Dear Constituent:
This May 8th, I humbly ask all Democrats and Independents to join me at the polls and get out the vote. Far too many in our community have shirked this important and most American civic duty, all too often believing their vote doesn’t make a difference.
I’m here to tell you it does. When you don’t vote, you accept the status quo. You accept politicians hiding behind “unavailable” public information. You accept that politicians don’t have to be accessible to you---the people paying their salary (yep, you are their employer whether you hired them or not)--- much less accountable for their broken promises. When you don’t vote, you are giving professional career politicians the right to do whatever they want, however they want, with no questions asked….all on your taxpaying dime. Would your boss allow you to spend company funds without some oversight? Would you allow your employees to have unlimited access to a seemingly bottomless cash register---and no oversight? Of course you wouldn’t, but when you don’t vote, that is exactly the message you are sending to career politicians.
I’m here to help change that. I want each of my constituents to become educated, engaged and empowered when they vote. I want each of you to believe you have the right to a government that is transparent, accessible and accountable to you, Mr. and Ms. Taxpaying-Employer.
And I want to be the candidate deserving of your vote. Together, with your help, I believe we can make that change at the local level we are all hoping for.
Why vote for me? I’m a Democratic candidate in good standing pursuant to the rules and guidelines set forth by the Indiana Democratic Party. I have experience in the legal field as both a seasoned paralegal and community advocate. This experience is important because the law enforcement and judicial services account for the biggest part of the 2012 Allen County General Operating budget, or 70.56% of the budget. (See http://www.allencounty.us/images/budget/2012/2012%20budget.pdf) I have the necessary financial experience that comes from managing a successful law office as well as developing a private sector business that created jobs for inner-city youth. (See http://www.modeltbicycles.com/aboutmodelt.html)
I am outspoken against wasteful municipal expenditures and often question seemingly overlooked cost-savings devices that could have been used in municipal purchases, things like large order discounts, submitting requests for proposals (RFP) to local vendors, networking with other municipalities who are making the same or similar purchase to create a larger order to gain discounts for all, etc. I am also an advocate for looking at more than just the bottom line costs of a product or service, but its related costs for use, maintenance, etc.
Because the local Democratic party does not have a formal, written platform, the following are a few of the issues I believe are important, deserve to be worked on and believe I can help achieve:
• Increase transparency, accessibility and accountability in local county government.
• Decrease county expenditures with the goal of decreasing county taxes.
• Reduce and eliminate creative “budgeting.”
• Increase savings through innovative logistics, such as possibly combining the Department of Homeland Security with the Department of Safety and Environmental Affairs.
• Eliminate County Council’s ability to give itself a pay raise.
• Increase the cost-effectiveness of the Allen County judicial services, which accounts for over 70% of the Allen County General Operations Budget. Increasing cost-effectiveness is especially important as the county prepares for the near simultaneous opening of the first local law school and the expense of prosecution and defense in the upcoming high profile capital murder trial of Michael Plumadore.
• Other constituent issues, presented by you (as they come up): _____________________________________________________________
While all the above issues are important, I want you to vote for me because I am a practical common-sense candidate who looks for innovative ways to cut costs in an effort to get local county government to become and remain fiscally responsible while becoming more and more transparent, accessible and accountable to you, the voter.
On May 8th, please VOTE GINA BURGESS!
Thank you,
Gina M. Burgess
Paid for and authorized by VOTE GINA BURGESS, James McCoy, Treasurer.
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