Clarence Cardinal Newlsetter October 2013 | Page 8

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Levi VanOort, City Council Candidate
Name, Age, Occupation, Address
My name is Levi VanOort, I’m 37 years old and reside at 309 7th Avenue with my wife
and two boys. We’ve been members of the community for the past 9 years, where both
my wife and I have been highly involved, and I’m currently finishing out my second term
as a city council member. I’m currently employed as a Sr. Software Engineer at Rockwell
Collins where I develop cockpit display software systems for military aircraft.

Why do you feel you are the most qualified candidate to fill the open council seat?

“The key to
winning the
battle with other
communities for
citizens and
business is to
identify that key
differentiator
that makes our
community
appealing above
all others.”

I think a preparedness and a willingness to discuss all council issues is one of the most
important attributes of any good councilperson. It is not important that the council agree
on all the issues all the time, in fact I would argue that a council made up of like-minded
individuals would be a very ineffective council. Each and every one of us come from a
wide variety of backgrounds and experiences that shape our view of what we believe is
best for the community and it is of the utmost importance that these views get represented. I believe a council that is made up of a group of individuals willing to openly and honestly
discuss all issues would be a council that can successfully guide the city in the right direction. In
my experience on the council, over the past 8 years, I believe I have demonstrated the preparedness and willingness to discuss all issues and my voting record has shown my passion for making
the decisions that I believe are the best for the community.

Do you have any specific issues you feel need to be addressed in our community?
There are a couple issues that I feel the council needs to address in the community, including the
city infrastructure problems and community growth. The solution to the city infrastructure problems are fairly straight forward and, I believe, the current and past councils have done a good job
of addressing as the budget allows. If I was to pick a focus area for the next council it would be
to actively work a solution to the problem the community has with flooding basements after
heavy rains. Another action that the next council should take is to create a written plan for how
city infrastructure projects will be addressed over the next 10 years. This is an important activity
in that it gives all subsequent councils the roadmap for how improvements will progress. Ideally
this plan would be the baseline for all future visioning projects.
Community growth is a significantly harder problem to address as a city council. Just like any government entity the options available to the council to spur community growth are limited and
indirect but there are things the council can do. As a council we can spend money on things like
the city park and green spaces, make grant monies available for downtown beautification projects
and investments in large scale projects, such as the library project. There are also things we can
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