Economic plan big with supervisor candidate

Shelly Aldean

Candidate: Supervisor Ward 2

Describe your experience and training that qualifies you for the position you are seeking.

I have served in my capacity as a city supervisor since January 2003 and, during my tenure, have gained a more intimate understanding of local government - its strengths and its failings. As a businessperson with years of civic involvement, I am able to address issues that come before the board with a knowledgeable and balanced perspective. For 14 years prior to my appointment to the Board of Supervisors, I served as a volunteer on various local boards and committees. From 1990 until 1993 I served as the president of Carson City Mainstreet, a private nonprofit organization which was catalytic in helping to re-energize the downtown redevelopment effort. From 1994 to 1995, I served as president of the Carson City Area Chamber of Commerce and still serve as chairwoman of its Political Action Council.

I am a past chairwoman and current member of the Western Nevada Community College Foundation Board of Trustees and former Secretary/Treasurer of the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the V&T Railroad reconstruction effort. In addition, I have chaired the Carson City Charter Review Committee and the City's Economic Vitality Strategic Plan Corridor Task Force and Work Group.

What are your top three priorities for Carson City for the next four years?

1. I want to ensure the implementation of as much of Carson City's Economic Vitality Strategic Plan as possible. The creation of this plan was one of the most progressive and comprehensive economic development initiatives ever undertaken by Carson City, involving numerous community volunteers working tirelessly over a six month period in 2002.

The plan not only addresses the need to reinvigorate our retail base and expand our manufacturing sector, it also focuses on the need to develop a more educated workforce, to capitalize more effectively on our cultural heritage and to encourage the development of new and innovative technologies related to such things as communications and alternative energy production. To safeguard our economy, it is critical that we retain our existing industries and further promote tourism by completing the reconstruction of the V&T Railroad.

2. I want to help Carson City maintain its quality of life as it transitions from a "rural" town to an "urban" area. Facing this challenge will involve finding effective ways of mitigating traffic congestion on our surface streets while the freeway is under construction. As a member of the Regional Transportation Commission I will continue to work with RTC staff and my fellow commissioners to identify cost-effective ways of addressing our internal circulation problems.

3. As the board's representative on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, I want to ensure that the new regional plan that the agency adopts is fair and balanced, weighing the needs of the environment with the socioeconomic needs of the region.