Joe Roche, Boulder City Council candidate

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | midnight

Name: Joe Roché

Age: 33

Campaign Web site: www.BCJoe.com

Party: Republican

Occupation: Recycling consultant

Education: Nursing degree from College of Southern Nevada

Time in Nevada: 20 years

Time in Boulder City: Six years

Most important issues: If elected, I will work to preserve and protect our small town environment. I will guard our city from uncontrolled residential development. I will strive for openness, trust, and transparency in local government.

We need to have public discussion and voter participation on the Boulder Creek Golf Course to consider all alternatives. The current uses of the Redevelopment Agency in Boulder City does not justify taking funds from teachers’ and policemen’s salaries. We need to pursue renewable and sustainable technology for energy and environmental issues (such as landfill, solar, geo-thermal etc.). These pursuits may bring forth rewarding revenues that our city desperately needs.

Accountability to the residents of Boulder City is another important concern I share. I have attended three years of City Council meetings and seen the impact appointed staff can have on the city’s day-to-day operations and the general morale of employees. More than ever, it is important that the city manager, city attorney and the city clerk are not engaging in politics when presenting the City Council information. Our city has a tremendous amount of debt and faces some really tough choices. We need senior staff to focus on their job and do what is expected of them.

Qualifications for job: I obtained my degree in nursing. After nursing, I gained considerable experience in recycling, landfill management and municipal waste management. I have secured the required permits for a recycling center in Nevada and have managed, directed and supervised multimillion-dollar budgets and, when necessary, corrected budget deficiencies. My background is unmatched by any other candidate and it may benefit the city to have a candidate elected who believes in accountability, integrity and presents real choices.

I plan to bring my business experience to benefit all of the issues that come before the city. We are at the crossroads of change. I share a vision that our city will be financially strong. I believe in the strong principles of less tax, less government, more freedom and less regulation on local businesses. I share the difficulties of our current hard times with every other Boulder City resident. A vote for Joe Roché is a vote that represents the everyday resident of Boulder City.

What sets candidate apart: I am stepping forward because we need to break the impasse between the voters and the council. We have important choices to make ahead of us. The solutions need to consider all options responsibly.

Solar and geothermal leases are among the most promising source of new revenue, and I support bringing qualified solar energy enterprises into the Eldorado Valley. At the same time, we need to take a hard look at non-essential activities that perennially lose money and make the tough choices about them. We also need to establish a policy that does not allow business enterprises to tie up city land year after year without paying fair compensation.

Boulder Creek is a beautiful part of our town, but it is not an asset. It is an enormous financial liability. Many in Boulder City want the city to underwrite the losses for 10 or 20 more years to keep it open. I believe most people do not. We need to ask the people to vote on it — a vote the majority on the council have never allowed.

The Redevelopment Agency in Boulder City has become a giveaway of tax dollars to businesses where no blight exists, without creating new jobs. Most grants fail to meet the statutory requirement that “no other reasonable means of financing ... are available.” This needs to change, and I support a change with a fresh perspective that meets the current state law.