For those of you that I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Robert Stahl and I am running for a position on the East Ridge City Council. As you may recall, I came up only 131 votes short of winning in the last city election, and to be honest, to come that close was a difficult thing.
However, as this election approached, I was so inspired by the words of encouragement I heard from speaking directly with so many of you I decided to seek office once again as I remain committed to my passion of growing East Ridge.
I would like to focus on what I think positions me as the best candidate for City Council person.
I am currently the city president of Southern Community Bank. I’ve spent over four decades working with individuals and businesses in the banking industry. From the conversations I have had with so many of you, my banking and business background is extremely important for this election because it allows me to best understand the opportunities, potential pitfalls and intricacies of the Border Region Act. As a banker and businessman, it is my job to cultivate projects through personal interactions and discussions with business developers. In fact, I’ve been instrumental in assisting with the development of numerous new hotels, restaurants, shops as well as other new industry.
These skills are precisely what are needed to optimize the many possibilities that the Border Region Act offers.
Several of my focuses are listed below:
1. I will scrutinize the use of East Ridge’s budgetary dollars to attempt to carve out funds that can be reinvested in current businesses, park and various locations around East Ridge in an effort to accentuate the beauty of our town.
2. Push for an effort to take advantage of the Border Region act money by working with a network of business developers and business leaders to foster economic growth not only for the Exit 1 area but for the area leading to the tunnel.
3. I will encourage the development of a forum that brings together citizens of East Ridge in a setting where everyone can share past experiences whether successful or not to help stimulate new ideas. Certainly, there is a wealth of knowledge in East Ridge that is not being tapped because so many people think nobody is interested in what they have to say.
Finally, I want to point out that my running for City Council comes after years of serving the citizens of East Ridge in other capacities, all as a volunteer. Specifically, I am the current: chairman of the East Ridge City Beer Board, treasurer of the East Ridge High School Alumni and Supporters Association and on the Advisory Board for the College of Business at UTC.
I’ve also previously served as the chairman of the East Ridge Charter Review Committee and past president of the following Organizations or Groups: the East Ridge Merchants Association, East Ridge High School Quarterback Club, East Ridge High School Baseball Boosters Club, East Ridge Middle School Booster Club, East Ridge Twilight Baseball League and past treasurer of the East Ridge Education Committee.
I’m hopeful that my passion for East Ridge is evident and I’ve earned your vote.
I truly love East Ridge, and I am at a point in my life where I would really like to put all the years of volunteering for various clubs and organizations-as well as-my business experience to work for my neighbors. Together I think we can accomplish great things.
Robert Stahl