Check out this article in the Post & Courier about our planned purchase of a new fire truck.

“Councilwoman Jenn Hulehan said during the Oct. 26 meeting she appreciated that city staff was being proactive about keeping its equipment up to date and in good condition.”

“I’m pleased to get this kind of information in advance, because that hasn’t always been the case since I’ve been on council, and it’s exactly why we put the capital reserve account in place,” she said. “We need to be able to very quickly address situations like this instead of wrapping things up in duct tape and hoping for the best.”

I’m not exaggerating when I say that about duct tape and hope. When I came into office, I discovered that’s exactly what our Council had the city doing. Our poor public works trucks were literally being held together with duct tape and even that was no longer holding up. There was no long-term planning happening. No plan for when the duct tape failed. No capital reserve fund or capital plan! We’ve made significant progress since then, which is why we are able to make financially prudent decisions like this one when they not only need to be made but can save us money–your taxpayer money.