I don't support installing automated license plate readers in Bella Vista.

These systems photograph every vehicle that passes, whether or not the driver has done anything wrong. That data gets stored, shared with agencies most residents have never heard of, and retained on timelines we don't control. We would be building a permanent record of our neighbors' daily movements, where they worship, who they visit, when they're out of town, and asking them to trust it will never be misused.

I don't believe safety requires that trade. Our public safety needs are real and I take them seriously. I'd rather invest in officers, in response times, and in enforcement that treats residents like neighbors instead of subjects.

Government should need a reason before it watches you. And once we build the infrastructure to track everyone all the time, we don't get to un-build it. I'd rather not start.

Too often the City waits for a complaint before it acts. I'd rather get ahead of the problems: the stop signs people roll through; the golf carts and other unapproved vehicles on the Greenway and trails; and some Short Term Rentals packed past their limits. This isn't about being heavy-handed. It's about fairness. A rule that only applies when someone bothers to complain isn't really a rule, and the neighbors who follow the rules deserve to know everyone else has to as well.

I enjoy riding the Greenway and trails, and want to see them continue to grow. These are the things that have put Bella Vista on the national (and international) map. But expansion has to be done right. It can't come at the cost of residents' quality of life, and every mile we build has to be a mile that can be maintained for the next generation of riders. Trails and pavement that we can't maintain isn't a gift to those who follow, but rather a burden we chose not to address. I'll support, in the ways the City Council can, trail investment that's sustainable.

The amenities we get through the POA are a genuine bargain, and Tom Judson's team does excellent work delivering them. I don't think this relationship is broken, and I'm not interested in picking a fight where none is needed. Good judgment means recognizing what's working and keeping it that way, not just chasing what's wrong.

This one is interesting! I want Bella Vista promoted, and I like the idea of visitors helping pay for it through lodging and prepared-food taxes rather than putting the whole cost on residents. But that prepared-food tax lands on Bella Vistans too, every time we grab lunch, or dinner. And there's a deeper tension. If we promote ourselves so well that we get overrun, we haven't won anything. We've handed the town over to the very outside interests I want to guard against. So I'm not going to pretend I have this one solved. What I'll promise is the question I'll keep asking with every A&P decision: how do we grow the welcome without crowding out our neighbors?

The City Council just voted down an increase in the number of STRs. Good! We don't need any more right now. What we need instead is to take a hard look at how the current 600 are affecting our way of life. I believe that most visitors who stay in one of our STRs are good people, just wanting a nice place to stay in our beautiful city. Most visitors are not the problem. The problem is that we aren't regulating WHERE these STRs can be permitted. For instance having 5 STRs on a street with only 10 homes is poor permit management. We need to figure out the "clustering" issue before we even think about increasing the overall number.