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2023/03/20 - Mayor's Column: Highlighting All the Good!

“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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Local elections are a great thing. While most of the attention is focused on the large national and state elections, local politics have the greatest impact on your daily life.

The timeframe leading up to an election is important because it gives an opportunity for candidates to talk about their values and priorities. Most people talk about positives things, but some think that they must make false or misleading statements that distracts from the hard work and accomplishments that have been achieved just to make themselves look good.

In the days leading up to the election, please take extra time to think about the issues that a candidate may say that they want to change or that they think is wrong and look at their past performance. Ask yourself, if that person really wants to focus on the negative, and do they really want to serve you or themselves?

Our current City Council and staff have worked hard year-round to help move the city forward in the right direction and be Fiscally Responsible with your Tax Dollars.  I would like to share with you some of the accolades and results that show the success that we have achieved recently by having a Council and Staff working together:

  • O’Fallon is the FASTEST growing city in Southern Illinois. A recent National rating placed O’Fallon in the TOP 7 % of the best cities to raise a family in the U.S.
  • The overall quality of life in O’Fallon was rated either excellent or good by more than 9 in 10 respondents in the last Citizen’s Survey. A similar proportion would recommend living in O’Fallon (93% somewhat or very likely). And our residents rated O’Fallon ABOVE the National Benchmark for OVERALL DIRECTION that the city is going.
  • In the same survey, most O’Fallon residents stated that they are getting GOOD VALUE for the taxes they are paying. This happened in 2022 and 2020.
  • The current City Council voted to REDUCE the city’s property tax rate to the LOWEST RATE in 35 years. The City of O’Fallon’s portion of the property tax rate is by far the LOWEST of any community of 20,000 or more in St. Clair or Madison County.
  • Through hard work, and careful budgeting, the City’s debt has been REDUCED by over 30%.

Some of the results above are due to hard work by our elected officials, but much of it is a result of the dedication and professionalism of O’Fallon’s staff. We have 200+ employees that work for the city, from police officers to concession stand workers. They take pride in working hard, doing the right thing, and providing the best quality of service for our residents. We conduct a survey of our employees annually and over 90% said that they have the opportunity do what they do best every day. Over 90% stated that they agree that their supervisor or someone at work cares about them as a person. And over 90% said they are treated with respect and dignity.

The City of O’Fallon has high standards for its employees, and our employees have high standards for their city. We want people who are committed to public service and not everyone is a good fit to work for O’Fallon. In fact, I will be the first to tell you that some people are no longer employees of the City because they did not meet those expectations.

I know it is cliché, but with over 40 years of Senior Management experience, I can honestly say that the City of O’Fallon has a terrific team of employees to support you. The ability to work together with others is extremely important to our success.  We need Council Members that will continue to work together and work for YOU and be Fiscally Responsible.

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.