Cathy Sherman
Candidate for Cordova City Council Seat B
Challenger, running against Ken Jones
Job: Retired as director of Cordova Public Library and Cordova Historical Museum, Public Information Officer and acting/assistant city manager.
Public service: Cordova Historical Society member, Friends of the Library member, Historic Preservation Commission chair, Prince William Sound Science Center Facility Committee member, Moose Lodge volunteer.
Highest education: Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology with a minor in Historic Research and Journalism, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Penn.
Other than ferry service, what is the first issue you would work to address following the election?
Stable health care. Long-term financial plan. Economic growth through support of local businesses, start-ups and small-scale tourism. Moving harbor upgrades ahead. Support for the science center with the development of their new campus. Continue to improve quality of life and lower cost of living to grow our population base.
What do you see as the most effective way to address the city’s budget difficulties?
As acting city manager, I became very familiar with the city’s annual budget and prepared a balanced budget. As a department head, I prepared a budget annually. With the current status of the state’s inability to uphold its previous contributions and commitments to municipalities, it is important council looks at all the tools available for fixing our budget deficiencies. I believe the first step is to provide City Manager Howarth with the tools necessary to hire a full-time, competent finance director. A second step would be to evaluate all city departments re: goals for levels of surface; efficiencies and deficiencies; innovations to cut costs yet maintain the level of service desired by the community. As a third step, partner with nonprofits and other entities for grant opportunities to save city funds, yet allow us to continue to move forward in a sustainable manner. The CVFD, library and museum have all been receiving grants written in-house for years, but I see immediate opportunities for larger grants with the museum, library and Parks and Recreation to help offset city costs.
How well do you think the city council is currently serving the needs of citizens?
I am a big fan of the city’s efforts to make the council as accessible as possible to the community. The Cordova Conversation brings current issues to your personal inbox every Monday morning. All city meetings are listed. Broadcasting council meetings live on YouTube makes it easy for everyone to listen in. That said, I feel council could do better meeting the needs of the citizens by listening to them more in an open forum twice a year such as a town meeting.
What policy positions set you apart from your opponent?
I feel the most significant difference between myself and Ken is I have more extensive insight and knowledge into the daily operations of each department within the city. I know there can be improvements in many areas, but I also know how dedicated our city employees are and the amazing level of quality of work we receive as residents of this rural community.
What do you do to relax?
Cooking relaxes me. I enjoy reading, crafting, boating trips, writing letters and going OTR.
The Cordova General Election will be held Tuesday, March 3, selecting new members of Cordova City Council, the Cordova School Board and the Cordova Community Health Center Authority Board. Voting will take place from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Cordova Center.
The Cordova Times asked all candidates questions with uniform word limits and deadlines for response.
