2023/04/24 - Mayor's Column: Good Ideas and Suggestions

“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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I waited to write this letter until after the election a few weeks ago. And after, the City Council approved O’Fallon’s Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget. I did so because I didn’t want to stop any conversation on different subjects that were being presented to the council for their consideration. But now that those are over, I thought I would just say thank you to everyone that came forth with ideas and proposals for the council to consider and thank you to the council and staff for your discussions on all the different ideas.

I know without a doubt in my mind that other communities in the area may have some nice features or programs that we may not have, and many people think that they would like some of those items.

But when you stop and look at the TOTAL PACKAGE offered to our residents and our businesses by our City and our Schools, it is hard to find any that offer everything that our city has to offer and that is why we received the outstanding National Ranking as a place to Buy a Home; Place to Live, and Place to Raise a Family.

This includes Low city tax rates, Excellent ratings on Safety, which impacts insurance costs and our Police, Fire, EMS and 911 Departments, Schools, Medical Facilities, Improvements with City infrastructure, Parks Department, New Developments and more.

I applaud our Staff and our Council for taking the time to do the job that they do of listening to new ideas and suggestions and then balance between the wants of our citizens and the Fiscal Responsibility that they owe to all of our tax payers.

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.