At this time two years ago, the people of Jefferson County were about to decide who would represent them on the first-ever Jefferson County Council. I and six others were honored with the privilege to serve our community on the new county council. Once again it is election time and the people who reside in Council Districts 2, 4, and 6 will have to make a choice as to who will represent them. For the past 21 months, one council member has worked tirelessly to serve the people of her district. That representative is the first Council Chair, Renee Reuter.
I can remember one of the first constituent requests that Renee and I received last year. It was a gentleman who lived in Ward 4 of Arnold, which is in Renee’s district. He had an issue regarding living in unincorporated Jefferson County, yet paying for sewer services to the City of Arnold. Renee was very attentive to his needs. Renee and I researched the issue and provided that resident with information that he was tied on to the city’s sewer infrastructure and had to pay a fee for service to the city, as he would with any other utility. There are countless other examples I could cite, from Renee working with a homeowner in reading the Jefferson County Code regarding onsite sanitary septic systems, to working with another concerned citizen needing a stop sign installed at a dangerous intersection, which demonstrates her desire to serve her constituents as their representative to county government.
The new Jefferson County government has accomplished some amazing things in the past 21 months. Millions of dollars will be saved in the next decade thanks to the actions of this county council and county administration. Whether it is refinancing bonds, implementing reforms in county departments or streamlining the size and scope of county government, we have implemented policies and procedures that will give the citizens of Jefferson County a government they can afford and a government that truly works for them. We have been able to maintain the level of service to the community and the same benefits to county employees, all while lowering taxes and putting money into reserves. I am proud to say that Renee Reuter has supported these changes and been an instrumental part in changing the culture of county government.
Renee and I haven’t agreed on everything while serving together on the county council. That’s okay – if we all agreed this would be a boring world. While we may have disagreed on things such as term limits or non-partisan elections, she has stood with me on major issues that have made this county government better. The people of District 2 have a choice this November. As my father once told me, “don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken.” Renee Reuter is the right choice to continue the positive changes we have implemented these first two years.
Sincerely,
Bob Boyer
Jefferson County Council Chair
Councilman District 3 (Arnold)
Renee Reuter has even managed to make Bob Boyer look good by doing the hard work for him. In order to protect her constituents, she questions the administration when the content of Ordinances and Bills doesn't seem to go in the right direction. The UDO changes proposed by Council Member Boyer is a recent example of Renee Reuter's watchful eye. The sweeping UDO changes would have put into motion adverse effects in the county that could have caused more hardships for the residents. Thankfully, Council Member Reuter and the Council Members from District 1 and District 4 were there to oversee the drastic changes that would have occurred if this Bill had passed in its' original form. They made many changes in the bill and headed off most of the unpleasant effects everyone in the county would have experienced. Thank you, Council Member Reuter, we are very grateful for your hours of dedication! We need more people like you and the other two council people.