Kendra L. Sheppard is making her first run for elected office. She has served as secretary of the executive committee and treasurer of the central committee of the Lorain County Libertarian Party.
A Lorain High School alumna, Sheppard earned her degree in transportation planning, pricing and costing from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She also studied through the Global Association for Marketing at Retail and has additional continuing education courses.
Sheppard currentl works as senior merchandising coordinator for Moen Inc. She is engaged to Rick Pena and will have three stepsons in the near future.
Sheppard said speaking with Ward 1 neighbors, she clearly heard two concerns. Ward 1 residents want to be heard and acknowledged, she said.
Based on personal experience and feedback from neighbors, the current Ward 1 councilman must prioritize returning calls and e-mails from those he represents.
“I commit to acknowledging all messages within 48 hours of receipt,” Sheppard said. “If I do not have the answers, I will seek out those who do.”
Sheppard also pledged she will not put the needs of special interest groups above those of the Ward 1 residents and businesses.
“The east side is a gateway to downtown and we can make a great first impression,” she said.
The east side is facing increasingly more non-resident homeowners and rental properties and conditions of many of those properties are rapidly deteriorating and taking in-residence homeowner property values down, Sheppard said.
“The Land Bank efforts and nuisance ordinance appear to be helping to a degree, but we need to keep a close eye on the administration of both of these programs to ensure we are not unnecessarily penalizing in-residence home, property and business owners,” Sheppard said. “The mayor has done some good work, and Council must be diligent analyzing and modifying programs for affectivity.”
Sheppard said she has some reservations about the point of sale inspection initiative slated to begin 2014 because of the fear it will put the burden on in-residence homeowners rather than absentee landlords.
“I would have liked the verbiage tweaked to exempt in-residence homeowners, but time and vigilant observation will prove it out,” she said. “My commitment as elected Council Representative is to take on that role of ever-vigilant watchdog, always keeping the interests of Ward 1 residents first, and the good of the City of Lorain naturally follows.”
-- Richard Payerchin, Morning Journal article from Oct. 22, 2013
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