Achievements
Economic Development
What I said in 2011:
- I will use my extensive business background and solid connections throughout the state to be a personal advocate for our strong workforce and existing companies.
- I will market and promote Jasper to targeted industries, entrepreneurs and young families.
- I will represent Jasper while partnering with neighboring communities and the Dubois County Area Development Corporation to spur economic growth.
- I will support the use of incentive tools for job creation.
- I will participate in efforts to revitalize our area highway system.
What I’ve been able to do as your Mayor:
I am excited to say the City of Jasper will be the first city in Indiana to have a privately financed Fiber-to-the-Premise network to all businesses and residents. We leveraged the communication needs of city government into a state-of-the-art fiber optics network throughout the entire community. This project will make Jasper the most connected city in the state and one of only a few cities of its kind in the United States. The city-wide fiber network will be constructed without use of taxpayer dollars.
This project has made news across the country including the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Smithville Telecom of Bloomington will invest $7 million dollars in the project with engineering to take place in 2015 followed by the system build in 2016-2018. Companies and households who wish to take the service will be turned on during the process and inquiries may be made to jasper.smithville.com.
The GIGA CITY project is one of several monumental economic development happenings I’ve announced since taking office in 2012. Jasper and Dubois County have seen solid gains in the availability of jobs. Month after month, we lead the state with the highest level of employment and we are in the top 20 of all rural Midwest counties in labor force participation rate. In Jasper alone, key employers have expanded their physical operations and their employee base, including Jasper Engines & Transmissions, Stens, Meyer Distributing and Kimball International. Jasper Group, Kimball Electronics, National Office Furniture have all expanded and the Hanselman family invested into more hospitality by converting the old country club clubhouse into the new KlubHaus 61 and the Schnitz Brewery & Pub. Overall, we have more jobs available than people to fill them which is a great challenge.
We applied for a State Shovel-ready designation for the Kimball Industrial park and were awarded such a distinction for this 142-acre development site within the city limits. Since 2012, I have participated in more than fifty ribbon-cutting or groundbreaking ceremonies!
The redevelopment of a portion of the former JOFCO manufacturing plant at 13th & Vine received the go-ahead from state officials on February 26 with the granting of $1.2M state tax credits to the project. The City of Jasper and Miller-Valentine of Dayton, Ohio worked together on the application for JOFCO Lofts. The proposed project calls for $13.1M of investments – including funds authorized by the City Council – to convert a portion of the factory into 67 workforce apartments. It will be the first repurposing of an old industrial property into residential living in the history of Jasper. UPDATE! In our September Common Council meeting Miller-Valentine announced 40 more workplace apartments in JOCO Lofts Phase II. Plus, they have an option to purchase the former Jasper Wood Products (Monster Recycling) building next door to develop Vine Street Lofts. All told, there is more than $30 million dollars of proposed new development along Vine Street, one of our oldest industrial areas!
The Jasper Downtown/Riverfront Master Plan enabled city planners and our administration to market two additional former industrial sites to developers. The Jasper Community Arts Commission and the Jasper Public Library Board have conducted research into joining together to create the Jasper Cultural Center at the Hoosier Desk property. This collaboration by two public institutions has been lauded as “visionary” and I agree. UPDATE! In September, the Jasper Public Library Board voted to move the library to the Hoosier Desk site pending a referendum in 2016. In addition, the Jasper Council expressed their support for the Jasper Arts joining in the proposed Jasper Cultural Center pending financial review. The Jasper Arts Commission asked that EDIT funds be combined with a capital campaign for the project. I also want us to follow the recommendations of our Downtown/Riverfront Master Plan and seek a private developer for a unique apartment or condominium opportunity on the Hoosier Desk site.
In another exciting move, a private developer announced that they have secured an option to buy the Jasper Cabinet property. This is a very significant step towards turning this site into a development which fits what citizens said they would like to see along the riverfront.
People – Strengthening Our Community’s Core
What I said in 2011:
- I believe fortifying the jobs we have and bringing in different jobs will strengthen our community’s unique qualities and culture.
- I see our population as one that is ever-changing. In fact, the 2010 Census shows 1,456 people out of 15,038 residents are minorities, nearly 10%.
- I will work for continued growth of Vincennes University Jasper and other avenues of higher education.
- I see the value of having visitors in our city, becoming more of a destination for them, and putting our best foot forward during their time with us so that they will return again as a visitor or a resident.
What I’ve been able to do as your Mayor:
One of Jasper’s strengths is our ability to attract residents from people who have connections with us. Recently, a couple stopped by City Hall to tell me they had retired in Jasper after living in Pennsylvania. When I asked what brought them to Jasper they told me they had been long-haul truckers and, after visiting Jasper on business, they decided this is where they wanted to live.
We regularly welcome home couples who want to raise a family here. For example, in the last couple of years, a significant number of young physicians have returned to Jasper to open their practices. In addition to opportunities for the medical practices, these doctors told me that Jasper is making great strides in place-making; that is creating a community with jobs, amenities, activities and attractions such as The Parklands of Jasper. Continuing to seek public and private investment towards implementation of the Jasper Downtown & Riverfront Master Plan is critical to growing our City which currently has a population approaching 15,500 people.
During my time as Mayor of Jasper, I’m pleased that we have attracted numerous minority applicants for City positions; we hired our first police officer of Hispanic descent; we began to share an officer with the Greater Jasper Schools; created our first dog park and secured a $2M grant to help start connecting The Riverwalk with our west side trail.
In 2014, Movoto, a real estate company in California named Jasper one of the Top 5 Places to Live in Indiana and one of Indiana’s Safest Cities!
Jasper’s Unclaimed Potential
What I said in 2011:
- A change of administration is the ideal time to review how things get done and to explore ways to do them better. Being “OK” is not okay with me.
- I will promote fiscal responsibility in city endeavors while focused on our 2010 Comprehensive Plan.
- I will work to strengthen our city’s use of information technology.
What I’ve been able to do as your Mayor:
I’ve sustained fiscal responsibility through balanced budgets and we asked all civil city departments to reduce their operating budgets by 5% in 2016. Jasper taxpayers have kept more than $1M in your pockets during my time in office via property tax caps. Internally, we instituted the ReJuvenate Jasper Wellness Program for employees while also raising premiums and deductibles.
To move Jasper government to a better level of service, I created the Department of Community Development & Planning. In addition to building permits and zoning, this department leads our economic and redevelopment efforts and helps promote the City. The current redevelopment projects are the result of the creation of this new office which also incorporates all the duties of the former building and zoning office.
Since being established this department has revised our sign ordinance, conducted a major review of our zoning and sub-division control ordinances, more uniformly enforced City codes, moved the Economic Development Commission and Redevelopment Commission to regular meeting schedules and created a marketing plan for the Spirit of Jasper leading to sellouts on most, excursions.
The City of Jasper improved its ISO Fire Rating translating into savings on property insurance for everyone and I advocated for our new standards for water and gas lines which, according to one local plumber, will save residents and businesses millions of dollars in coming years.
We built a new City of Jasper website with many more user-friendly features with an automatic conversion for mobile users. Nearly 40% of all users visit the site on a phone or tablet. At the same time we designed and implemented a new logo and brand for the City highlighting our German heritage. In addition, we rebuilt the Spirit of Jasper website and developed a Twitter account for the Jasper Police Department.
All total our administration has fostered discussion on or acted upon 34 of the 49 items in the Comprehensive Plan implementation schedule!
Finally, knowing that we have a great community and that we love to compete, we entered a nationwide contest called America’s Best Communities. This past spring we made it into the quarter-finalist round and won $50,000! The contest team is comprised of community representatives including the Mayor. Funds go through ROJAC in an account administered by the Jasper Chamber of Commerce.
VOTE FOR VISION!