NAME: Christine “Chris” Garvey
AGE: 60
PARTY AFFILIATION: Republican
DAY JOB: Dental Hygienist
EDUCATION: Associates degree in Applied Sciences- Dental Hygiene College of So. NV, Certified Public Official certification from UNR Extended Studies.
HOW LONG YOU HAVE LIVED IN NEVADA: 60 years
WRITE A BRIEF (TWO TO THREE SENTENCES) SUMMARY OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD ENABLE YOU TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THIS OFFICE: As a School Board Trustee for the Clark County School Dist., the th largest school district in the nation, I was elected to represent over 200,000 constituents and in over 12 years I was able to develop the skill set that will allow me to perform the duties of Mayor. As a Board member my duties ranged from policy development to fiscal oversight of a $4.1 billion capital improvement program and a $2.3 billion annual operating budget that provided services in the following areas: classroom instruction, transportation, food service, school police, contract negotiations, social services, communications, HR recruitment, grounds and building maintenance, as well as magnet school program development in collaboration with the business community to address workforce future needs and more. I also have work experience in private and public healthcare, mental health & disabilities, and real estate.
WHAT IS YOUR TOP PRIORITY IF ELECTED?
Public Safety is my #1 priority.
IN JUST A FEW SENTENCES: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FACING SPARKS, AND HOW WOULD YOU FIX IT?
How we address public safety is the biggest problem facing Sparks. If our city isn’t safe, it impacts every aspect of our community.
* Gridlock plagues many of our roads and neighborhoods, contributing to increased commute times, more vehicle accidents and even longer emergency response times. Infrastructure can no longer be an after-thought to growth.
* Homeless (many who struggle with both drug addiction and mental illness) are allowed to roam our neighborhoods, parks and business centers while ignoring our laws and demanding taxpayer resources. Despite the City of Sparks investing over $9 million in taxpayer dollars into the Cares Campus to address the homeless issue, the problem is only getting worse.
* Property & violent crime is spreading to all areas of Sparks, becoming more and more common place. Sparks Police Officers are dedicated men and women, but when a department is critically understaffed, you make a hard job almost impossible and put people at risk.
Every day we don’t address these issues the quality of life for our citizens is downgraded, businesses suffer economically and tourist and families think twice about spending their travel & entertainment dollars in our city. My plan includes getting our Police and Fire Depts. fully staffed. Clean up our streets and enforce our laws. Make development pay for itself to address future infrastructure and stop saying yes to Urban Sprawl.
HOUSING AND RENT PRICES ARE AT RECORD HIGHS. WHAT’S YOUR PLAN TO HELP EASE THE HOUSING CRUNCH IN SPARKS?
The current Mayor’s plan has been to say yes to all development and to grow our city vertically. He insists that our city must continue with uncontrolled development, telling us, “As we go vertical it gets more expensive, but you save a little money on services, so police and fire is less expensive because you don’t have to build a new fire house and staff it or put more police on the street”. Not only does this put our citizens at risk but it has failed to produce affordable housing options as promised. He is also promoting the Truckee Meadows Land Act, a behind closed doors bill that would allow the city to sell thousands of acres of our wilderness area NE of Sparks to developers, expanding urban sprawl and increasing the demands on our limited resources and infrastructure. I oppose the Truckee Meadows Land Act.
My plan is that development must pay for itself AND be in the best interest of the community, not big money developers. Within that framework, we need to encourage middle housing options, where it makes sense. We also need to be proactive in maintaining and expanding the number of low-income housing units available to our seniors, veterans and the disabled.
Ensure the city is accessing and leveraging available resources that support homeownership for first time low-income buyers, home rehabilitation programs that help keep seniors in their homes and grants that provide no interest loans to qualified homeowners to repair their homes. Sadly, the City of Sparks lost access to some of these programs from HUD due to the city’s mismanagement of the program.
Adequate training and support for staff is a must; These are OUR federal tax dollars and we need to make sure the community benefits from them. As Mayor, I will work with the community to ensure that we are not sacrificing our quality of life in the name of uncontrolled development.
IN ONE SENTENCE: WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING VOTERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I’ve Had Enough and the citizens of Sparks have too.
YES OR NO: WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THIS ELECTION, WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE?
Yes
