OGDENSBURG -- A Jersey Avenue man who returned to the city four years ago has announced he is running for city council.

William Hosmer says that since he returned, "I have realized that if I want to see more of my friends and classmates who have made their homes elsewhere join me in returning to our hometown, I need to work with others to guide the community in a direction that will grow our business base, enhance our commerce, and convince people to raise their families here.

He talked about the recurring theme of population decline, particularly among young people who leave the city for opportunity elsewhere.

"We can reverse this trend by stabilizing property taxes, encouraging business development within the city, reducing government regulation, and supporting the first-time homeowner program."

The rest of Hosmer's announcement follows:

 

Currently people from other communities have little reason to visit Ogdensburg; however

there are ways to change this trend as well. For instance we can support initiatives

such as the building of Fort de la Presentation, creating a tourism strategy, and helping

businesses develop new ideas to create a keystone to the center of the city.

For too long we have allowed neighborhoods to deteriorate, giving our community a depressing appearance to those who visit. Too many of our fellow citizens have lost hope that we can turn our community around and restore our neighborhoods, our commercial base and the future of the Maple City.

That's why I have chosen to run for the Ogdensburg City Council.

I believe that if we work together we can help our neighbors protect and restore their neighborhoods. By working with groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the Garden Club, the Historic Commission and the Pride and Beautification Commission we can reclaim our neighborhoods and restore their pride.

If I am elected to city council, I will make cleaning up our shoreline brownfield properties city council's top priority.

If I am elected, I will work with businesses on a façade improvement program to make our business districts attractive to visitors.

I will work with the Chamber and City Council to create a meaningful building revitalization program.

As someone who grew up in Ogdensburg and graduated from OFA, I believe in our community's future. As a graduate of the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2001, I will take what I learned in business school and apply those principles to insure that your local government lives within its means and offers a fair return on your tax dollar investments.

For the past 10 years, I have been employed by a company based in Colchester, Vt. as a project manager working with large and small businesses, visiting communities across America.

Four years ago, I convinced my boss to let me move my office to Ogdensburg and let me work over the Internet, which has allowed me to buy my own home and invest in a local business that I believe will help transform our community's waterfront.

During the 10 years I have spent working with, visiting and meeting with business owners in almost all 50 states, I have seen the potential that Ogdensburg's shoreline offers if we work together to clean it up.

I believe my extensive experience in budgeting, team organization, management of many different departments at a time, and finance will help me make our local government better serve your needs. I think my experience and ideas can be a huge asset to the city as we try to rebuild our great community.

Thank you,

 

William Hosmer

 

320 Jersey Ave.

Ogdensburg, NY 13669

315-393-3324

[email protected]