Mayor appoints long-time volunteer to vacant Ward 5 seat on O’Fallon City Council

Jim Blackburn, who co-chaired City Fest last year and is a former telecommunicator with the public safety department, is the new alderman representing Ward 5 in O’Fallon.

Mayor Herb Roach’s appointment was unanimously approved by the O’Fallon City Council at its June 3 meeting. Blackburn will serve on the parks and environment and the public safety committees.

Blackburn replaces Chris Monroe, who had to resign his seat when he and his family moved to a different ward. Monroe has said he plans to run for the Ward 1 seat in the next municipal election.

“Mr. Blackburn was one of three that applied for the position. All of them had certain assets that they would have brought to the council,” Roach said.

“Jim brings a lot of good experience from his work background and has demonstrated his desire to serve and move the city forward with the various programs that he has been involved in as a volunteer.”

Blackburn was born at Scott Air Force Base and is the son of two retired Air Force veterans. His family relocated to O’Fallon in 1996. He returned to start his own family, citing the school systems and sense of community as the reason.

He and his wife Jennifer, a zookeeper, have two sons who attend District 90 schools.

“We have a remarkable community. As soon as my wife and I found out we were expecting our first child, we knew we needed to move back home,” he said.

“O’Fallon has wonderful schools, a proactive community-oriented public safety department, and continuously strives to improve and maintain infrastructure. My service on the council is intended to continue the level of excellence we currently provide and support plans and developments that move the needle in the right direction for our community.”

Blackburn began his journey in public service with Fairview Heights as a civilian police aide, and later as a 911 dispatcher. In 2010, he joined the O’Fallon department and served as a telecommunicator, lead telecommunicator, communications training officer, and Citizen’s Police Academy instructor during his nearly 14-year tenure.

He was elected a union representative/negotiator for the civilian bargaining unit and was recognized as the Civilian Employee of the Year for the police department in 2013.

In 2018, Blackburn began his career in human resources while remaining with the city in a part-time capacity. He is currently a manager and vice-president of Talent Management Information Systems for a financial institution.

“After a brief period in employee relations, I tapped into my passion for streamlining processes by way of technology,” he said.

He previously served on the board of directors for Got Your Six Support Dogs, a non-profit that provides service dogs at no cost to veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD and/or sexual trauma.

He credits the O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber of Commerce Leadership Institute for solidifying his interest in serving on the council.

“Throughout my time with the police department and most recently human resources, I have been behind the scenes during critical incidents, significant policy changes, and communications to a large audience,” he said. “I am fascinated by the data provided, how it is interpreted, the dialogue leading to the decision, and the retrospective.”

Now that his children are a little older, he wanted to give back to the community.

“It’s important to me. I previously served with a non-profit. I had to cut my time short with the birth of our second son and I was attending a graduate program. Now that they are a little more self-sufficient, I’m eager to get back into a form of civic service,” he said.

In his professional and civic roles, he said he strives to be a servant-leader, remaining accessible and curious about other viewpoints, ideas, and beliefs.

“I want to provide balanced and objective consideration to complex discussions,” he said.

As an alderman, he plans to remain curious and listen.

“It’s a quality I admire most in leadership. Be open to considering perspectives other than your own, having your own ideas challenged, and demonstrating a willingness to shift as the situation evolves and circumstances change,” Blackburn said.

As a Ward 5 resident “I am eager to see any developments intended to boost our west end retail and residential district,” he said.

Blackburn earned a bachelor’s degree from Lindenwood University and a master’s degree in human resource management from Webster University.

This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 2:28 PM.