SPECIAL THANKS to those at every level who helped with the Timm Kurtz for Mayor Campaign, and assisted in bringing the message of "common sense" and "creative economics" to the citizens of Hendersonville, NC.  The campaign for public office was surely and interesting ordeal I'll not soon forget.  However, voters chose to remain with incumbents offering the same vision for the present and future economic development of our city.  Currently, I have no future plans to campaign for any public office. 

“Nearly everyone should realize: The Arts aren’t a frivolous extra; the Arts are an economic spark plug that can lift your community out of its doldrums, attract industry and stimulate commerce.”

“Every human being is an artist, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and condition our lives.”

Joseph Beuys, Artist

REVISIT THE KEY ISSUES OF TIMM'S CAMPAIGN

“2009 Common Sense Platform For The Office Of Mayor (brief)”

Leadership: 

•  Convention Center.  A modest convention center will create up to 200 new jobs and attract 80,000 new customers annually to the area.  The center shall include 1 grand performance venue that will seat up to 2000 people, 2 smaller performance theaters, 2 large exhibition halls, 2 small halls, and for the very first time ever, will be built in conjunction with a new library, art museum, and arts education center.   Hendersonville can only succeed in the convention business if it is well planned and it’s marketability focused to a “niche” customer base. 
• HRPA (Hendersonville Redevelopment and Project Authority).  The community shall begin an aggressive transition to remove and replace dilapidated and neglected environmental liabilities that deter investment and hurt the economy.  Average residents shall have an opportunity to partner, vote on, construct, and own community projects.
• Restrooms, Gazebos, and Community Announcement Boards.  The city would seek to purchase or lease unused property beneath Main Street to build a public restroom facility with placement room activity posts, posters, and announcements.  The city would tear down the current gazebo and remove another existing planter on the other end of town, and replace them with historically accurate constructs containing public restroom facilities.
• Free Health and Fitness Facility for Residents.  I propose taking one of the many buildings in disrepair and work to create a community health and fitness center.  By working with property owners, Pardee and Park Ridge Hospitals, and various private endowments, this facility could be maintained by city staff and provide an extraordinary opportunity for residents to get fit and stay fit, and become a source of health centered activities offered at substantial discounts for all ages.  A healthy community is the goal.  Many residents would love the opportunity to participate in fitness activities but simply cannot afford the membership fees of private fitness centers.  It could also become part of the convention center outlined above.

Initiatives:

• Total overhaul of ordinances pertaining to Main Street for conformity of events or happenings and for small business success.
• Re-pave and refurbish Main Street and pertinent sidewalks in 1 (one) four month period.
• Pathway signs to Downtown, with gateway sculptures.
• Organized Public Arts Commission attracting the development of murals, statuary, sculpture, gathering areas, and public spaces.
• Refurbish and update existing parks and services.  Initiate actions to consider building new parks with stocked fishing ponds built around access for the elderly and disabled, with bike and foot trails, including "Rails to Trails." 
  
• Parking on Main Street and adjacent areas.

    (AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT ONLY)

THE GREAT DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC SIGNAL DEBACLE is a prime example of council indecision, fiscal irresponsibility, poor implementation on the part of city management, and 4 years of lost revenues.  The project contributed to the closing of over 40 downtown businesses, What will be 7 years of lost tourism and confusion, and 2 respective DHI (Downtown Hendersonville, INC.) Executive Director changes.  Additionally, Downtown's marketing and promotion - both local and national, waned substantially.  Local spending and disarray dramatically altered a once stable and uniformly prosperous community.  In all, a net loss of over $10 million dollars will be realized to the local economy (unverified), at a time when national business is already severely impacted!  All because of infighting and uninformed opinions and decisions from council members and 2 Mayors respectively (Newman/Volk)! 

What began as a $170,000 venture to change traditional traffic lights to 4-way stop signs, turned into a 7 year experiment at the expense of taxpayers,  downtown businesses and property owners.  A HUGE EMBARRASSMENT for the city, when finished, taxpayers will have shelled out more than $4 Million Dollars (unverified) by the time the city finishes 4 additional years of refinishing sidewalks, correcting curbs, and repaving streets, due to the continual changes brought about by poor and uninformed council decisions and questionable Mayoral leadership!