Chelsea Park resident Tiffany Bittner running for Chelsea Council Place 4

Chelsea Park resident Tiffany Bittner is running for Chelsea Council Place 4. Bittner has lived in Chelsea for just over 12 years and said she has seen great growth in the city of Chelsea.

“Obviously I think the city has done very well,” she said. “I think the city has seen a lot of success in the past, and it’s still a relatively new city.”

Bittner has a background in communication and said if elected, she would use her communication skills to make sure the public stays up-to-date on community news and to gather more input from Chelsea residents.

“I think there’s always room for improvement when it comes to communicating with the public, through social media and through the city’s website,” she said.

While Bittner said she believes social media and the city’s website can be positive communication tools, she said sharing information via word of mouth is also a necessary tool. She hopes residents will provide feedback to the council and openly communicate about issues that come up in Chelsea.

Streaming city council meetings would also be a good way to ensure the community is updated, Bittner said.

As a candidate for city council, Bittner said she has three promises — to be open-minded, to be fiscally responsible and to dream big.

To Bittner, remaining open-minded means listening to what community members have to say, and fiscal responsibility centers on making sure the city does not bite off more it can chew, she said.

“Under the category of when I say dream big for the city, that would include the addition of sidewalks,” Bittner said. “Also, I would like to try and seek out a convenient location for an amphitheater, so that we could have events in the city.”

While the fact that U.S. 280 runs through the center of the city can cause difficulties with building connective walkways, Bittner said there are areas and events that would benefit from sidewalks, including the area around Winn-Dixie.

“There’s a huge Christmas parade that the city hosts every year, and I think the sidewalks would make it easier and even safer for the residents to participate in the parade,” she said.

There are also some traffic concerns Bittner said she would like to address, including the light in front of city hall at the intersection of Highway 47 and 39.

Bittner and her husband Danny Bittner have three children, Reece (10), Brayden (8), Price (7) and Bayleigh (3). With three school-age children, Bittner said she has worked to remain involved in Chelsea schools. They are also involved in recreational-league baseball, she said, and hopes to see some of the facilities improved.

The new baseball fields on Highway 11 will be a positive addition, Bittner said, but she hopes the old fields on Highway 47 will also get a facelift.

Overall, Bittner said her goal is to continue the momentum Chelsea has seen in the last several years, bringing it into an era of new leadership.

“Just building on the success that the community has, that’s basically my goal,” she said.

For more information, see Tiffany Smith Bittner on Facebook.

Greenbriar Place resident Tracie Marcum is also running for Chelsea Council Place 4. The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.

If you are running for city council or mayor in Chelsea, you can reach our community reporter Erica Techo at erica@starnespublishing.com.