Return Ric McGinnis to the Riverbank City Council.

By Fredric "Ric" McGinnis

Presently I serve as your Vice Mayor. I want to return to the council to continue the good work we're doing

The reason I serve as a city council member is that I care about the quality of life here. I take seriously the stewardship we have over the city's growth and development.

This growth CAN be a good thing -- with more houses come more residents, more business, and more jobs, bringing a greater variety of goods and services. It CAN be a bad thing, too -- with overcrowding, more traffic and decreased service to the people who have lived here the longest.

We are increasing the good effects, while keeping those BAD effects in check. That's the main job of local government. With limited financial resources, we've managed to become good at improving our quality of life with other people's money.

By this, I mean we've been successful at finding money for things we want to improve by applying for and receiving state and federal grant money to do it.

We have been able to help first time home buyers and those who need help to remodel their homes by making grant money available to them.

At Jacob Myers Park, we added a boat ramp, parking lot and rest rooms. We installed new playground equipment there, at the Community Center playground and other parks around town.

We rebuilt the restrooms at the Community Center and improved its kitchen facilities.

We received a 200-thousand dollar grant to acquire land to expand the sewer plant, and replaced and improved equipment there. We separated and rerouted the main sewer line and storm drains on First Street downtown.

In addition, we came to an agreement with the group of Crossroads developers that insures that water, sewer, streets, gutters and other facilities the project needs are being built before the construction of homes begins.

What does all of this mean to you, the citizens of Riverbank.?

It means we're staying ahead of the curve, providing improved facilities for current residents and insuring that new residents will have what they need when they arrive.

We've done well so far, but we need to continue to keep our eye on the ball. Our 3-million dollar budget continues to include a healthy reserve.

At the same time, we're at the very beginning stages of a downtown improvement project, where we hope to retain the qualities of small town life that we so much enjoy.

I'm just an "everyday" guy. I'm a husband # father # grandfather # active church member # employee # manager # council member ... and vice mayor.

As a member of the city council of Riverbank, I have discovered the need to embrace the process of government.

Although we might wish to "push a button" to employ a quick fix to a problem, we must be patient. Instead, I have found that the council must first study, to find out as much as we can, then deliberate on the possible solutions, along with the effects those possibilities might have on our city. Finally, we must take the action necessary to solve the problem and make things better.

The decisions we make as a city will guide and shape the future of this great city for generations to come.

To summarize: Riverbank will continue to grow. Managing that growth and maintaining our quality of life are key requirements to attaining the future that we wish to have.

Return proven experience solving today's problems with today's solutions. Vote to return Ric McGinnis to the Riverbank