My name is
Duane Christopher, and I am running for mayor of Rock Hill. I am running for
mayor because we live here, I am running because it is a prayerful decision, I
am running because my family is with me, I am running because you are
here, I am running because in this day
in age of our city, we have many
decisions that will affect the lives of all of us for the next many decades, I
am running because with your help, I will lead you in making the best decisions
for our future.
The Mayor in
Rock Hill is one of 7 people that lead the city in a director’s role, that role
is to direct the management of the city administration to carry out policies
that effect our every day, and will affect us and our families and business in
the future. The City council is
responsible for keeping us safe, by having the best police and fire departments
that we can provide, the city council is to direct the city management in
providing the opportunity for us to pray, play, work, and support each other.
To be total human beings with your responsibility to live the best life you
can.
The City government
is a vehicle to provide city living services that you might not be able to
provide ourselves. Those services,
being water to cook, drink, and bathe, sewer to dispose of the waste so that
you don’t have to carry away in buckets or dump in streams and ditches. You want the best, and with your help we will
continue to bring those essential services at a reasonable cost. Our city is unique in the world, for community
of our size, we are an electric producer and distributor. This unique enterprise of being electric has
its ball and chain as well as opportunities.
We will need to look towards the future with new glasses on how we can
provide this very important service to our citizens at a reasonable cost, but
at the same time look to ways that don’t hand cuff our citizens and businesses
in the future.
As Mayor, I
promise I will do all that is in my power to strengthen and advance the past
efforts that have brought services that we want to our city. That is why we live here.
As Mayor,
what I do promise is to provide a vision of how we can be for the future. Not so long ago, 40 years ago we had a dying
inner city, it has taken over 30 years to get this city growing again.
As Mayor,
with my 40 years of visions, 40 years of observing other cities, over 40 years
of meeting people and leaders around the country, I will provide a fresh set of
glasses to look towards the future. That
kind of vision is my profession, my experience, it is what I do and love, and that is why I am the most qualified to be
Mayor.
We have many
challenges over the next 20 years and beyond.
These challenges are quality of life issues and the basic services that make
a city a city for people that is affordable, these services are going to cost
very large sums of money to upgrade and improve the existing infrastructure. In
addition to the services we need to provide policies that are more conducive
for people and more conducive for business to work and live in Rock Hill, we
need to grow on the inside, we need more people and businesses to help with
these growth needs. If a city is not
growing then it is dying.
We are
standing in the center of the city at a beautiful park, this once was a
beautiful home that was removed to provide parking for a covered main street,
that idea didn’t work for several decades.
It took vision by the city council to build a fountain instead of a dead
hot space. I commend or mayor Doug
Echols to see this through, I spoke to Mayor Doug a few years ago saying that
there is much data that red fields,
land that is not productive, to green
fields, or green spaces such as this, work, and stimulate development
around the green fields. And here it is,
it is beautiful and it works.
We have
another red fields area in this City that was created in the 1960s. Back when politics was trying to engineer
designs in cities, that too didn’t work.
Urban renewal botched many communities.
I have a
vision to bring back the wholeness in our community from what has divided us, I
have a vision of helping this city grow and be sustainable, I have a vision to
help us pay for the basic services that we need inside Rock Hill, I have a
vision on how we can better commute with a future plan for interstate transportation.
I have a
vision for an adventure that will help us as citizens grow in our lives, grow
in faith, grow in stability, and grow in being a community.
Help us all
by electing me as your next Mayor of our unique city. Help me by donating to my campaign adventure,
I need to get the word out to more people, we can only do that with your
help. Please help spread the word.
