Candidate responds to questions
Four Florence residents have filed for the position of Florence City Council. The Peabody Gazette-Bulletin asked the four candidates, Dorothy Cleverley, Gerald E. Cleverley, Dan Ludwig, and Venetia Miller, to respond to questions related to the position and the future of Florence.
Candidate Venetia Miller was the only candidate who responded. Here are her responses.
1) Why do you want to be elected as a councilman of the City of Florence?
Miller: "I feel I can be useful to the people of Florence by representing them. I want them to be able to speak freely without fear. I want to hear their ideas and dreams, and help create the plan that makes them come true. I also want to know their complaints and to be able to come up with a solution to solve the problem."
2) What do you envision as a five-year plan for the City of Florence? How could these goals be accomplished?
Miller: "The rebuilding of Florence into a self-sufficient community. By using the survey that was sent out by the governor, the people could come up with the order in which things are important to them. Create teams that would work with each state task force and federal entity that is available to help solve the problems within the community in the order that the people feel is more important."
3) Are you satisfied/dissatisfied with the current council and city operations?
Miller: "I am dissatisfied in the way things are handled. My grandma told me that a person could build the tallest building, fly to the moon, be the wealthiest but when it comes to representing the people, if they do not care about the people, then 'they ain't about nuttin'."
4) What is your background and/or qualifications for the position of councilman?
I have worked for the Sedgwick County appraiser's officer for 20 years. During this time I have volunteered to be part of the emergency group that helps with any epidemics, set up for the victims of Katrina, and this year helped with census-taking of the homeless. I have met with different people in different branches of government through my job and through my family.
My brother-in-law worked under five different presidents and now both he and my sister work for CNN news. My other sister is a member of several 'think tanks' and works for Wichita State University in the research department. The stories they tell at our family dinners enlighten me and give me ideas and answer.
5) Please provide personal information about yourself (i.e. spouse, family, profession, residency, etc.).
Miller: "I was born in El Dorado and moved to Peabody when I was five. My Uncle Albert was in the same grade as I was and my Grandpa Albert Throckmorton was the school janitor for many years.
"We moved back to El Dorado when I was in third grade. My Aunt Selma used to own the A-frame on the highway and my grandfather's family had lived in Florence during the 1920s. My cousins lived here during the 1960s.
"I moved back to Peabody because the May 3, 1999, tornado destroyed my house. I have three children, one who lives with me because of a brain injury, and three beautiful grandchildren."
A primary election will be held Feb. 27 with the two top vote-getters advancing to the April 3 general election.
