Concord is #20 on Fortune’s 50 Best Places to Live for Families in 2023. Concord has also be named Livability’s Top 100 Best Places to Live in the US for 2023, and named the #12 Safest City in North Carolina according to Safewise.

The has been no tax rate increase ($0.48 per $100) during my two, 4-year terms. We are also proud that we managed to keep the tax rate the same while maintaining the same high level of services for the citizens. There has been no tax increase since 2013.

The city of Concord has very low debt, exceptional bond ratings (AAA), high reserves, and has been nationally recognized for financial office reporting.

In cooperation with Cabarrus County Commissioners and The Economic Development Commission, Concord has welcomed 22 new companies over the past 4 years. This has created 2,800 new jobs paying well over the county average wage, and over $3 billion in investments. These industries not only provide high-quality jobs, they also efficiently add to our tax-base, which keeps our citizens’ tax rates low. I am proud to have helped lead the effort in changing our incentive policy to attract higher paying jobs and companies.

Establishment and continuing implementation of the Greenway Masterplan which will connect all reaches of Concord and beyond; approval of master plans for four new parks and improvements to five existing parks which are all long overdue. We continue to offer 120+ recreation programs, support 8 current city parks with 13 playgrounds, and have recently opened our city’s first mountain bike trail called Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail which has quickly become one of our most utilized parks in the system. This trail lies on 50+ wooded acres in the center city and was created in partnership with the Tarheel Trailblazers at little cost to the city. I am proud to have initiated and lead that effort.

focused less on expansion of City Limits (sprawl) and encouraged more infill development which utilizes the infrastructure already in place. Supported and renewed agreement with Cabarrus County to continue the Central Area Plan which preserves our beautiful farmlands in the center and eastern parts of the county.

Adopted small-area plans for Weddington Road corridor and George Liles Boulevard; beginning work on McGill Avenue reuse plan and Concord Mills Blvd/Bruton Smith Blvd area.

Investments in affordable housing and initiated making Logan a national historic district.

We have updated our Downtown Masterplan; created more living spaces in the center city as the markets have demanded; in my first term, we worked to preserve the Hotel Concord which is now thriving; repurposed the old City Hall Annex; although painful now, we are upgrading 100+ year-old underground infrastructure while recreating our streetscape which hasn’t been updated in 30 years. This is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2024 and will bring new life into our downtown.

sponsored Christmas Parade, Christmas Tree Lighting; Art Walks, Candy Crawl, 5K Races; and Mayor’s Golf Tournament which funds childrens’ charities across the city. We hope with the coming of our new street scape, these events will only get better. I want to continue efforts to locate a space for an outdoor amphitheater for more city sponsored events.

Concord 101 class; Public Safety Academy; Concord Youth Council; and numerous opportunities for people to serve on boards and commissions. Many studies to get community input about the services we provide and plans we are creating.

the 4th largest airport in North Carolina; expansion/improvements to Concord-Padgett Airport; and 41% growth in passengers. Supporting the growing corporate market; Many municipally owned airports are subsidized by its tax payers, but our airport is self-reliant and is a great asset to our economic development.

Work with Cabarrus County Convention and Tourist Bureau; partner with NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord Mills, Great Wolf Lodge, Hotels, Restaurants, Downtown and various other businesses around the city. Tourism generates spending, sales taxes, and hotel taxes from visitors which helps to keep our citizens’ tax-rate low.

dedicated $4.5+ million a year to transportation projects, street maintenance, and sidewalk improvements; Enhancing landscape, clean up, and mowing on North Carolina Department of Transportation city gateways; the city owns 765 lane miles of city streets; we managed 160 plus traffic signals; And increased Adopt-A-Street participation from 15 groups to 35 groups.

In July 2023, brought garbage and recycling collection into city government for better service and cost effectiveness.

Council Meetings are now online to be viewed; and stronger public affairs office and staff

56% of general funds were used for police, fire, 911 call center, and Emergency Management. According to Safewise, Concord was the 12th safest city in North Carolina in which to live. We were one of only two cities with a population over 100,000 to make the top 20! We opened fire station #10 in April of 2021 and we open fire station #12 in April of 2022.

Our city has 200 police officers with a 4.6 minute response time. We have new national accreditation honors. We have installed the fallen police statue in front of the Police Department. And we have school resource officers in all the schools within the city partnering with the Cabarrus County School system.

We have 250 firefighters with a 3.9 minute response time; we have an ISO rating of 1, which is the highest possible Fire Protection rating. This low rating means that our citizens pay lower homeowners insurance premiums. We have also initiated an affordable housing model for firefighters.

Implementing master plans for water, sewer and wastewater; Expansion of sewage capacity and working through our current limitations; Fully self-funded with adequate financial reserve; Focus on water conservation and reuse; completed first phase of the grounds sewer project; upgrades to water treatment plants to enhance water quality.

Recognized as a national tree and pollinator city; Memorial tree program; Planting over 300 trees a year and indigenous plants; Recycling of yard waste; Litter cleanup by all city departments and local groups; and providing residential rain barrels at cost.

Built new sidewalks; Almost 300 miles completed; these also tie into our new Greenway master plan. One day our city will be entirely connected with greenways and sidewalks which will become more and more important as population grows

work with 70 plus recognized neighborhoods throughout the city.

collaborated with local, state, and federal governments to respond to the COVID pandemic medically and economically.

creation of WeBuild which yielded 70 new units in year one; approved master plan for public housing expansion; we also passed an ordinance to allow auxiliary dwelling units on certain properties.