The Wright City Board of Aldermen is nearly unrecognizable compared to this time a year ago. In elections this year and last year, three of the four seats on the board have shifted to new …
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The Wright City Board of Aldermen is nearly unrecognizable compared to this time a year ago. In elections this year and last year, three of the four seats on the board have shifted to new representatives, potentially transforming the outlook of the city government.
Newly elected Alderman Don Andrews was scheduled to swear his oath of office April 22, along with returning Alderman Nathan Rohr, the only board member re-elected over the last two years. The Record asked each of them for comments on what they want to accomplish in the coming years.
Andrews said he sought office because he wanted to be more engaged than he saw his predecessor being, and to make sure the city is following through on directions from residents.
Andrews said one of his early goals will be to push forward with development of a park on Westwoods Road that has been promised since 2018. Also, he wants the city to be more vocal about the status of that and other projects.
“Nobody knows what’s going on with the park. They don’t know what’s been done with the money (for the park). They know the city purchased the land, but that’s all they know,” Andrews commented. “I just don’t think there’s been enough transparency with the people of the city.”
Andrews said he hopes to see ground break at the park within the next year, if possible.
He also said he will focus on improving the city’s infrastructure in order to meet citizens’ needs and attract businesses.
“If we attract more businesses, we attract more jobs and more population. If we get all of that together, we can maintain a lower tax rate” by spreading out the tax burden, Andrews said.
To help improve city communications, Andrews said he plans to maintain a personal alderman page on Facebook to engage with citizens, hear their concerns and provide updates about what’s going on in city government.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity. I’m humbled to be given the opportunity from the citizens ... and I’m going to do the best job I can for them,” Andrews commented.
Rohr is now the only sitting alderman who has served a full term in office. He sees his unopposed re-election to a third term as a vote of confidence from the community, but said more action is needed on improvements residents have been asking for.
Rohr said his biggest priority is to fulfill three promises that are now several years old: fixing the city’s streets, renovating the police department and building the Westwoods park.
“Street repairs are going to be a project each year from now on. We’re allocating $500,000 to close to $1 million for street repairs each year,” Rohr said.
For the police department, Rohr said renovation progress has been too slow, and that aldermen should be willing to volunteer for some administrative duties so that the city administrator can focus on finishing the renovation this year.
Rohr wants to see ground broken and basic developments at the new park within his next term. However, with the emphasis on growth and developments, Rohr commented that the city had lost sight of maintaining its current parks and streets, allowing them to deteriorate to a point that was not acceptable.
“We need to fix what we have before we start building new,” Rohr said.
He added that he wants to make sure that decisions being made by aldermen and the city staff are friendly and accommodating to new business. Small conflicts with city code shouldn’t be a cause to keep businesses out, he said.
