As he prepares for final meeting, O’Fallon mayor reflects on decades of service

When Herb Roach presides over the O’Fallon City Council for the final time on April 21, he will have maintained a streak of never missing a meeting in his eight years as mayor and six as an alderman. That’s more than 330 consecutive meetings.

Urged to get involved because of his business management experience, he first ran for office on the District 90 School Board, where he served for eight years, then as a Ward 4 alderman in 2011, and mayor in 2017. He succeeded Gary Graham, who had held the office for 20 years.

During his first mayoral campaign, Roach opposed what he perceived as the previous administration’s “tax-and-spend policies.” He advocated fiscal responsibility, decreasing property taxes, requiring multiple bids for purchases over $10,000, infrastructure needs, a more diversified city economy, and developing better partnerships in the region.

“I wanted to use my experience to benefit our citizens, and to grow our economy for the future benefit of our children and grandchildren,” he said. “I have nine grandchildren, and I want the best for them.”

One of Roach’s first goals, he wrote in the 2017 BND Voters Guide, was “to truly open up communications with the citizens of O’Fallon.” So he scheduled 27 quarterly town Hall meetings, set monthly evening and Saturday hours for more access, and recorded a weekly video titled “An Open Door to O’Fallon.”

Staff upgraded website information, started a YouTube channel for city council and committee meetings after using Zoom during the pandemic, and increased social media.

“We have the most open and accessible public meetings and materials of any city in the area and among the best in Illinois,” he said. “We publish the public agendas on Thursdays, handing them out on Fridays. We have more opportunities for speaking at the meetings.”

As he looks back on what the city has achieved in eight years, he thanked the city staff and council for working together on growth and concern for tax dollars.

“Our staff is second to none. Our council may disagree, but they come together, by and large, to get things done for the residents,” he said.

A lifelong resident of O’Fallon, Herb, 78, and his wife Nancy raised three children – daughters Lea McVey and Kathryn Wondolowski and son Todd Roach. Todd Roach is currently serving as a Ward 4 alderman, elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2023.

Decisions

It was last fall that Roach decided not to seek re-election and throw his support behind Eric Van Hook’s candidacy. Van Hook, retired police chief who has served as a Ward 7 alderman since 2022, was not challenged in the April 1 election, and assumes office May 5.

“I think he will do a very good job,” Roach said. “He understands this community. He did a great job leading the public safety departments. We’ve been working on a smooth transition.”

Roach said he decided not to run again after his granddaughter was harassed at school, presumably because some parents were unhappy with a city action and commented to their children, who then said mean things to his granddaughter.

“They were heckling her and calling her names, and she came home crying. When I found out about it, I said, ‘That’s it!’ I will not have my granddaughter going through that again,” he said. “They should have yelled at me if they didn’t like a decision. We could have sat down, and they could have asked questions.”

That’s not because he believes himself immune to criticism, he said.

He expressed gratitude to residents shared their concerns about the proposed $300 million Park Place so that plans could be modified.

“That was due to input from the public,” he said. “It’s good to have different voices. The more input we get, the better off we are.”

Sixty years ago, O’Fallon had 4,000 people, today it’s around 33,000.

Achievements as mayor

These are some of the the things Roach counts as achievements during his tenure:

• “We were able to lower the city real estate tax rate for eight straight years.”

• Produced the lowest tax rate in 35 years and lowest rate of any city with a population of 20,000 or more in St. Clair or Madison County.

• “We are the fastest growing city south of Springfield.”

• Over $1 billion of new investment and new development brought forward and setting an all-time high for building permits in 2024.

• Expansion of infrastructure work on streets, water, sewer and storm water.

• Expanded city-wide gatherings and activities for our citizens from 2 to 80, opened and grew the downtown Vine Street Market, and advanced development of the downtown business district.

• Major renovation of the 100-year-old Community Park.

• Additions to public safety staffing and statewide recognition of both our police and fire departments.

• Developed new financial programs for investments which have earned millions for our city and programs to enhance future planning.

When the global coronavirus pandemic was declared in March 2020, Roach said it became the deadliest emergency health crisis in 100 years, and the city had to adapt.

“It was a trying time for our staff, but people work remotely. We had a good team, and we learned a lot from the experience. We were able to work together, move forward after the state restrictions were lifted, and we could help our businesses. Everyone helped get us through,” he said.

In the National Community Survey last year, which O’Fallon participates in every two years, Roach said citizens ranked these improvements 10% or more above the national ranking:

• The value of services received vs taxes paid to the city increased up 28%;

• Being honest increased 21%;

• Treating all residents fairly increased 19%;

• Generally acting in the best interest of the community increased 16%.

A point of pride is bringing the community together through festivals and other activities, such as Fourth of July Fireworks, Downtown Nights, and O’Fallon Station events. He spearheaded bringing back a homecoming/summer picnic event in August in the Community Park, now known as City Fest since 2018.

“You still want to keep your community feeling as one. You don’t want to lose that small town feeling where you have opportunities to get to know your fellow citizens and enjoy one another’s company.” he said.

Deep local roots

Roach’s roots run deep in O’Fallon, with an ancestry he can trace back to the mid-1800s.

His grandfather, Adam Becherer, built the 1933 structure that was a combination tavern, grocery store and filling station with living quarters and a grange meeting hall upstairs. His parents, Herb Sr. and the former Katheryn Becherer, sold Becherer’s Tavern in 1977 to the Daniels family, who operated Dandy Inn until 2017.

Roach served on multiple boards, coached youth sports, belonged to social and service clubs, made his career as a banking executive and ran a small business in O’Fallon. He said he plans now to spend more time with his family, but will continue to volunteer his time to the city.

As for encouraging involvement in municipal government, he said one must be realistic about the time commitment.

“It’s more than attending two city council meetings a month. It is committee meetings every Monday. It’s reading documents at home, doing your homework. It is listening to both sides, evaluating, and determining the overall impact. It is being prepared to speak your mind. It is making mistakes and understanding that some people will be upset. And don’t believe everything on Facebook,” he said.

“It has been an honor to serve as mayor. I have had a lifetime of respect for the community that I love and call home,” he said.

This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 6:00 AM.