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Ogdensburg City Council candidate profile: Timothy Davis

Posted 10/20/19

BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week OGDENSBURG – City Councilor Tim Davis says the city needs to continue addressing the drug problem, focus on economic growth and improve the general …

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Ogdensburg City Council candidate profile: Timothy Davis

Posted

BY JIMMY LAWTON

North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – City Councilor Tim Davis says the city needs to continue addressing the drug problem, focus on economic growth and improve the general aesthetics.

Davis says supporting the police department and meeting with business owners to hear what problems they are facing is a good place to start.

Davis, a Democrat who is seeking a second term as on the council, says he wants to build on the hard work it has done to address the tax burden.

“We have been making a lot of tough decision to keep taxes under control. We are downsizing where we can. We are going after grants and we have the land bank now to help take care of some of the zombie properties. We have a low tax base, but we’ve been working hard to sell city owned properties,” he said.

A retired union pipe fitter, Davis is a strong supporter of union labor and stands behind the decision to use a project labor agreement for the wastewater treatment plant project.

“I think it was a good move. I think we will see savings from the PLA. It was evenly bid and we are at a point now where we can’t delay,” he said

Davis says it’s unfortunate that the city did not follow the charter’s method for filling a partial term, but says that it’s water under the bridge at this point.

“Yeah we should have followed the charter. It was a mistake, but our attorneys say we can’t correct it, because it would be a conflict of interest for us to vote on it,” he said. “I think we have to take our attorney’s advice.”

Davis said the ideas put forth by the Financial Restructuring Board will help the city gain financial footing in the future.

He said the land bank and cuts through attrition were set, but the fleet management plan will also help the city gain ground in years to come.

Davis said a major focus for him during his first term was improving the waterfront.

An avid fisherman, he has worked to see the boat launches rehabilitated and wants to see more development along the riverfront.

“I think we need to capitalize on that. I’d like to see us drawing more fishing tournaments down the road,” he said.

Davis says he brings a blue-collar, common sense mentality to the board and he is always available to speak with his constituents. He said he has concerns about misinformation spreading around the city..

“I would encourage people to get out to the meetings. Get educated and take the time to see what’s going on. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about how things are being done, but we’ve made a lot of progress and I see a big turnaround coming in the next few years,” he said.