Why I’m Running
“I get calls every week from people in our ward — especially seniors — looking for help,” said Committeeman French. “They need financial assistance for repairing their homes, or they need a dilapidated house torn down because of safety concerns, or they need a stop sign installed at the end of the block to slow down the cars that go speeding down their street.”
“As a Committeeman, I have very little power to help these people. These are the duties of the alderman. But because our current alderman doesn’t respond to them — or because the current alderman has been told time and time again about the problem and has done nothing — they call me. And it tears me up not to be able to help,” said French.
“I’m running for alderman so that I can help our seniors, and our homeowners, and the children and parents of our ward. I’m running because I have the vision and energy to use the office of alderman to better the lives of the people of the 21st Ward.”
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Economic Development
The fact is that the 21st Ward is positioned geographically and demographically (income, age, education levels) better than many other northside wards, yet we trail every other ward in development.
That means we aren’t getting our fair share of jobs, new home construction, or new businesses opening. That is a failure of leadership.
When we look at the row of vacant buildings on Natural Bridge, we have to ask ourselves why. Why are other main streets getting new development and the 21st Ward is being left behind?
What about new home construction? Every year our ward is given hundreds of thousands of dollars to spur new development. Where does it all go? Thousands and thousands of dollars are made available each year to help seniors and homeowners repair their homes. Where does it all go?
When I’m elected alderman, we’ll put the “OPEN” sign back on the door of the 21st Ward.
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Better Constituent Services
It’s time we had an alderman who returned your calls.
When I was running for Committeeman, I did something that not many elected officials do: I gave out my cell phone number to constituents. I even printed it on all my campaign literature. And you know what? People use it. Call me anytime at 779-9958. If I don’t answer, leave a message. I try to return all my calls within 24 hours.
That’s the kind of accessibility we need in City Hall.
I can’t tell you how many calls I get as Committeeman with requests for things the alderman should be doing. But the people call me because they can’t get a response from the person they elected to do the job.
On March 3rd, send someone to City Hall who knows they work for you.
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O’Fallon Park
The state of O’Fallon Park is simply unacceptable. O’Fallon is one of the city’s largest and, having grown up just a block away from it, it is home to many of my childhood memories. In fact, my grandmother taught me to fish in O’Fallon Lake when I was a boy. And so it especially pains me to see the current state of the park.
Mostly unused by children and families, with the exception of some regular fishermen and men drinking beers in the afternoon, the people in the neighborhood have largely surrendered the park.
Our current alderman actually sits on the Aldermanic Parks Committee, which oversees all the city’s parks. Yet our park sits underutilized and underfunded with trash in the lake, broken water fountains and restrooms, and the boat house locked up and deteriorating.
Click here to read about a recent visit I made to the park with State Rep. Chris Carter.
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