2020/10/12 - Mayor's Column: It Takes Everyone!
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
When we think of O’Fallon, some of the first things that come to mind are:
- That it is a safe place to raise a family or have a business (ranked in top 5% in the State).
- It has good schools for our children (ranked very well in the state).
- It is clean and well maintained.
- It is a growing community.
Some of the first things we think about are our police, EMS, fire, public works, and schools, but there are three other segments that help make this happen. O’Fallon’s developers and builders have worked for years in O’Fallon and have helped shape this community. Second, are two areas within City Government that go without much fanfare as they go about doing their daily work and assisting our builders in having both a safe and desirable place to live and work. These are code enforcement and the crime free housing program.
These two functions of our City play very important roles in both the safety of our community and the overall look and maintenance.
When you look at the nice apartments, townhomes, and condos around town, you may not realize that our Crime Free Housing Program and Code Enforcement Division work with owners to see that facilities are safe and properly maintained. They also work with owners and renters on the eviction process if repeated criminal complaints are generated from the rental unit.
When you go to rent or buy a home here in O’Fallon, these two departments are working with the builders, property owners, and/or sellers to see that you have a safe place for your family to move.
Also, if you look around you will notice that there is not a lot of overgrown lawns and rundown properties in this community. That is due to the work of our Code Enforcement Division’s daily work with owners and residents to make sure that the city codes on property maintenance and safety are being maintained.
This is the same department that also works with residential and commercial builders to see that your home and place of work are built in a safe and attractive manner. This is one of the reasons we have as few building fires as we have because this department and our builders are thinking about the safety of the structure when it is being designed, built, rented and/or sold.
Their work and effort go a long way in helping to maintain the value of your property and all neighboring properties.
The efforts of these two departments are not always thought about or even appreciated. But, all we have to do is look around at other communities that do not use such tools to help protect their citizens & property owners and/or maintain their City to see how much of a difference it makes. It also goes a long way when we bring in new businesses to look at our City and when new families visit O’Fallon and they are instantly impressed with this great community.
More than once, have we received some very positive comments from new business about the safety, cleanliness and maintenance of infrastructure when they tour our City. It has been a significant factor with our ability to draw several businesses to the St. Louis Region and/or to Illinois.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open (virtually, at least)!