I invested Meridian Township in clean, smart renewable energy, brought curbside recycling to every home and helped pass Ingham County's farm preservation mileage.

While most communities and counties across our state are grappling with unfunded pension and retiree health care plans, I got to work and put Meridian Township in the strongest financial health of any community in Michigan. I developed and implemented a comprehensive plan to fully fund Meridian Township's retirement plans.

While many talk about fixing our roads, I've been leading the effort for two decades. In my first year on the Meridian Township Board, I invested an additional $1 million to help repair our neighborhood roads, which had been neglected for years and were in really rough shape.

I also helped create our neighborhood road millage and continued investing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Meridian Township's General Fund every year to maintain our neighborhood roads and protect our property values as the state and county failed to do so.

I helped raise over $50,000 to support the relocation and expansion of the Haslett and Okemos Libraries to larger facilities that meet the needs of 21st-Century libraries without having to raise taxes.

After spending the last 20 years helping Meridian Township weather two recessions and chart a prosperous course for our future, I knew my hard work, knowledge, leadership was needed far more at our state Capitol.