    Also noteworthy you mention struggling to get your PR to Hatcher. Not sure why there were issues, as I heard from several candidates you had no problem emailing ALL the candidates that you could attend the JCSL Debate, Saturday, the same day as the alleged email troubles or err computer malfunctions.

    Jennifer,
    See attached. Please let me know if you received this. Apologies, I’ve had some issues with my emails getting through. (It took 4 tries to get my press release to Hatcher the other day)

    Best Regards,

    Trey Holladay

    Whoa!

    What a way to kick-start a campaign, Pinocchio!

    MB Mom

    Editor--why are you getting involved in the responses? It's not appropriate. You should post the answers you receive and let the citizens debate the responses.

    You didn't comment on why Mark Venco didn't answer.

    Editor

    It is ALWAYS appropriate to respond to comments on MY website. Particularly, when someone is stating different stories as to why they did not participate in the "Ask the Candidate series".

    Please refer our Ask the Candidates FAQ.

    Carlos Carbonell

    Candidate Holladay, computer malfunctions are not an excuse nowadays, you could even have used a smart phone for that matter. On the other hand, leaving things for the last minute speaks volumes, we all have busy lives, and glitches happen. You have chosen to share your life now with the public, something like this, is just unacceptable. Definitely not a good start for you.

    Paul

    So the JCPost could not be kind enough to include Trey's answers that were late because of a computer problem, but just let Endres completely redo her answer!

    EJ Moosa

    Endres was asked a question and answered it. Holladay posted a response and pointed folks to his Facebook page.

    Two different approaches to engaging the public. I prefer the first over the second...

    Carlos Carbonell

    Untrue, Councilwoman Endres was asked a direct question and she responded in a timely manner. Very different things!

    Suzi

    A deadline is a deadline ! If you don't pay your bills on time , can't get your child to school on time, miss your wedding start time , Or scheduled surgery time , blame yourself , not others !

    John Bradberry

    Mark, I get what you are saying and sorry to hear about your father-in-law's wife.

    Mark Venco

    Thanks John, I appreciate your thoughts!

    quickcarl

    I'd like to see Lenny's response to my question here (an now) "Lenny do your support some of your most vocal supporters removing the posted signs of Issure Yang during this campaign?"

    And as a followup, "Have you condemned the practice and made public that it is NEVER acceptable to remove campaign signs from the opposition?"

    As a final followup, "IF you have, where and when did you do that (links please) and if not, why not?"

    PS - Not anonymous, and you are welcome to get in touch with me anytime you like. Office line 770-249-8665.

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