Chamber Q/A

Why do you want to serve on the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen? What makes you different & therefore a better choice for Alderman when compared to the other candidates? What are your top two priorities you hope to accomplish during your term?

I want to help Kingsport find ITS way into the FUTURE, rather than be led by other cities and initiatives. This is done by taking what might be wild or bizarre ideas and seeing if they have any footing to become reality in our region.

I’m a Candidate that is constantly looking forward to the Future for these new emerging opportunities. My background in Technology, Entrepreneurship, business, and healthcare lend themselves well to helping direct the City into the future.

I’m not a single-issue candidate but I will commit that priority number one is finding a way for Kingsport to emerge from the pandemic stronger. With all the changes in economics that are underway with MMT (Modern Monetary Theory), it’s crucial the City and Region have a solid list of projects with some timelines paired with some idea of the budgetary requirements to LIFT our City and Region above others. This means big thinking with lots of hands on deck. We should attempt to capture as much of this funding as possible and put it to work in our communities very quickly.

Number two lies in aligning Kingsport to become the Model City of the future. I think a sustainable and circular economy is well within reach for Kingsport with the announcements Eastman and Domtar have made recently. Pair that with an innovative and progressive plan to retrofit Kingsport with smart city components of the future like vehicle to infrastructure planning for smart roads etc will lead us to become a city that others want to imitate.

Please Watch My video response here https://youtu.be/n6RyKicj4qk

Jobs are always a hot topic. Kingsport funds NETWORKS, a joint economic development program with Bristol, Bluff City, and Sullivan County. By contract, that funding cannot be reallocated without buying-out the assets shared between the partners. NETWORKS focuses on leads/relationships with the State of Tennessee, our primary source of prospects. Besides NETWORKS, what do you think we should be doing to grow small businesses, sole proprietorships, entrepreneurship, and work-from-home opportunities?

Regionally we need to be working together to attract new business, We should definitely review the ROI that NETWORKS generates to make sure those investments are put to good use.

The City needs to make starting a small business very easy and encourage many to do so. We should work to make sure downtown businesses have traffic directed to them. An idea would be to partner with AEP on setting up a SuperCharging lot with 10-20 spots that have Competitive pay-for-use superchargers for electric cars. This will bring people off I81 into downtown. We could offer free weekends of supercharging etc to help these small businesses on slow days or weekends etc if needed.

Another initiative would be trying to build a local Kingsport ETSY type system that local businesses can have their merchandise listed in one location where it’s convenient to local buyers to imitate the experience they get when buying at a large retailer or online retailer like Amazon, but it’s all done with our local small retainers. The city could support this by investing in a locker-type system that is similar to the pickup lockers at Wal-Mart etc. so local retailers could compete with that convenience if the customer desires that.

Watch my video response here: https://youtu.be/edctoZClZ1I

What is your vision for Kingsport in the coming year and five years down the road and how do you see us getting there? Do you have a particular issue you would like to address, problem you would like to solve or project you would like to implement? If so, describe.

I’d love to see downtown thriving with restaurants, bars, pubs, and a social scene. I think we should have a plan to implement a smart city infrastructure and have a 20-30 year plan in place. With the economic changes, we are seeing modern monetary theory (MMT). It’s going to be important to have a large list of projects with a large effort on ramping up our workforce to tackle the modernization of Kingsport. The opportunity for growth is now, so I can easily see the city reviewing its debt position if that can be paired with a solid plan for investment and growth that shows an ROI with little risk of raising taxes on citizens.

On a particular issue, I’d like to see cement hill turned into a large but well-done mountain bike park paired with the main street project. This could drive in adventure tourism, promote healthy activities and help spur the need for more downtown service-oriented businesses, etc. Several cities have made something similar happen and had great results. What sets Kingsport apart from them is the close proximity that Cement Hill has to the downtown area.

Please watch my video response here: https://youtu.be/vMJKX0O13_w

Recently, Eastman and Domtar announced plans to make major investments in the green economy (plastics recycling and paper recycling for internet shipping boxes/packages). Do you support the corporate tax incentives provided to support these investments in our community?

Yes, I think becoming a circular economy is very important. The national publicity we could get by having claims that say “95 or 100% of the plastic and cardboard used in Kingsport are recycled right back into the supply chain, therefore not ending up in our local landfills” would mean we are one of the greenest cities on earth and really become the Model City of the future.

Please watch my video response here: https://youtu.be/PH5NSHtiYWU

With the exponential growth of online shopping, retail recruitment/retention is a challenge for all cities. National retailers are closing brick-and-mortar locations at an alarming rate. Therefore, the future of retail is uncertain. Shopping centers are owned/developed by private entities, not cities. How aggressive should Kingsport be in providing tax breaks and incentives to the retail sector?

The ROI has to make sense if we are going to do this. Any incentive has to have controls that are promoting new companies to the region. Not moving them between centers in town or from Bristol/JC to Kingsport. The emerging sector that can grow rapidly is small businesses. I think Kingsport needs to be very friendly to them and create the infrastructure to drive business to these areas. An example would be to create a Super Charging station/lot downtown around our small businesses that will bring in out-of-town people driving electric cars etc. For more on this please visit my video response Here. Another example was with a well-done Local ETSY style marketplace where local buyers can get the convenience of shopping with a large retailer or amazon experience but support the local businesses participating etc. This could be a stretch but in a way, it is like us providing on and off-ramps to the interstate with signs advertising what’s at the local exit, etc.

Watch my video response here https://youtu.be/gqh4qcr8fNs

Historically, social programs to combat homelessness, drug addiction, and rehabilitation have been the purview of the state and/or federal government with local assistance by charitable, faith-based, and non-profit organizations. Should Kingsport provide public tax dollars to fund social programs? Many organizations provide duplicative services. Should efforts be made to reduce redundancy and coordinate services? If you support new public funding for social programs, there are only two ways available: increased taxes/fees or reallocation of existing funds from another city operational services (like Police, Fire, Public Works). Would you support a tax increase? If not, what services would you reduce funding in order to reallocate to social programs? (Remember that many projects are grant-funded and/or contractual obligations that cannot be reallocated, like Stone Drive sidewalks, paving, economic development, Brickyard pedestrian bridge, schools, parks, etc.)

Combating homelessness and drug addiction is a very complicated issue. I think the city has to rely on its unique opportunity with Ballad and their COPA to take the first step at addressing the root causes tied to addiction and mental health. Reviewing the Ballad TOC (https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/copa/TOC-Ballad-Health-1.31.18.pdf) and their HCI (https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/Healthy_Communities_Institute_4.7.17.pdf) documents, It’s prevalent that substance abuse and mental health are regional problems that are to receive funding from the efficiencies of the merger. We need to work with Ballad and our Non-Profit and faith-based entities to build a solution before attempting to seek local tax funding.

Please visit my video response here: https://youtu.be/qLVC8yt5RYk

Much of Kingsport’s housing was built during the wartime/post-war era from 1940-1969. Therefore, it is aging and needs to be modernized and brought up to code. By Tennessee law, the ultimate code enforcement tool is demolition. Do you support the city’s code enforcement efforts? The resulting vacant lots can sit idle for extended periods and must be mowed/maintained by the city. Do you support the concept of providing those vacant lots to builders/developers for new, infill housing in existing neighborhoods like Highland, for example?

With the housing issue presenting itself in Kingsport, Post Covid. I think this issue could decline simply because people are seeking to move to this region and out of larger cities. However, a city has to have a program to address abandoned properties as they can be dangerous and bring down surrounding property values. So if the idea of paying money to demo a property and mow an empty lot versus watch property values decline is more than likely a good ROI on the demolition and mowing.

To learn more watch my video response here: https://youtu.be/4SPHxxknWXw

Kingsport has 30% more publicly subsidized housing units than Johnson City and 47% more than Bristol TN+VA. Kingsport also has 30% more houses in the $50,000-$149,999 price point than Johnson City and 20% more than Bristol. There is a market void in the mid-range of $200,000-$399,000. Do you support efforts to find ways to shore up this mid-range price point by streamlining development processes, encouraging developers to invest in Kingsport, and sometimes providing incentives for extenuating circumstances where necessary?

Yes, I think we should be streamlining any process to build and innovate in Kingsport. Not just homes in the 200-400k range. Being a city that removes red tape versus creates barriers and obstacles should be of importance. Residential developers are seeing very large gross margins on their investments so I’m not sure that over the next few years we will need to offer many incentives as the profits might do that.

Please watch my video response here for some more comments on the topic: https://youtu.be/ms-i0YxU6W4

Kingsport City Schools are often the deciding factor in a family living here or elsewhere in Tri-Cities. Some of our school facilities are now 100 years old and others are simply outdated compared to our neighbors. Do you support a long-term school modernization and/or building program to replace or modernize facilities?

Yes, Kingsport’s distinguishing factor is in part its public school system. Kingsport is an engineering town where parents are proud to raise their children and have them in the public school system. From recent comments, we do have the ability and funding to update the school system facilities over a period of time without increasing taxes, etc. With the new potential of the Biden infrastructure program, there will be $100B for school upgrades. Kingsport should have its List of projects along with talented grant writers ready to apply for these funds to not only upgrade our current schools but plan for the capacity needed as people are leaving more urban areas.

Please visit my video response to this Question at https://youtu.be/0C9cDOv58lo

We have talked about expanding existing businesses, attracting new businesses and job creation. Part of job growth involves having the workforce to support business and industry. What will you do to promote and encourage rigorous K-12 education standards supporting Kingsport City Schools in their daily work to graduate college-ready and work-ready graduates? How can we support access to and funding for higher education and industry-specific skills certification programs?

World-class education has been a staple in Kingsport for decades. We should continue to set the highest standards within that system. This education offering attracts bright minds and big thinkers, so it can be looked at as an economic driver as well. At the same time recognizing that we need to be preparing people for future jobs is very important. There are already glide path programs that feed into our largest manufacturing sectors for very hands-on well-paying jobs. Promoting, supporting, and funding those will be important.

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