Maplewood Ward 3 candidate Mary Killian has sent additional concerns of hers to be published.
1) I would like to see the city develop a central point, source or office where the citizens could find answers to questions or be directed to help. It could be manned by knowledgeable volunteers and overseen by a city employee. It could be a QR code that lists all the local resources for aid in solving their problems. I know that that 988 call centers will start in July to give aid with mental health problems, but this could be for tax assessment, food panty access, or lawn or home repair for the elderly.
2) We have an untapped resource of artists, writers and musicians, we citizens from various cultures and backgrounds. We should bring this forward to our community and to our school students. Understanding our neighbors, getting to really know our neighbors will strengthen our community. We could do this with an Arts and Culture Commission. Someone mentioned that we need to prepare and expand our schools for the the future increase in students. I understood that this was already underway at the high school complex. I had heard that some repairs have also been made at the elementary school. If this is not happening I would work to make this go forward.
3) I would work to try to keep the uniqueness and diversity of Maplewood moving forward. In an attempt to do so I would like to bring together young new residents and older lifelong residents in some form of advisory group to keep moving forward in the right direction. Through a large portion of my life I have lived through or observed the glory days of Maplewood, its deep decline from the 60s until the start of its revival in the early 2000s into the Maplewood of today. I want Maplewood to keep growing forward.
4) I would like to see the Citizens Academy and the Block dinners for the first responders restart again now that we are all together again. Sitting down one on one with the firemen and police, or learning exactly what each office or department does, can only help us to grow wiser and stronger as citizens and a city.
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