·      Looking at Neighborhood Revitalization programs that have worked for other major cities, like Baltimore, to draw entrepreneurs and businesses to the east side of Kenosha.

·      Helping people to access Small Business Association Loans and economic stimulus loans to start businesses, or improve their existing businesses, so that they will take pride in the ownership of our treasured older buildings.

·      Marketing community businesses and encouraging shopping, dining and entertainment in our business districts.  Many communities have revitalized their older areas by bringing back the movie theatres and adding comedy or music clubs that bring people out for dining and shopping before or afterward entertainment. 

·      The Sheridan Road Business District from Pleasant Prairie to 60th Street is the southern gateway to Kenosha from the heavily populated cities of Northern Illinois.  It is becoming a pleasant entrance to our great city. Businesses that add comfort and ease to the residents of the eastside should be encouraged to move there - like grocery stores and hardware stores.

·      Education and beautification.  I support Keep Kenosha Beautiful and applaud the city for their support of the downtown area with the hanging baskets and sitting gardens that use drought resistant native plants and help with water run off.  KKB organizes and trains over 1,000 volunteers yearly to take care of over 50 gardens.

·      Green Kenosha Lakeshore and Green Street working together on a program for the schools to educate and organize students, teachers, custodians, and parents to help kids live a green life, not just study it. 

·      Green Street paid for equipment and organized over 40 volunteers to recycle plastic plates, cups and utensils at events on the lakefront that netted over 6,500 gallons of plastic recyclables that would have cost the city to "tip" at the landfill. We gathered 6,500 gallons of plastic that will not break down and diverted it from the landfill to be recycled.  These efforts and the enormous response of the attendees at "Bloomin' Days", "Taste of Wisconsin" and "Back to Schools Days" has convinced the city that we need to require recycling at city events and have recycling containers and city pick up at our beautiful parks.

·      We have a need for long term planning that creates jobs, but not at the expense of Kenosha's tradition of beautiful homes and architecture.  The bright future of the United States depends on alternative sources of energy and technology and we have the schools and workers in Kenosha to make us a leader in these fields.  We also have the buildings left behind by industry and big box stores that have moved west that could house new industries.

·      Composting and yard waste services are now entirely on Hwy H and the city could have drop off sites on the east side to reduce unnecessary driving and increase the recycling of yard waste.  Compost is now free; however, I think that Kenosha could charge a nominal fee for compost to help pay for Keep Kenosha Beautiful and for improving our recycling.

·      Many communities have advanced with their recycling programs and we can learn from the mistakes and successes of these communities and decide how to best serve our community to reuse or dispose of waste.  I have been doing research in this area and plan to continue to find the best solutions.  At this time Kenoshan's are required to recycle and separate their paper, cardboard, and bottles and cans but we do not have dual stream recycling.  This means that all those bundles you have gone to the trouble of separating are being thrown into and mixed up in the same truck and delivered to a private company to separate them again!  Because our city workers want to see what you are throwing away we are required to buy special blue bags that are not in themselves recyclable. No one should have to pay money to buy more plastic to fulfill their duty to recycle, especially when what you are buying will not break down or be reused.  If you are using two non-recyclable blue bags every two weeks then you are spending about $15 a year.  Take the math a little further and "guess-timate" that 30,000 Kenosha homes are spending $15 a year, and that translates to $450,000 being spent per year on non-recyclable blue bags!  Pleasant Prairie and many other cities provide a single bin where all recyclables can be placed together and then picked up by specialized trucks that have a robotic arm.  Although it would be a costly conversion here is why it would save money and the environment in the long run:

1.     it would save money on worker's comp injuries that are expensive for all cities as well as our individual workers;

2.     it would increase the average person's commitment to recycle;

3.     it would save consumers money on the wasteful blue garbage bags;

4.     and the city would save on the cost of tipping fees, as the more we recycle the more we reduce tipping fees at landfills.   The city is in the process of re-negotiating a contract with our MRF - Material Recovery Facility.  At this time we pay a $64 tipping fee in the landfill for waste and zero at the MRF for recyclables.  Recycling is less expensive for the city then dumping!