2021/12/27 - Mayor's Column: Happy New Year!
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
As 2021 winds to a close, we look forward to the excitement, challenges and opportunities of 2022.
In 2021, we saw the city continue to grow and to meet the challenges that we were faced with. We saw a new Director of Public Safety, Kirk Brueggeman take on the awesome role of managing our Public Safety Department. We saw new leadership with Andrew Dallner in our Parks Department and in Community Development with Justin Randall.
We found new ways of being more transparent by allowing our citizens to be involved in our City Council meetings with virtual access. This is in addition to our regular TV broadcast and in-person participation.
We completed the Master Plan, an 18-month study of where we want our city to go and develop into over the next 20 years. This was done with over 1,700 people giving us input.
As part of the Master Plan, for the first time in the city’s history we conducted an in-depth study on the city’s taxes and how we can make them more equitable for all citizens. This resulted in a savings to most of our citizens as we rolled back the city portion of your real-estate tax to the lowest it has been in 35 years.
While this was going on, we also managed the continued growth of the city. We saw O’Fallon become the fastest growing City in Southern Illinois with a new Census population of over 33,000. We also saw for the first time in the city’s history of keeping records on building permits, O’Fallon issued over 700 permits this year and it was the 4th year in a row that we have issued over 480 permits in a year.
Plus, our Vine Street Market at the O’Fallon Station received from the Illinois Tourism Bureau, the Illinois Tourism Award for Most Engaged Community Partner.
So, all together, I think your City Council, our various committees and city staff have had a very good year and we have more that we are working on to be announced soon.
On behalf of the City Council and our City Staff, I would like to wish YOU and your FAMILY a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2022.
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.