Bruce N. Richins for Harrisville Mayor
By: Heidi Mead
Bruce Richins wants to continue his 8 years of service to the City of Harrisville by being an advocate for the residents as a good listener of their concerns. He cares about the City and wants to be involved.
The need to continue a balanced budget, be fiscally conservative, and manage the tax base in order to continue providing the services the residents expect while dealing with a struggling economy is of greatest importance; as well as, balancing the needs of an older population on a fixed income with the needs of younger families that have their own desires for better education and recreation for their families.
Mr. Richins would like to see the City youth recreation program grow and develop by utilizing existing parks more effectively and by developing a voluntary youth recreation committee consisting of concerned residents who want to make a difference by being involved. He would also like to see improved communication between City government and the residents by developing functional and dynamic social media sites in order to engage the residents more effectively.
Bruce Richins feels that it is important to continue to maintain much of the rural and bedroom- community atmosphere while effectively managing growth and maintaining infrastructure. Growth in the community is inevitable, but he believes that “the mayor and council should continue to work to control growth so that a quality lifestyle is maintained.”
He also feels that it is very important to improve the commercial tax base in order to not overburden each household. This could be accomplished by marketing Harrisville more aggressively in order to improve economic development and attract businesses to fill our currently zoned commercial areas.
A Youth City Council has been organized and they are serving well through being involved in community events and issues. Mr. Richins would like to see the Youth City Council grow and be progressively engaged in the community. Greater involvement of our youth in City issues is extremely important. They are the future.
Mr. Richins said, “I don’t think Harrisville is a City that is broken by any means, but there are always improvements that can be made and potential problems that need to be prevented. I pledge complete honesty and integrity in helping make our City government progressively responsible to the residents of Harrisville and to help make this City a safer place to live and raise a family.”
