Jeff’s family moved to Bedford in 1969. Jeff grew up on McKinley and graduated from B.H.S. in 1983. Jeff and his wife got married in 1986, she’s a 1985 B.H.S. graduate also and grew up on Eldred. They moved to Maple Heights for two years and then to Garfield Heights where they bought a home in 1989. They raised three children in Garfield Heights and decided to move back to Bedford in July of 2016. They purchased Jeff’s wife’s parents house, who had lived on Eldred since 1976, and planned to make this their forever home.

I asked Jeff several interview questions and this was his response:

1.) What ward are you running for?

I am running for Bedford City Council in Ward 5.

2.) Why are you running for City Council?

I’m running for council because I’ve wanted to get involved in local government for several years. I was going to run for council in Garfield Heights but I knew my family wouldn’t be staying there forever. Now that we’re back home and our children are grown, I can devote the necessary time and effort that the council position requires. I’ve also been told by dozens of residents and businesses in Ward 5 that it’s time for a change. I feel that I can be that change.

3.) What are some issues in your ward?

Most of the concerns I’ve heard from residents is lack of action and communication from the present administration. They believe that the current administration wants to hide things from the residents and far as crime is concerned. They feel the current administration is behind the curve as far as economic development is concerned. I keep hearing that the city put all it’s eggs in one basket as far as Ben Venue and when it closed, they had no backup plan. I feel the lack of a full time Economic Developer is hurting the city’s chances of bringing top notch businesses into the city. Ward specific issues include the amount of car break-ins, driver’s speeding up and down the streets and not stopping at stop signs and again, the lack of communication from it’s elected official.

4.) What is the worst thing to happen in your ward in the last five years?

Having only been back in Bedford for less that a year, I’m hearing the uptick in crime has most residents concerned.

5.) What is the best thing to happen in your ward in the last five years?

Honestly, I’m struggling to address the best thing to happen in our ward. Good things are about to happen, though. We just got done presenting our Strategic Planning Committee action plans to Council on Monday, June 5th. I’m on the Crime and Safety Committee. I would like to start regular meetings of the residents of Ward 5 to address our crime and safety issues. I would also like to initiate a Community Awareness program in Ward 5 to that would entail a speaker based educational series to inform residents of the ward on various topics. Also, I will organize a volunteer committee to plan block party and neighborhood cleanup type events. All the previously mentioned actions are geared towards creating a sense of community in the ward and also citywide. Good things are about to happen in Ward 5.

6.) How can the city support small business development and expansion?

I feel that the city needs to hire a competent, full-time Economic developer to the leverage the assets that Bedford has. We need someone that can package Bedford as a community where businesses want to locate to. Bedford is in a great location, has a wonderful downtown area and a great historical presence. We need someone that can utilize their skills to explain to businesses, both small and large, that Bedford is a great location to be.

7.) What do you think is the best way to stabilize the core residential neighborhoods of Bedford?

A number of things can be done to stabilize the core residential neighborhoods of Bedford. One, get the residents more involved. The more residents that we have giving their input on decisions concerning the city, the better. We need strong recreation programs for all residents both young and old. The city needs to get a better handle on some of the delinquent landlords that let their properties go and don’t maintain them. We need to get to know each other on a first name basis again, the way it used to be. I feel that communication is the key to a strong and robust city. The more input the residents have, the more we can shape our neighborhoods into what we want them to be. Bedford was a great town to grow up in and I want to help make it a great town to retire in.

THANKS JEFF ASBURY AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!