Why is Kristen the 3rd District's better choice?

I believe my concerns and values are aligned with the residents. The 3rd District is being ignored and the citizens need a stronger voice. For our Council, it has been all about opportunistic development, while the safety issues for the 3rd District increase with each passing day. Every road bounding this district has major concerns.

  • 27th Street - increasing crime, pedestrian safety, declining aesthetics
  • College Avenue- heavy traffic, pedestrian safety, flooding, large potholes
  • 51st Street- unsafe for both cars and people
  • The intersection of 51st and Drexel- extreme congestion during school arrival and departure hours
  • Drexel- flooding, no safe route for pedestrians or bicycles
  • The 3rd District has very limited access to the Oak Leaf Trail

I will seek adjoining community partnerships, DOT funding assistance, and other available grants to increase street safety and pedestrian transportation. Our goal should be to make Franklin accessible and enjoyable for young and old alike not just the speedway for vehicular traffic that it is becoming. I will push for safe and cost effective alternatives such as reasonable road widths that slow traffic in residential areas and require less maintenance.

I fully believe in the right to know the whereabouts and identity of sexual predators and the need to keep our children safe from them. I will support our police and fire departments so they will be able to uphold high standards in response time.

Business development provides the tax advantage of not adding students to our already overburdened school system. I especially would like to encourage restaurants and high quality businesses that will give Franklin an identity rather than having big box high commodity uses found everywhere. But these businesses will have to recognize that they are expected to plan and build in concert with Franklin's high standards that will make our community especially attractive to further high-end, tax-relieving businesses.

I support working on our sense of community. There is far too much checkerboard development taking place by putting business where residential should be and residential on our main arterial streets.

If we are to lower taxes, we need to stick to a plan that builds on a sense of community and helps keep money and jobs in Franklin. Chain restaurants run by out of state companies have fewer community ties and often provide minimal tax relief in relation to the demand on public services. I would encourage locally-owned businesses to start-up and thrive.

We still have an opportunity to design our city with an eye to natural resources as an amenity, not an afterthought. Developers have accommodated this concept (and have even been creative) when asked, but our Council is afraid of pushing development away so they are not holding developers to any high standard. Prairie Grass Preserve, the business park near Fitzsimmons Woods, and Crooked Creek are a few examples that demonstrate this is possible.  I support maintaining our city's natural beauty that adds property value and improves quality of life.

"Enhancing Franklin's identity through smart development and sound planning."

Kristen Wilhelm for Alderman 3rd District