Dear Editor,

My name is Ramona Howard and I am running for Oakdale City Council because I want to help move Oakdale forward. I thought long and hard about what to put as my campaign slogan and I simply decided on, “Less Talk, More Action” because it seems this has been part of the problem and I am one who likes a good discussion, followed up by lots of action! It was the best way to explain who I am.

In regards to the government side of the city, it seems like lots of people are talking but not many have been willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty these days, they simply want to play politicians. I am certainly not a politician, I am a citizen just like you who happens to have some skills that will be useful to help move us forward. We are a city that is struggling to barely do the necessities, if we want the extras then we will need to come together as a community and make these things happen. I am a firm believer in volunteer-ism and know we have some very smart, hard-working, creative people who live here who are willing to help. Consider this your formal invitation to get involved.

I do have a solid stance on many items, crime being one of them. I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent and combat it, insuring our citizens are safe. I also believe our city is more than brick and mortar, it is people and we as city leaders must be willing to facilitate ways to create a fun, exciting city that people can be proud of and others will want to visit. We must take responsibility as leaders to help the situation…not just talk about it.

I have strong leadership and communication skills and am 100 percent committed to making sure we prioritize what we must do vs. what we want to do and making sure we don’t spend more than we have to do either.

As a business owner I understand the importance of communication with staff and more importantly regular evaluations so they can be held accountable and kept on task, poor past leadership has prevented our employees from “being more” than they are today and I will encourage this to change. There are many items that our great little city must solve and I will work hard to solve as many of them as I can, but remember 20,000 heads are far better than one.

Our city will have some tough decisions to make and I am willing to make them, but more importantly I am willing to listen to the people and their ideas in solving them. This isn’t a one person show, I don’t view this office as a status, I view it as an opportunity to lend the city my skills for four years to help make things better.

I look forward to serving you.

Ramona Howard