I have always viewed the city council as the leaders of the city. The voting process is one where the candidate attempts to earn the constituents respect and ultimately their vote and the constituents’ responsibility is to vote for the person they feel is the most qualified to represent and lead their city.
I have a great deal of business experience where I have grown small companies to not only make them sustainable, but profitable as well. This cannot be accomplished alone. It takes a lot of teamwork, trust and respect. When you have these attributes, you can accomplish great things. That’s how I feel the city council should work. On paper, it sounds easy, but it’s a little more complicated.
There are a lot of issues that arise constantly that the City of Westfield must deal with. Some are planned and some are not. Same as in business. However, its how you work together that helps the most. Yes, the first step is identifying the problem, the second step and the most important one, is solving the problem. Do we have experienced problem solvers or do we have the ones that are quick to say “I told you that was going to happen”?
I deal with budgets in my business on a constant basis. Employees always want more equipment, money and assistants. Part of managing the budget is managing the differences between the needs vs wants. When we explain the budget to our employees in a way they can truly understand, it helps the focus stay on the needs more than the wants. When a company grows, there are costs associated with that growth that most employees do not see. If a company shows a monetary growth of $1 million dollars, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the $1 million is all profit. There are added cost of materials, labor and so forth. In addition to that, budgets are always changing. There are instances where something breaks down unexpectedly and needs to be repaired, cost of materials goes up or you have a spike in business and your original investment will not cover the additional money needed for the extra business. Tough decisions need to be made and action must be taken. Do you budget for these uncontrollable situations? Of course you try to, but it’s not always possible. You budget for the controllable items and put a little extra in for emergencies or re-investments.
I believe people want the best city possible; great schools, great police and fire departments, great infrastructure with reasonable taxes. These characteristics are what makes people and businesses want to move to a city. This growth helps keep taxes moderate. It is the duty of the elected council to meet with the department heads and make sure their needs are being met before their wants to ensure efficient spending. As for our infrastructure, you can apply the business iron triangle; Quality, Fast, Cheap…Pick Two. There is no way to satisfy everyone. No matter what is done, there will always be someone that is not happy. I feel that if you do what right, work together as a team and respect one another, people will be satisfied with the results.
My Uncle once told me; “you can build it right or you can build it tonight”. We have the chance to build it right, if we elect the right people. I have the experience in solving issues and working with others in a way that is respectful and open minded. My name is Rob Atkocaitis (Ack – o – chi – tis), tough name to pronounce, easy candidate to support. I humbly ask for your vote for Ward 3 City Councilor on November 7th.
