Candidate Q&A: Marcus Bowman- City Council

Why are you running for this office, and what do you hope to accomplish during your term?
I was born and raised in Hudson. It was important to Maghan and me that we raise our family here. I'm highly invested in our community and thoroughly enjoy
providing service. I'm running for office to further that service by putting my experience and expertise to work and helping forge a path forward. I intend to help map out our vision and values and ensure we make decisions that align with the goals we construct.
I intend to help resolve community concerns around our budget and how we'll rebuild our reserve balance. Through this, I'll help assure we're providing maximum value to our taxpayers. Even in accomplishing this, our government cannot be successful without being more transparent about how we got here, how we're going to emerge from where we are, and where we intend to go. Lastly, I will partner with all departments and committees so we move toward the same shared vision.

What do you see as the most important issue facing Hudson right now?
Hudson has several opportunities. Fortunately, these opportunities are connected. We need to document a well-defined vision and a strategy to achieve our aspirations. This includes our approach to residential and business growth (while maintaining our small community feel), the level of services we desire (now and as we grow), the required revenue growth (and sources of that revenue), implementing fiscal responsibility, measuring our progress, and communicating effectively with our key stakeholders.
With strong execution of this plan, we'll be successful.

What experience or perspective do you bring that you believe will benefit the
city?
I am a nearly 25-year veteran and executive in the financial industry, including leading teams over the past 12 years that find problems, identify the root cause, design solutions, and implement sustainable controls to ensure the problem does not repeat itself. This experience has allowed me to build and redesign underperforming operations leveraging thoughtful business strategies, contributing to strong financial results through disciplined spending, and creating better banks by resolving complex issues. These experiences are highly relevant and timely to the challenges facing our community.

How will you help improve communication and transparency between the city and residents?
Improved transparency starts with defining the short-term and long-term goals for our community and communicating that to our residents and taxpayers through several channels. As decisions are made, budgets are revised, and as the town grows, the developed vision needs to be considered. Rationale for those decisions needs to be clearer. Our residents are not privy to all discussions that ultimately lead to the Monday evening decisions by our mayor and council members. Effective reporting key elements of managing our city need to be monitored to validate the expectations of our strategy are being met. This reporting and a regular analysis of the results must be accessible beyond those in the council chambers.

What does respectful leadership look like to you in local government?
I've been successful by clearly communicating expectations, being available to knock down barriers to successful outcomes, making sound decisions, and providing timely and candid feedback. While there are other qualities that our mayor or council members can bring to the table, these traits have resulted in my successful outcomes.
Our success will be dependent on strong collaboration and cohesion between the
elected officials, department heads, city employees, city boards, and city committees.

Is there anything else you’d like voters to know?
I've worked for banks that I've had to help fix major issues. Hard times are not
punishments. If we respond appropriately, these are the times that will make our
community stronger and will lead us to be stronger, more focused, and accountable.
There is strength in scars, and we need to look at this as an opportunity. Let's work
together and build a stronger community!