My name is Jay Bunting and I am running for City Council. Over the past two years, Rogers’ citizens, city employees, business owners and neighbors have asked if I would run for City Council. Over time, the requests became more numerous, more determined and more distressed. That is why I am declaring my intentions early in an effort to afford the citizens of Rogers the opportunity to get to know my values, my vision for Rogers and my reasons for running for Council.
I, like most of you, have seen our town grow in size and change in character. Lately, I haven’t liked much of what I’ve seen. Department heads fired using questionable methods. City budget balanced with borrowed money. Employees unionized out of fear for losing their jobs. Nonexistent communication between our leadership and citizens.
My goals and beliefs are simple. As a Council member I will act ethically and honorably. I will put Rogers first, always. I will focus on the challenges facing our town; traffic, taxes and expenses, police and fire coverage, and replacing the current city environment fo mistrust and conflict with one of cooperation and engaging communication between our Council, employees, citizens and business owners. I will strive to manage development on the north side of I-94 by working with land owners and developers to create a land use policy that makes sense – no more runaway construction of strip malls. I will push to reach an agreement with our employee union that treats employees fairly while being fiscally responsible. I will re-examine the new policy of severing the town’s support of Rockin’ Rogers and of disallowing the Police Open House, where hundreds of youth received free school supplies, bicycle safety equipment and prizes (at no taxpayer cost). I will celebrate the many positive aspects of our town, because we should be proud Rogers.
My run for Council is not about furthering political career plans – I have none and no desire to create any. I want to correct things that have been changed for the worse, attend to things that have been ignored and plan for the future. If elected, I will make mistakes – my wife will back me up on that statement. But I make this promise to you. I will always listen to the citizens of Rogers, I will give the position of Council Member the weight it deserves and I will always do what I think is in the best interests of our town. Below, there are a few points about my background. If you want to ask me about my background or views, or tell me your concerns, please feel free to submit feedback below.
· Rogers resident since 2001 and current Rogers business owner
· Veteran of U.S. Army (Armor Officer) and U.S. Navy (Corpsman with Marine Corps)
· Managed people and operations in various capacities since 1989
· M.B.A. (Emphasis Finance & HR), B.A., (Emphasis Management/Finance)
Rogers Planning Commissioner, Church Treasurer & Board Member, Rogers Reserve Police Officer, President of Community Chest (charity), former Big Brother