Portsmouth needs strong leadership to restore the hope for the future of our community and all of our fellow residents. Our community should feel safe for everyone and we must help our neighbors and their children to prepare for and win the good jobs locally available. By working together and prioritizing investments in community safety, in our schools and in workforce development, we can create this hope for our future.

PUBLIC SAFETY

ALL Portsmouth citizens should be safe at home, at work, at school and in public. Public safety is the foundation of my priorities. Any actions taken to solve the other issues that confront us will fail to be effective if our citizens are not safe in our city. I will work with our Police Department, our Sheriff’s Department, our Social Services Department and our Mental Health Department to confront crime in a holistic, efficient manner.

OUR CHILDREN

We must invest in our children to prepare them for and encourage them to compete for the good jobs available here locally. Creating the hope that completing high school or college will lead to good jobs is key to keeping all our kids engaged to earn their high school diplomas. I will work with our public school system, our school board, our students and the business community to ensure that our students will get the education, support and appropriate training to create school-to-employment successes for our children.

EMPLOYMENT

Portsmouth and the Hampton Roads region have good jobs available, but local employers must often recruit outside the area because our citizens often haven’t been prepared with the trade skills to compete for and win the available good jobs. Our school system and local government must partner with the business community to create efficient and cost-effective training and educational opportunities so that our citizens have opportunities to learn the skills necessary for these jobs.