Council Candidate Questions: Role of City Council and Personal Achievements

Lowell’s First Look met individually with each of the candidates running for City Council who will appear on the ballot on Tuesday, November 2.  There are three seats up for election by voters. The two who receive the highest number of votes will receive a four-year term and the person who receives the third highest number of votes will receive a two-year term.  

Each candidate received the same questions. Each week in October we will bring you responses to the questions we asked in addition to a candidate profile. Answers are published verbatim and have not been edited.

What do you see as the role of councilmembers within city government? And what specifically would you like to achieve during your time on City Council, if elected?

Marty Chambers
To make good sound decisions for the city and the people. Working to find ways to develop the 2nd stories for the buildings on Main St.

Jake Davenport
City Council members are the top officials in the city. They should play a very active role in the community. Leadership is key. They set the tone for the rest of the city and the greater Lowell community. In times as toxically divisive as they are presently, I think it’s imperative that they bring people together based on not what divides us, but what unites us. The fact of the matter is, we are all Lowellians, and the divisiveness that has played out in Lansing, and DC cannot be allowed to permeate our community and will not be allowed to permeate our community if I am elected. My vision for Lowell is simple. I want Lowell to be a bastion of opportunity. I want to solve our Lansing induced infrastructure mess. I want our downtown to be at full capacity and in the process of having to build new store fronts and growing the footprint of downtown. I want Lowell to lead the way in confronting the mental health crisis at the local level. Too many people in Lowell struggle with these serious mental health issues to continue turning a blind eye to it.

Leah Groves
My role as a councilmember is to represent the citizens of the City of Lowell. I come as an unbiased party, prepared to listen, and learn. I ask questions, ponder creative solutions, uphold my fellow council members to those standards and provide a perspective none of my running mates can, a female perspective. Personally, I set out to achieve one thing in which I am already doing. Providing representation for my fellow City of Lowell women. Representation matters. It is an honor to sit on council. Not only because it has allowed me to learn, to evolve, to grow, to make connections but because I have made it clear for females from young to old that its possible for them if they want it too. Going forward I hope to achieve my goal for community involvement, finalizing my Land Love 4 Lowell initiative – a push to clean litter from Lowell’s land, creating an understanding to all citizens that I am here to help them excel. I want businesses to flourish, I want happy, full bellies at the dinner table. I want to listen and validate your struggles. I want your child to succeed in school and for you to excel at work and at home.

Jim Salzwedel
Making sure we follow short term planning. I found out as an one their is little I can control but if the group stays together on command ground lots can be accomplished.

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