An engaged community is an educated community. It should be the responsibility of the city government to ensure that all citizens are educated on how to access city services, how to find resources, how to address council members, and what exactly the city does with their hard-earned money.

Bringing the community together is much more than monthly events, it's increased economic development and jobs, it's more affordable housing, it's increased access to food and better health outcomes, and it's increased safety by making sure our first responders are paid enough to actually stay in Joplin instead of leaving for higher paying communities like Kansas City.

Joplin has a lot to offer, but some people can only travel so far on foot. We should extend our trolley hours and service routes to accommodate as many Joplin residents as possible and add more bike lanes, not only for people who don't otherwise have transportation, but to decongest the roads to make travel faster and safer for everybody.