Candidate Response - Eric Grill
District: Five
Name: Eric Grill
Occupation: Construction Business Owner
Website: www.grillforcape.com
Email: Eric@GrillForCape.com
Phone: 841-0042
- My vision- A city that is the regional leader in economic development with the full faith and confidence of its citizens behind the city council. A city that is guided by a realistic and comprehensive strategic plan, created by a committee composed of residents, business owners and city administration. A city where people live, work, and play, a city that has a diverse economic climate that can withstand a downturn in construction and/or real estate. After my first term- There will be an expanded commercial tax base, a long range comprehensive plan for future development that spells out the CAC’s and the Zemel property. CRA projects completed and the downtown area starting to thrive.. A budget and a budgeting process that are in control of the council. You will also see a council that is in control of this city; not the city administration
- The largest challenges facing this city- Maintaining levels of service while reducing spending, economic development, and restoring the trust of the citizens. Maintaining levels of service will require each department to become more efficient. Cross training of employees, eliminating non required perks, obtaining more bids on purchases, and establishing goals to which all staff members are held accountable. Economic Development has to include bringing corporations here that will pay a livable wage. We have to offer them the right incentives. Waiving impact and permit fees to increase our tax base and having jobs created that pay livable wages is worth the fees waived. We also have to expedite the whole development process so that the businesses can be operational within 12-18 months. Restoring Trust will come over time as we (the council) prove ourselves to be good stewards of the money paid in taxes by the citizens of
- Controlling costs of government services- This starts with the council taking control of the city administration and holding them accountable. There is too much of the “tail wagging the dog”. Before we just arbitrarily adjust fees, we have to know where all the money was spent of previously collected monies. If you don’t have a handle on where you went wrong, then you will never correct the situation. Fully investigating all options before proceeding with projects and acquiring a guaranteed maximum contract from subs will be a good start. Does everyone need a vehicle? Can we move positions between departments as needed? Are all of our departments providing a level of service commensurate with their level of funding? These are the questions I will demand be answered.
- To improve the economic situation- We begin with establishing the guidelines for corporations to receive fee waivers in exchange for job creation and expanding our tax base. With guidelines in place and an expedited development process,
- Plans for using new communication and business tools- I will be available via email and cell phone obviously. Beyond that I am working on setting my website up to be used as a tool for interaction with the citizens. I will utilize it to update everyone about the ongoing issues and to address specific concerns of any citizen that needs assistance. When a capital project is moving forward, I will use the website to get input. If there is a way to improve city services I will discuss it on the website. This is not a new tool, but I plan on holding meetings with just me and the citizens to get their input on a regular basis.
