Jenni White was elected to the Luther Town Board of Trustees in a wave of new leadership in April 2017. Although politically active, she had never served as an elected office for a municipality and was chosen among her fellow board members as mayor in May 2017.
Along with her fellow board members, White participated in an email questionnaire from The Luther Register about the last two years, and the board’s service. Filing for two spots on the Luther Town Board is Monday – Wednesday, February 4 – 6, 2019, at the Oklahoma County Election Board.
Please list three accomplishments.
Jenni White: 1. Over $100K in a RAINY DAY FUND and two years of clean audits. The services so many of us tend to overlook such as water and sewer, are expensive. When I first began to serve on the Board almost two years ago now, if we’d had an emergency of some kind, I don’t know what we’d have done. It’s so great having that massive weight off the town’s shoulders. It’s really just icing on the cake having such great audits, but we’ve been excellently blessed having Lea Ann Jackson as one of our Board members – and even before she rejoined the board – she volunteered to help us create our budgets and accountability procedures.
2. Having saved enough MONEY to put IN CD’s so our money can make money. Again, money was an absolute issue when I came on to the Board. Thanks to some real penny-pinching by Board members, while making sure we were responsibly meeting our obligations, we found out that we could have money if we prioritized spending.
3. Getting absolutely necessary, life-saving equipment for the volunteer fire department. So often, things we take for granted, get taken for granted. The tires on nearly every truck in the Fire Department needed replacing and we were able to get that done – along with several other major vehicle repairs. Not only that, but it’s been a blessing to work with volunteer Fire Chief John Brown. He’s truly an unsung hero of the Town of Luther.
What work lies ahead?
“I would like to get solid, regular, proper code enforcement for this Town, as well as regular upkeep for the Town’s two parks so the Parks Commission can have a better shot at getting grants for Park equipment. I’ve preached code enforcement from the beginning because it’s so very important in establishing trust with businesses and citizens, neither of whom should have to put up with nuisance neighbors. It’s also very important in locating business here. When the Town looks run down, it doesn’t look inviting to businesses – who pay taxes that help us keep up the Town.
What is something you wished the public knew?
“Probably that to do it right, it’s an extremely nerve wracking job. I don’t ever want to do anything wrong, but I want to get things done – that’s why I ran for the Board. Sometimes the rules, regulations and procedures we have to follow don’t follow common sense, so it can become important to research lots of things, which takes up a lot of time. Then, in the end, I sometimes still make a mistake. Some days are more fun than others! (LOL)
To read the rest of the series about Luther board members, click here.
