Candidate profile: Bryan Whitaker
Name: Bryan Whitaker
Age: 35
Town: Belleville
Occupation: Assistant director of 911 and Emergency Management for St. Clair County
Position seeking: Belleville Ward 1 alderman
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/Bryan-Whitaker-for-Belleville-Alderman-Ward-1-370700760154688/ >
Why are you running and why should people vote for you? I have been a lifelong resident of Belleville and I am very dissatisfied with the progression of our city. There are communities around us that are thriving and Belleville seems to be failing. The manpower of our public safety agencies are shrinking, the duties are increasing and we have lost the ability to attract successful businesses. While Belleville was once a prospering town, many of our businesses are leaving Belleville for greener pastures. We are left with abandoned buildings, dilapidated streets and sidewalks and lack of future progression. It is time for a change and I am that change. Belleville has a rich history with many successful businesses and civic organizations and it is time to return that history to Belleville.
What is the most important issue facing your town? How would you approach it? Our biggest issue is economic development. The current administration has lost the ability to bring successful businesses to Belleville. Those that we have are leaving and they are doing little to convince them to stay or attract suitable replacements. The city has lowered our Economic Development Director position to part-time and has added additional responsibilities to that person with the elimination of the Health and Housing Director. Economic development is what will continue to make our community thrive and they have lost all sight of what is necessary and are merely trying to stay afloat. Our city needs a proactive, full-time economic development director who will work to strengthen our local economy, to bring new businesses to Belleville, keep the businesses we have and help them expand their business.
Under what circumstances, if any, would you raise taxes or fees in the municipality. Please explain. Most families have to live within a budget, to do more with less. Just as we have budgets for our homes, those philosophies must be continued to our community and that’s exactly what the city needs to do. We must ensure we are make wise investments, good choices and targeting positive opportunities. We must make every attempt to take care of our responsibilities prior to passing those increases onto our constituents.
Crime has been an issue in parts of the metro-east. What is the best way to stop the problem in and around your community? We must do more to return the staffing of our police department to the level it was in the past. We must determine what is causing the high turn-over rates and fix those to attract and retain dedicated police officers. Additionally, we must work in the neighborhoods with the residents and develop relationships between the community and the police and work together to solve problems and target areas in which the problems are occurring. Involving residents through neighborhood watch programs would be a win-win for targeting problem areas and the issues involved. We all have to work together to make our communities safe.
In recent years, the city has granted various tax incentives to businesses. Explain whether you would support or oppose tax incentives for businesses. I believe there is a time and place for these types of incentives to attract and retain businesses that are beneficial to the overall economic plan of the city. However, when such agreements are made, there must be achievable goals and suitable penalties should those goals not be met. Additionally we must pursue unique opportunities to offer incentives and rebates once the business is established and flourishing rather than the current practice of providing the incentives up front and hope for the best.