Our Community, Our Plan
I grew up on Riverside Drive in South Bend, in a traditional neighborhood with modest homes, gridded streets, and everything a kid needed within walking distance. My playground was Keller Park, Pinhook Lagoon, and the greenspace along the St. Joseph River. I know what a community looks and feels like when it's planned around people, not just development. That's what District C deserves.
The Problem. Right now, development decisions in District C keep happening behind closed doors. We find out about data centers, annexations, and zoning changes after the contracts are signed. Granger has grown without a visible plan, and our families are left wondering where the parks, the gathering spaces, and the green connections are. Nobody asked us what we wanted. That changes when we put one of our own on the council.
What We'll Do Together
Own our future through a participatory planning process. We will determine the future of District C together, not get handed a plan by the county. That means real listening sessions across the district where neighbors map out what we want our community to look and feel like, before deals get done and before decisions are locked in.
Build a Granger community council. No other district has this: a community council headed by your council member that engages directly with county agencies on our behalf. Think of it like a township board, but built for an unincorporated district that has never had a real seat at the table. This is how we plug in, stay informed, and push for what matters.
Protect and expand our green space. Every major development must preserve or create accessible parks, trails, and open space. We deserve to be connected to the river corridors, Keller Park, and Pinhook Park, places I explored as a kid and that my father helped protect through his work with Michiana Watershed and the creation of the East Bank and Riverside Trails. Those connections are how our families actually benefit from growth instead of just watching it happen around us.
Stop bad land use before it takes hold. We can't let SR 23 and Cleveland Road become the next Grape Road. And we need water and sewer infrastructure investments before problems show up, not after.
Why Me. I've spent my career helping communities build plans they can see and plug into, from Kentucky to South Carolina to Arizona. But I'm not interested in handing down a master plan from on high. I want to show what's possible, then push decision-makers to meet it. County staff provides the resources. We provide the direction.
This is about local control. The power for us to connect the dots, see the through line from decisions to daily life, and most importantly, to actually shape what comes next.
