Dave Bland for Matthews Town Council

DAVE'S POSITIONS ON THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING MATTHEWS

Keep Matthews Taxes Low

Making wise choices on how to spend your tax dollars requires making difficult decisions and setting priorities. My priorities are (1) public safety (2) roads (3) preserving Matthews as a primarily residential community, and (4) making specific investments in our community which will pay long term dividends for taxpayers. Matthews Commissioners must think of ways to get more out of each tax dollar. When I served on the Matthews Town Council between 1985 and 1993 we were able to reduce the tax rate 7 out of the 8 years.

Reduce Emergency Response Time for Police and Emergency Services

I am extremely proud of the Matthews Police and Fire Departments, and the quality service that they provide to the citizens of Matthews. I am committed to working with Chief Pennington, the Mayor, and fellow commissioners to provide our first responders with all of the tools and training they need. I want our police and emergency responders to be able to provide the best response times on priority emergency calls of any department in North Carolina.

Control Growth and Make Wise Choices with our Roads

Most of the land in Matthews has been fully developed. There are only a few isolated parcels of undeveloped land where the Town can exercise its authority to affect existing land uses. When a request to change an existing zoning occurs, the Town must strive to preserve what is now a largely family oriented residential community. We need to focus our attention on making the Town safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and local traffic. I applaud the Town's efforts to prevent the Department of Transportation from essentially dividing the Town with a Super Road which will divide our historic downtown area. We need to stop or delay the current super-road until we can come up with a better solution for how to address Union County traffic passing through the center of our Town.

WHO IS DAVE BLAND?

INVOLVEMENT IN TOWN GOVERNMENT

Dave Bland has been part of the Matthews community since 1982, and has worked tirelessly to make Matthews a better place to live and work. Dave and his wife Geri, with their young family, moved to Matthews and Dave started his own law office. Dave was one of the founding partners of Weaver, Bennett & Bland P.A. Dave was elected to four terms as a Matthews Town Commissioner between 1985 and 1993. While on the Town Council, he served as Matthews' representative to the Metropolitan Planning Organization when the actual route for the 485 Outer Belt through Matthews was selected. While on Town Council, Dave led the fight against Mecklenburg County placing a land fill where the Matthews Sportsplex is now located. While serving on Town Council, Dave fought for and succeeded in lowering property taxes in Matthews for seven straight years, while drastically increasing the scope and quality of town services to Matthews' citizens.

Dave has worked to keep Matthews a place where residents will want to live and work. Dave was not afraid to stand up to the Mecklenburg County Commission, the City of Charlotte or to CMS. Dave led the fight which resulted in CMS agreeing to construct Providence High School, Butler High School, Crestdale Middle School, and Elizabeth Lane Elementary School for Matthews children so they had local schools to attend. Dave fought for and voted for the Matthews Tree Ordinance, the Matthews Sidewalk Ordinance, the Matthews Downtown Overlay District, to adopt the City Manager form of Town Government, and to establish a professional and independent Matthews Police Department with its own police radio and its own dispatch.

A Long History of Community Involvement

Dave has been involved in and has contributed to numerous community organizations including the Matthews Help Center, MARA, Matthews Kawanis Club, Lions Club, Matthews Rotary Club and Jaycees. Dave served on the Board as the Secretary of the Charlotte Soccer Club for over 10 years. Dave, through his law firm (Weaver, Bennett & Bland), has been a principle sponsor of the Matthews Library, the Matthews Help Center, the Matthews Chamber of Commerce, the Mathews Free Medical Clinic, MARA, the Stumptown Festival, the Levine Senior Center, COS Kids, Blessed Assurance Senior Daycare, Terrific Kids and many other worthy community services.

Get Involved with Dave and Matthews

I can't win this race without your help. Get involved! If I can help you with a great idea you have to make Matthews an even better place to live, then let me know. Contact me at info@VoteDaveBland.com. Call me at my office (704-844-1400) or call me at home (704-847-7713). Help me spread the word about my campaign. There are thousands of ways to help us achieve our goals together. Lets work together to make Matthews the best place to live, work or visit. Get involved with my campaign and VOTE!

Police Officer Calvin Young - School Resource Officer of the Year

At the Matthews Town Council Meeting last night I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Officer Calvin Young. The Town presented Officer Young with an award recognizing his achievement of being selected as the School Resource Officer of the Year in North Carolina. When Chief Pennington read Officer Young’s long list of accomplishments and his many achievements, it made me feel proud of our Police Department and of our Town. Mayor Paul Bailey and the Town Commissioners presented Officer Young with the award memorializing the Town’s gratitude for his years of outstanding service to our community. I hope all of our citizens will the Town in expressing their gratitude to Officer Calvin Young and to the other men and women who work with him to make Matthews a great place to live, work, and go to school!