I am running for City Council to promote the well-being of Bath residents across the lifespan – from young families to older adults, by imbedding livability for all ages in everything we do. What we do for one age typically benefits people of all ages; such as whether wide, safe sidewalks are used by parents with a stroller or older adults walking with friends.
Bath is a wonderful small city and issues ahead on my mind and those of voters include:
We need to hire a new city manager – I have seasoned experience hiring people who can work with creative collaborative teams while stimulating innovation. I will put those skills to use in the screening and hiring for our next city manager.
We need to continue to grow and strengthen our community infrastructure, especially our high performing police, fire and emergency response departments. The prompt and effective response of Bath’s police department made all the difference in my neighborhood when one rental building became a drug dealing site. I will work so that these professionals continue to get the training and tools needed to cope safely with challenges they face; whether the opioid epidemic or the daily speeders on city streets.
A planned traffic study in Bath’s South End and the need to write a new comprehensive plan for Bath offer real opportunities to shape our future. Let’s use the new traffic study to expand our options for improving walkability on our streets. I will also work to imbed concepts of livability for all ages in the next comprehensive plan so it offers a vision for housing options, safe neighborhoods, ‘complete streets’ with more traffic calming, and an infrastructure that builds on the quality of life we have.
As I walk door to door in Ward 1, I am excited by the number of young, new Bath residents I’ve talked to, who are moving here due to Bath’s affordability and quality of life. I hear their pride about repairs to old houses, and the new families they’ve started & want to raise here. It’s also been refreshing to meet many older adults who helped build today’s Bath and who want to age safely here. We have benefited from many retirees moving here with defined benefit pensions. Yet less than 22% of the current workforce will have pensions in the future as the middle class continues to be “hollowed out”.** We need to prepare for a different economic future – it is not impossible, but it is not going to be “business as usual”.
These different age groups often talk about the same issues – whether speed on neighborhood streets, empty houses, tax equity or where children can safely play. In my career, I have learned that collaborative teams produce creative practical ideas when they listen instead of presuming the answers are already known. I am running because I have experience, creativity and common sense that will help us develop the practical answers we need for Bath’s future.
phyllisbailey4bath.com 