news-record.com

Tony Cooler

Office you seek: Oak Ridge Town Council

Occupation: Marketing

Age: 37

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing

Address: 2412 Oak Ridge Road

Email address: tmcooler@yahoo.com

Previous elective experience: none

Other relevant experience (boards and commissions, etc.): Previous VP of Oak Ridge Lion’s Club, co-chair of the Oak Ridge 10th Anniversary Committee, Oak Ridge Parks and Recreation Commission member

Why have you chosen to run for this office? I was drawn to Oak Ridge because of the town’s historic roots and progressive thinking. Living in the town’s historic core, I’m committed to preserving and promoting the town’s cultural assets while ensuring the town is poised to take advantage of future opportunities.

Key qualifications you would bring to the job: I have a long background of community service which I will combine with my leadership and professional experience gained over 15 years of managing the business for clients such as Walt Disney World and Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Family: Married.

What distinguishes you most from your opponents? I am a more recent resident of Oak Ridge, moving here five years ago, which I feel helps me to temper my passion and commitment to the town with an objective view. I think this perspective will work well with the existing Town Council members to create a balanced representation for the Town.

Please list the top three issues in Oak Ridge and your stances on those issues:

1. Taxes: I am in favor of keeping the tax rate steady at the current rate of 8.63 cents. While we may have the highest rate in northwest Guilford County, we are low in comparison to surrounding towns. Even with our relatively low tax rate, we have been able to create amazing new assets for our town – the town hall and our new town park. These investments in our community were able to come to fruition due in no small part because of the committed staff, dedicated volunteers and the prudent oversight of our council members regarding all spending. We have been very fiscally responsible in where and when and how these distributions have occurred and my goal would be that we would continue to be good stewards of the investments made in the community by the community.
2. Safety: Oak Ridge, like any growing community needs to continually review levels of crime and traffic in our town. We have already taken preliminary steps to ensure the safety of our citizens but will need to work with local law enforcement and the DOT to manage how these levels change as the town grows.
3. Commercial growth: As the Town grows, commercial growth is inevitable and, if properly managed, healthy and desirable. My goal as a member of Council would be to ensure this growth takes place at a rate that beneficial for the Town while understanding and mitigating any negative impacts.

If you were to give Oak Ridge a letter grade on its effectiveness in managing growth, what would it be?: A

What vote or decision of the current council would you overturn? Why do you disagree with the decision? There have been no recent decisions by the current Town Council that I have disagreed with. Our town has adopted a set of rules and guidelines to govern the town and a great system of volunteer Committees and Commissions who investigate and debate issues prior to presentation to the council. These both have served us well, and while I don’t expect to agree with every recommendation or member of Council, I feel we have the tools to streamline the process and gain consensus.