Government : City Candidate Profile: Bud Maynard for Mayor of Vinton

Vinton Today asked our mayoral candidates, and the new council member candidates to submit a profile about themselves and to address any issues that they felt were going well, things that need to be improved, or goals that they would like to see accomplished in Vinton, and of course, anything else they'd like to share.

For those who don't know, I am a lifelong resident of the Vinton area. Married to my beautiful bride, Shannon, for 24 years and together have raised 2 girls that obviously took after their mother. The oldest, Alex, is engaged to be married in February and is working locally. Addy is looking forward to graduating high school next spring and making the most of her senior year.
I have been involved with the City council going on 20 years with the past 4 years as Mayor. My years serving on council has seen Vinton survive and thrive through some of the worst natural disasters any community has ever seen. I have also seen the successes that have come to the community as well. Fiber optic to our homes, new and old businesses opening and expanding, A splash pad and amazing glow trail to spend some time on. The Braille school is in private ownership, a new development already expanding to the next phase. It's quite remarkable how much has occurred in our town, good and bad.
As Vinton moves into a post pandemic world we will be faced with increasing prices on goods and materials that will affect us all. As budget time rolls around we will be faced with keeping life in Vinton affordable and still provide great service to our people. The council will have to look closely at the budget and make decisions that will best serve the community as a whole.
We must continue to make Vinton a place people want to come and raise a family. We will need to find additional ways to set Vinton apart from other communities. Vinton is a full service community, Top notch schools, Amazing Health care, Recreational activities surpassed by none, a multitude of businesses offering almost anything and everything a family would need. Vinton needs to aggressively promote all of these great things to get people interested to come and have a look.
As Vinton's footprint has grown its infrastructure is struggling to try and keep up. We are wrapping up a large infrastructure project and are looking at upgrading the sewer and water plants as they are showing their age and no longer performing at the level the city and its citizens need. The city will be tasked with making these improvements and making them affordable as well.
I could go on with things I see coming at us but I feel I must state the obvious. Vinton isn't broken, maybe rough around the edges but its core is strong. With a little smoothing and TLC we will keep prospering as a community. We can all see with our eyes what a great town we have but it's also those things we can't see that make it a home for all of us.

I am happy to see so many people seeking election and willing to serve their community.
I wish all of you the best of luck !!!