Candidate: Michael Flanagan

My name is Michael Flanagan. I am running for seat 4 on the CDD and am asking for your vote. Grand Haven is my home year round. I participate in CDD meetings and upon learning no-one represented my village in the Neighborhood Watch I volunteered to be Linkside’s representative. I feel best when I am contributing in my community. Working on the CDD and in my Village will continue to enable me to be a positive member of our Grand community.

I was born and raised in Chicago, and I have lived and worked around the globe before settling in St. Charles Illinois where in my 25 years there lived and raised my family. I held positions on city boards responsible for attracting and retaining business – delivering community events for holidays, elections, entertainment, and the arts – and safe guarding the community with a focus on the young and aging in our city, I also had the privilege of working with the Superintendent and school board to provide first rate education, and working with community and faith based groups updating and building homes for those in need.

My professional life included building and managing globally diverse teams responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, running my construction company building and remodeling existing homes, teaching at the college level and department chairman in a community school district.

If you elect me I will work for everyone in Grand Haven to deliver what is best for our community.

I believe the community should be involved to help guide the Board in setting strategy and making decisions. CDD meetings aren’t the only means to meet with you. My approach is to engage with you to gain a firsthand understanding of your concerns so I can be better informed when taking action.

We need to keep the fabric of Grand Haven in tact while establishing and executing plans which enable us to address critical areas including roads, community sidewalks, landscape and trees, wild fire mitigation, ponds and waterways health and maintenance, amenities, and preparing for emergencies. Elect me and I will work to keep our community safe and moving forward.

I have learned a great deal about our community and the CDD. I recognize there will be a ramp up and I have taken proactive steps to understand the CDD organizational structure and the Florida Sunshine law which the CDD must follow.

Fiscal responsibility and the security of our community is an imperative for all board members.  I will work the board and District Manager to secure competitive bids, track projects and report to you on a regular basis so you know accomplishments, challenges, changes, and how this impacts you.

Informed decisions made in a timely fashion are critical in addressing community needs. Acting in this fashion also establishes a reputation with the business community that Grand Haven is a community they want to do business. As a Board member I will drive to deliver a more time bound approach in providing the strategy, expectation, and measurement that our team of qualified staff can drive to success. We have hired talented people to deliver I want to empower them to be successful in execution and communication to the community.

Thank you for this privilege of presenting my background, vision, and why I am the candidate you should cast your vote for CDD seat 4 on the November ballot.

Michael Flanagan