Overview
Ryan Foster, candidate for Southfield mayor, discusses his platform focused on lowering property taxes, increasing public safety funding, supporting schools, and offering transparent leadership grounded in faith, personal experience, and community engagement.
Campaign Priorities and Issues
- Foster aims to lower property taxes in Southfield by 10% due to rising costs and population decline.
- He highlights that property taxes are 34% of the city’s budget and proposes offsetting the cut without major service reductions.
- He wants to increase public safety funding by 10% to address rising crime rates and improve response times.
- Foster emphasizes the need to fix smaller, neglected neighborhood roads, not just main streets.
- He advocates for investing more in Southfield’s schools, opening closed elementary schools, and establishing a stronger liaison role despite schools having a separate budget.
- He believes the city administration is slow, noting delays in development and infrastructure projects.
- Foster criticizes long-term incumbents and calls for new leadership throughout city government.
Professional and Personal Background
- Foster is a Southfield native with experience as a police officer in Detroit and Dallas, corrections officer, teacher, and football team president.
- He relates his background to understanding community struggles, particularly among African-American residents.
- He values grassroots campaigning, personally collecting signatures and engaging directly with residents.
Community Involvement and Approach
- Foster regularly interacts with Southfield residents to understand their concerns, such as group homes, speeding, and dissatisfaction with city council.
- He pledges honest communication, stating that he tells citizens the realities, not just what they want to hear.
- He thanks supporters who have helped him in various campaigns and acknowledges their contributions.
Policy and Leadership Philosophy
- Foster describes himself as “born again,” focusing on forgiveness, helping others, and moving forward rather than dwelling on the past.
- He stresses the importance of leaders having real-world experience and representing their constituents genuinely.
- He seeks to unify the city through transparency, directness, and service-oriented leadership.
Decisions
- Pursue a 10% reduction in property taxes while increasing police and fire department funding.
- Advocate for opening at least two closed elementary schools.
- Support replacing incumbents with new leadership for city positions.
Action Items
- TBD – Ryan Foster: Continue grassroots engagement and direct communication with Southfield residents.
- TBD – Ryan Foster: Promote campaign through YouTube and website (www.rf4us.com).
- TBD – Ryan Foster: Work towards forming stronger partnerships with Southfield Public Schools.
Questions / Follow-Ups
- How will specific budget shortfalls from property tax cuts be addressed without cutting city services?
- What steps will be taken to ensure public safety funding increases translate to reduced crime rates?
- How will coordination with Southfield Public Schools be formalized given budget separation?