When I tell people I'm running for St. Cloud City Council, their often react with "good luck". It sometimes seems like an involuntary reaction which is understandable given the state of politics in our Country. That's actually one reason why I'm running - albeit for a local non-partisan office. Local politics is about improving the local community and getting things done through consensus and pragmatism. It's about listening to people's ideas and incorporating them into other's ideas. It's about discourse and conversation. It's about problem-solving.
Each and every one of us in St. Cloud has an inherent interest in improving our quality of life. A good quality of life fosters economic development. A good quality of life increases property values. A good quality of life improves the health of a community. So how do we improve our quality of life? In part, we need to protect and strengthen our core neighborhoods through crime prevention, proactive enforcement of existing ordinances, and placemaking that highlights a neighborhood's uniqueness.
Improving our quality of life also means working proactively with neighborhood groups on their own initiatives and ideas. I don't pretend to know all the answers or have all the ideas - indeed many more people have great ideas. We need to create an atmosphere that allows people to share these ideas and implement them.
I will post more blogs on why I'm running in the future. Thanks for reading this first one!
Take care,
Jake
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