Meet Ward 2 Arnold City Council Candidate Jeff Fitter

Patch sent all Arnold City Council candidates identical questionnaires in order to compile candidate profiles prior to the April election. Each candidate who returned the survey will be featured on the site this week alphabetically by ward.

Jeff Fitter, 41 (Candidate for Arnold City Council - Ward 2) 

• Address: 2301 Northeaster Ct., Arnold, MO 
• Occupation: Director of Business Development
• Education: Some college
• Family: Michelle (wife), two daughters (Brittni and Ciarra) at Seckman High School
• Years lived in Arnold: 15
• Please provide a brief summary of your background, highlighting community involvement if applicable. I served the remainder of the term left behind by Jim Edwards (November 2011-April 2012). I have also served on the City of Arnold Planning & Zoning Commission (2008-2012) and prior to that, the City of Arnold Board of Adjustments (2007-2008) as well as the Police Board (2010 - 2011). I also donate my time to various charities cooking for their events. I have fed more than 4,000 soldiers with AUSA for Military day at Busch Stadium and have ran the foodbooth at the Ride on St. Louis event in Kimmswick for the last two years.
• Please provide a brief summary of your reasons for running: My reasons for wanting to serve my community are very simple, I want to help make my community better. I believe that I have many things to offer including a fresh perspective on where we are as a City and where we can go. I don’t pretend to have all the answers and have an open minded approach so that not to miss any great ideas others have.

Questions: 

1. What do you currently see as the biggest issue facing Arnold? 

• Why can't we all get along? - I'll work with all members on bringing together the Council and begin moving the City forward to ensure the future for our residents.
• Infrastructure - Improve the intersection at Richardson Road and Old Lemay Ferry and upgrade City sewer and storm water systems including adding those not already on the City Sewer.
• Economic Development - Attract more business partners to the City of Arnold, bringing more jobs and more choices for our residents. Make Arnold a destination, not just a pass-through city.

2. How do you plan to ensure the best use of taxpayer dollars? 

I will work to understand where each ongoing project is and hold those accountable for ensuring that timelines and budgets are met. I won’t micro-manage, however, I will ask for updates on projects to ensure that there are no surprises. When new projects or budget items are requested I will make sure I understand these items and how they fit into our stated goals and plans to move the City forward.

3. In what area does the Arnold need to improve? Are you satisfied with the way the city has been operating? 

At the risk of repeating myself I see our biggest issues also being the area that needs the most improvements, as such I have listed them again:

• Why can't we all get along? - I'll work with all members on bringing together the Council and begin moving the City forward to ensure the future for our residents.
• Infrastructure - Improve the intersection at Richardson Rd and Old Lemay Ferry and upgrade City sewer and storm water systems including adding those not already on the City Sewer Economic Development.
• Attract more business partners to the City of Arnold, bringing more jobs and more choices for our residents. Make Arnold a destination not just a pass-through city. It seems that there have been many distractions this past year, my goal will be to bring these to resolution and put the Residents, Businesses and Staff of the City of Arnold back as our top priorities. There is much work to do to maintain and build our City for the future! We must focus on putting our personal agendas aside and regain the momentum needed to sustain these harsh economic times. Through it all The City of Arnold has and must continue to grow during these times.

4. Assume you win the election. What thing do you want to accomplish during your time on the council? 

My goal is to fill the vacant retail shops throughout the City. In order to grow and continue the services that our residents have become accustom to we must continue to grow our retail sales tax base. Further I wish to make Arnold a destination for folks driving on Interstate 55 to stop and enjoy.

5. Many in the community have expressed discourse over the manner in which the council recently has conducted business. Specifically, community members have asked councilmembers to stop "bickering" and "do the jobs they were elected to do." How to you plan to address this moving forward? 

I too am frustrated with how things have been handled. It won’t be an overnight fix, however, I will stand strong with this thought, please set aside your personal agendas and let’s work together for the better of our community. Perhaps I’m an optimist but I think everyone on the Council has that goal still in mind. I will work to bridge gaps and earn the respect of those on the Council and will find compromise when needed to move our City
forward! I look forward to moving past the current issues and working on all the great opportunities ahead of us to make Arnold greater for our Children, Nieces, Nephews and those who are just starting families!