LETTERS: March 31, 2025

March 30, 2025 29

Here are your Letters to the Editor for March 31, 2025:

Time to give opportunity to new leaders or go with a familiar name because it’s safe?

What is the value of experience? The ability to say you’ve “been there” and “done that”?

When hiring, many would say they place more value in a candidate’s experience than their education, certification or any other qualifications. It’s because there is a belief that a person has gained the wisdom and insight that comes from doing the job, falling on their face a few times, and learning some hard-fought lessons.

In the world of elected officials, it is part of why it is so difficult to unseat an incumbent. Generally speaking, you expect that person to leverage that experience toward a more streamlined and efficient government. It is also a case of “the devil you know” versus the fear of the unknown that everyone loves to
stoke.

But at what point does the benefit of experience begin to provide diminishing returns? When does a person surpass the benefit of their experience to prove they have only gotten better at being a politician, rather than using their experience for the greater good? When is the goal of re-election not about what is best for the people but what is best for one person’s ego?

We all watch national politics and bemoan the circus of lifetime politicians. We collectively roll our eyes as career representatives stand firm on maintaining their power years after their effectiveness and relevancy have sailed. Yet locally, we seem to be OK with being represented by the same person for decades.

I truly appreciate the service of anyone willing to put themselves forward to represent their community, but can you tell me that our community is best served by having the same representation for almost 25 years? I would imagine that person would have to be a shining example, a pillar of the community, and not a disgraced narcissist hoping everyone has a short memory.

I read up on the six candidates running for Park Board and was impressed to see the caliber of people seeking to represent this community at large — people who are invested in this community, people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, people who care about this community and want to see it thrive.

Is it time to allow new leaders or just go with the familiar name because you think it’s safe? Do they represent you? Do they represent your family? Do they represent your values?

I’m not here to throw any political weight behind a given candidate. The beauty of the Park Board is that it is nonpartisan, so this isn’t a R/D issue.

I am here to simply ask the question: Is the “devil you know” really better than the unknown?

Trent Lyons
Quincy

Upcoming election offers opportunities for growth with housing, homeless

I was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in the late 1970s and grew up in the same home that my family owns here in Quincy. I am happy to see so much growth in the retail and restaurant business in the past few years.

There has also been growth in the housing sector with the building of two large market-rate rental properties. We have had a bit of an increase in tourism and the opportunity in the hospitality industry with updates to two existing hotels. We also get to continue living with the spooky fun legend of the haunted stoplight at 25th and Broadway.

We are blessed here with so many community events each year, like the Blues in the Park, Sixth Street Promenade, Juneteenth, the Grand Prix of Karting, the fireworks celebration on the Fourth of July, and Pride in the Park, to name a few. We now have all of the excitement surrounding our new and long-awaited Quincy Doggy Paddlers baseball team.

The community experienced great sadness with our longest-sitting alderman, Mike Farha, stepping down. He was admired and appreciated for speaking his truth and for being vocal regarding his beliefs at City Council meetings over the years. Many members of the community came out over the past few months, sharing memories and expressing some of the same concerns that he had had over the last few months before he left. Farha shared that he had no faith in our current mayor for several reasons over the past few years before he left.

With all the anticipation of spring finally arriving, we also have the mayoral election coming up in less than a week. It has been great to hear from so many members of the community about their personal opinions and concerns that they want to address this year. Muddy River News has been an excellent platform for everyone to do so.

Troup has shared that the police and fire pensions are fully funded, which is not correct. The city’s obligation to pay these premiums each year is funded, but the pension fund is not fully funded. He was mincing words there, and the community should know and understand that. He also promised to bring in industrial jobs and head-of-household positions to our community. This could be considered a major concern with our population continuing to decline.

Some of the biggest concerns that have been shared in recent City Council meetings are about the excessive amount of overspending in situations where it may not have been necessary. It was brought up that there were projects for which the highest bids were accepted instead of considering other options. There was the possibility of the savings from the City Council meetings being recorded on the cloud versus YouTube or other resources. In both of those cases, the city wouldn’t own the videos, and if YouTube deleted them or the cloud did, there would be no recourse. As a matter of record, the city should fund a server that keeps this content.

Many have voiced their concerns about the local grocery tax that has been tabled again at the City Council meetings. I am still wondering how long they can wait due to the implementation dates of the point-of-sale system, timing concerns that were mentioned. Nobody wants to see this come to fruition, especially since the only other option was looking at tapping into our local property taxes. It is good to see that our local property taxes are still lower than in 2021 and 2022, even though that has been the only talking point that one of our representatives could come up with to discuss.

We need to focus on what was shared in the Community Needs Assessment that was presented by Jenna Hull from United Way at the first City Council meeting of the year. It states that 83% of our stakeholders’ biggest concern was that they believe there is not enough affordable housing available. This is very concerning when most of the businesses that have been brought in lately are retail and fast food.

We still have the same concerns that needed to be addressed four years ago. We have 46 percent of our population unable to meet their basic needs. That includes families, with two or even three jobs, who still don’t qualify for free and reduced lunches or SNAP benefits. Local food pantries have been working their tails off helping to fill in the gaps as much as possible, but with the cost of food rising, it’s only going to get harder to keep up with these needs.

We have an extreme issue with our homeless population that has and will not go away since the city closed the Welcome Inn. The community has been waiting for our mayor to address these needs for four years now. Our local shelters are full, along with our HUD housing facilities’ wait lists. We have 30-plus agencies that work together to help link people to mental health, employment, and housing support, along with many more resources. The police department has reached out to these organizations at times for support with the homeless population. It is time for the mayor to start attending these meetings with United Way and partner with all these organizations to address the crisis that our community is in.

There are concerning letters that were shared with members of the community regarding the non-binding referendum for the registration and inspection program on the local ballot. Information has been going around that there will be government intrusion with this program and that it will cost local taxpayers money, which is false. There are also no illegal intrusions into apartments unless that is something that some landlords plan to do to their tenants.

Fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment has risen on average from $776 to $875 in the past three years. A fee of less than $3 per month to have this program, so tenants have safe and livable housing, should not be too much to ask for.

Megan Miles
Quincy

Miller’s behavior doesn’t represent kind, welcoming, friendly residents of district

When I moved to Piatt County, I signed up for Rep. Mary Miller’s newsletter.

Her latest newsletter was noticeably light on information about what she’s doing to lower consumer prices, support farmers, improve public schools or address the mass layoffs of civil servants. Nor did I see any announcements for town hall events where she could hear from the people she represents.

Instead, she chose to highlight her well-publicized bullying of Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. Miller deliberately referred to her colleague as the “gentleman from Delaware” and continues to tout this as an accomplishment.

Put aside your views on trans individuals and remember that Mary and Sarah are co-workers. Would you ever intentionally humiliate your coworker in front of everyone else at work? Her behavior doesn’t represent the kind, welcoming, and friendly residents of the district whom I’ve encountered since moving here.

After reading her newsletter, I can only conclude that she is trying to distract us with culture war hot topics so we don’t notice how little she is doing to improve our lives, don’t notice her unwillingness to face the people she represents and don’t notice her inability to check President Trump and Elon Musk as they take away our services and ignore the U.S. Constitution.

Surely, there are other qualified candidates in the district who can represent us. I would vote for anyone else who keeps their head down, focuses on what matters to our communities, and shows some common decency.

Paul Winters
Monticello

Ann Zimpfer is the leader we need

I am writing to express my strong support for Ann Zimpfer in her candidacy for the Mehlville School Board. Ann is the kind of dedicated, experienced leader our district needs.

As a longtime resident of over 40 years and a teacher in the Mehlville School District for more than 25 years, Ann has a deep understanding of our schools from multiple perspectives – parent, educator, and taxpayer. She raised two children in Mehlville, including one with special needs, giving her firsthand insight into the challenges and strengths of our district’s programs.

My two children were in her first-grade class at Point Elementary School, where I witnessed her ability to connect with young learners and build strong relationships with families. Her experience in early childhood education gives her a unique understanding of the foundation children need to succeed. Ann will be a strong advocate for responsible decision-making that prioritizes student achievement and ensures fiscal responsibility.

Mehlville needs leaders who truly understand our district’s strengths and challenges. Ann Zimpfer is that leader. I encourage my fellow community members to vote for her on April 8 to help ensure a bright future for our schools.

Kevin Schartner
Oakville

Editor’s note: Kevin Schartner is a former Mehlville Board of Education member. He served on the Mehlville Board of Education for two terms, including serving as the board president during the COVID-19 pandemic.

South County roads need maintenance

I have road maintenance issues with South County roads, such as Lemay Ferry, Baumgartner and Yaeger roads. These roads are virtual disasters with numerous potholes and cracked pavement. Most of our South County roads are rapidly depreciating. What is the county plan to repair these roads, if any? Where are our ever-increasing taxes being used? We see tax increases and bond issues, yet our streets have become a major disaster. Our vehicles using these roads are guaranteed to require semi-annual wheel alignments to maintain a safe ride.

John Brett
Oakville

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