An item was added to cart!
GLENN SCHULZ- WARD 2 ALDERMAN CANDIDATE
The following survey questions were sent to all 2024 candidates.
This was Glenn Schulz's response:
1. What prompted you to run for this position?
Branson is a great city. There are many issues that require engagement, development of a solution and the building of consensus. I summarize this as active leadership. Having honed my active leadership skills for much of my professional career and now having taken early retirement, I would like to apply these skills as Alderman in order to help make Branson even better for our citizens and our businesses.
2. What are your goals for the Branson community if elected?
I see opportunities to improve our quality of life as residents while carefully growing our tourism and the resulting tax revenue from which we all benefit. I am particularly focused on the blight that is developing in our entertainment district, the lack of initiative by the City of Branson to expand housing and the expansion of our trails and parks within Branson.
I favor the trimming and simplification of our city’s building codes and sign codes to make Branson significantly more business and builder friendly. I strongly support the judicious use of tax incentive tools to attract strategically targeted development within the city.
3. What is the #1 issue you hope to address if elected?
There are several major issues that urgently need to be addressed, such as: entertainment district blight, housing development, making Branson more developer and builder friendly through simplification of our codes and our permit process as well as improving the quality of life for our citizens. When one zooms out a bit, these long-standing issues persist because we lack a strategic plan that calls out these needs, puts a timeline to their completion and holds departments accountable for a successful resolution.
The lack of proper strategic planning has been highlighted in the recent “economic development” meetings of the Board of Alderman. In the midst of the discussions regarding tools that can be used to incentivize strategic development, our Board came to the realization that they do not have a prioritized list of what should be developed. We have the “2030 plan” that was developed in 2012 as well as other plans that are labeled “strategic” but all fall far short of answering this simple investment question.
I will take a lead within the Board of Alderman for the creation, before the end of 2024, of a strategic plan that highlights our top 10 development needs, that specifies the timeframe in which these should be completed, identifies the mechanisms by which these should be accomplished and names the city departments that are responsible for driving them to a successful and timely conclusion. I talk more about this on my blog at https://schulzforbranson.com.
4. On a scale of 1 to 5 (poor to excellent), how would you rate the transparency and communication of Branson's current Board of Aldermen?
I view these as two separate issues that are too easily conflated.
With regard to the transparency question, I would rate it a 4. The public meetings can be viewed in person, on-line and from recordings. The public is invited to comment on any subject at the start of these meetings as well as comment and ask questions during public forums. That goes a long way toward transparency.
However, none of us would like our job performance review or conversations with our attorney broadcast to the public, In the same vein, we need to accept that there will always be the need for the Alderman to privately discuss and decide certain personnel and legal issues. With this being said, the Board has proactively published much of the content of these meetings as is appropriate to the situation.
For the communication part of the question, I would rate this a 3. Our Branson Communications department publishes a nice monthly newsletter that highlights the activities of many of the City’s departments. You can receive this newsletter via email or by downloading individual editions from the Branson website. But the Board itself should focus on better communications of its issues and activities. Simply put, we need to expand the Board’s communications to business and citizens.
5. Is there anything you want to change or improve in that regard?
I believe the Board should be much more communicative than it is today. Few citizens or business owners have the time or interest in attending or watching a three-hour Board of Alderman meeting twice a month in order to keep up with, or influence, the Board’s activities. A monthly, summary update as to the plans, accomplishments and setbacks of the Board would go a long way to closing this gap. We have the talent within the city’s communications department – we simply need to Board of Alderman to take the initiative.
6. Branson's long-standing culture has been one of patriotism, Christianity, and family values; how would you support or change this culture as a Branson Alderman?
It is absolutely essential that we hold the Faith, Family and Flag culture as the gauge for every decision that the Board of Alderman make. It is the bedrock that ensures our entertainment and tourism culture stays family friendly and that our residents continue to enjoy the quality of life that keeps us anchored here. I would like to see Faith, Family and Flag reflected in our Branson logo and in an official City of Branson flag. Branson is long overdue for major city entrance markers at our Highway 65 exits. This would be an excellent way to communicate our unique Branson Faith, Family and Flag culture to our millions of visitors.
7. How would you define your political affiliation? Democrat, Republican, or other?