Michael Dinwiddie Introduction

Here is an introduction for Michael Dinwiddie (Ward 1 Candidate) Enjoy!


Greetings:

My name is Mike Dinwiddie and I am running for Ward 1 Alderman. Rather than try to sound important by talking down to you, I hope to keep the tone of this conversational. Hopefully, that will inspire further conversation from you and will give me the opportunity to learn different (and perhaps better) viewpoints. Forgive me if it gets lengthy. I know your time is valuable.

First some background:

I am from New Orleans, Louisiana. I have lived in Tennessee for about twelve years and in Spring Hill for the past five. Before living in Spring Hill, I lived in Franklin prior to its explosive growth. I have been married for seven years and have two beautiful little girls, one three and the other two. I am a corporate charter pilot for Colemill Enterprises based at a little airport near downtown Nashville that not many people know about called Cornelia Fort Airpark. I ran for Mayor of Spring Hill in the last election and am proud to say that, even though I wasn’t elected, a lot of my ideas introduced in the campaign were worthy enough to continue. I was the only candidate talking about a hospital two years ago; I was the only candidate talking about a second interstate exit for the city two years ago; and I was the only candidate talking about the need for more industry in the area two years ago. This type of forward thinking is what our city needs as it moves its way into the future.

Next, some preliminary stuff:

Before we get into this, let’s at least understand the position I’m running for. An Alderman is not someone who comes to you and says, “This is what I’m going to do if you elect me.” Or “If you don’t vote for me, then you won’t get…” An Alderman simply doesn’t have that power and to say things like that is an attempt to fool you into a vote. There are seven other Aldermen. It is the group, not one Alderman, which makes the decisions. Therefore, I don’t intend to make you any promises (save one) because I can’t guarantee that the other seven members of the board will agree with me. The one promise I can make is that I will work with the other members of the Board in a spirit of harmony and respect. I will listen to their thoughts and attempt to understand their points of view. At the same time, I will voice my concerns and provide my own suggestions. By giving and taking ideas through discussion, the group will create synergy and the solutions that we come up with will be far more effective than the solutions that I could come up with as an individual.

Having said that, I do have personal opinions about how the city should progress in the upcoming years. These opinions aren’t set in stone and can be modified through discussion, but they do serve as a general guideline as to what solutions I would offer to the group and to the general way in which I would vote on certain issues.

On to the issues:

1. Fiscal Responsibility

As homeowners, we must constantly decide how to best handle the way we spend our money. Can we put in a new floor or would it be best to put the money in savings for an emergency? Should we pay the electric bill first and save the car note for the next check or the other way around? On and on. Our city should do the same. Just because we have access to large sums of money and the supply seems endless doesn’t mean we have the right to be careless with our spending. Voting to provide health insurance to all city employees for life without doing any research into what it would cost the city was not a very fiscally responsible thing to do for one of my opponents. I am firmly behind the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but I fear that, unless we prepare ourselves now, we may find ourselves in a situation where a tax is inevitable. I would like to see us be proactive now so that we aren’t forced to be reactive years from now.

a. Impact fees – Making a city reliant upon impact fees is not a very wise way to grow a city. First, it sets the stage for an ever-growing need for faster growth. As the city grows, it’s maintenance costs rise, which means we need more impact fees, which means we need more growth, which means our maintenance costs rise. Second, eventually the growth will slow as the city naturally finds its balance between supply and demand. As the growth slows, so will the money received from impact fees. But the costs associated with running the city will not slow. This is when the city will be forced to implement a tax.

We should either lower the impact fees, requiring more of the developer in regards to building the infrastructure or leave the impact fees as they are and focus on other areas of revenue such as the sales tax.

b. Prioritizing – As a city we need to decide what is truly important to the city in order of its importance. Then we can go about the business of taking care of “first things first”. Recently, the city decided to spend a large amount of money on a recreation center. While I think it’s needed and it’s something that I will use myself, I think it was overpriced and came at the expense of other, more important, projects. The money could have been better spent elsewhere. But, at least we’ll have a state-of-the-art swimming pool in the city… One of our top priorities needs to be improving our roads. When I say roads, I mean city roads that we have direct control over such as Port Royal. In the coming years, increased demand will be placed upon those roads and it would be downright negligent for a city not to prepare for that demand. Obviously state roads are an issue and need to be dealt with, but we are limited as to our control over what we do with those roads and when. Using city funds to help expedite the process of improving state roads or building a second interstate exit is an option that needs to be considered.

We should also require the city to make the city ledger public record. It is the taxpayers’ money and the taxpayers should have the right to know where every penny of their money is being spent at all times. If someone puts a stick of gum on the city credit card, the citizens should be able to see it. Simply doing this one thing would probably help the city “magically” find more money.

2. Economic Growth

With no property taxes and no state income tax, there isn’t a better city than Spring Hill for new industry to set up shop. We have an Economic Development Council. Let’s use them. An industrial park east of the interstate would be an ideal location for new, revenue-generating growth. Planning for this growth now will enable us to keep it separated from residential areas so that our residents aren’t disturbed. We need new industry for several reasons:
a. It brings more commercial growth associated with the industry. The hospital is a good example.
b. It allows the city to profit more from the sales taxes generated.
c. It will allow people to work closer to home rather than commute to another city. Since they are spending more time here, they will be spending more money here and our businesses will profit
d. It will provide an economic anchor for the city. GM would not have the leverage it currently has over the city and county and the city would benefit. Should GM decide to leave in the future, it would not have such a negative impact on the city.

Regardless of how badly some want to drastically slow or stop growth, it is going to continue. The only thing we can do is to make sure it happens responsibly. Building roads correctly the first time will eliminate the problems of re-building them later – the problem we face today with some of our roads. Likewise with development - incorporating an industrial park into the Master Land Use Plan so that it is properly placed and does not disturb our residents, now or in the future, will eliminate financial difficulties in the future.

3. Protecting our Past

As our city grows in the future, it is important to not forget where we have come from. We are in danger of over-running the very things in our city that have defined us as a city. Many cities, large and small, have decided to turn their most valuable land into recreation parks. New Orleans has City Park. New York has Central Park. Chicago has Millennium Park. Closer to home, Nashville has Centennial Park and Franklin has Pinkerton Park situated next to Fort Granger. Turning the Civil War battlefield on Kedron Rd into a recreation park for the city would be a welcome addition to the several parks already in existence. Protecting RippaVilla and other homes of historical significance would also add to the city’s culture and attractiveness.

It is important that we grow. If we, as a city, are not growing then we are dying. It is equally important that we do not grow at the expense of destroying our cultural integrity.

To wrap it up (thank God),

I believe that we are living in what could be the most important point in our city’s history. What we decide to do over the course of the next four years will have a direct impact on where this city is fifty years from now when most of us are gone and our grandchildren are running the place. I believe that it will take some amount of foresight and proactive thinking and a large amount of listening, understanding and perhaps, above all, compromising. I will be the first to tell you that I do not have all the answers nor do I know all the minute details of various issues. What I do have is the ability to think long term, see the forest rather than the trees and compromise with others to find the best possible solution to any particular challenge. I believe these qualities would allow me to serve this city as Alderman and I would greatly appreciate your support in this endeavor.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I can be contacted at mdinwiddie@charter.net.

Michael Dinwiddie