Why I’m running
Vandalia should stay a place people can afford to stay in.
Most of what the city does well, it does quietly. The water runs, the streets get plowed, the parks stay open. I would like to keep it that way without the cost of it climbing out of reach.
Here is what is in front of us. The minimum water bill is $25.01 a month, sewer is $17.35, stormwater is $3.60. Tri-Cities Wastewater needs more than $145 million in upgrades to meet EPA rules arriving in 2027, and the city is applying for over $15 million in grants to soften it.
That grant work is the single highest-return thing a council can push on right now. Money we bring in from the state or the federal government is money that never shows up on a utility bill.
What I’d focus on
Four things: the tax rate and the credit that protects people who work out of town, utility costs, schools that are safe and financially steady, and getting residents into decisions earlier than we do now.
None of it is dramatic. All of it is the actual job.
I’m new at this
Three Council members with more than twenty years of service each stepped down in 2025. I can’t replace that and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
What I can promise is attendance. I’ll read the packet before the meeting, and I’ll be at the six o’clock study session as well as the seven o’clock vote. The study session is where most of the real discussion happens. It is open to anyone and hardly anyone goes.
What this job actually is
Vandalia has run on a Council-Manager charter since 1959. The City Manager runs the city day to day. Council sets policy, approves the budget, sets utility rates, and appoints residents to boards and commissions.
The charter bars Council from interfering in personnel decisions, and it bars Council from raising the municipal income tax without a vote of the people. Those are real limits, and I would rather be straight about them now than make a promise the office cannot keep.
Three seats are open. I’m asking for one.
Leave your email and I’ll let you know when I’m knocking your street.