Faith and York Answer Questions From Residents

State Rep. Sally Faith and St. Charles Mayor Patti York faced one another and community members Monday in a debate in New Town St. Charles.

Both are running to be mayor of St. Charles in the election Tuesday. York has held the position for the past 12 years.

The pair answered submitted questions from New Town residents and the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce during the event.

Faith told the group she wants to take the city in a new direction toward accountability. She said she’d like to see transparency in city government. “You as citizens should know where your money is going," she said.

In her opening remarks, York touted her achievements while mayor, ranging from laying thousands of miles of road, to swearing in new police graduates to adding three new parks.

“I believe I have served you well,” said York. “Ms. Faith would have you believe I’ve done a few things here or there. She’s picked a few issues she thinks I’ve done wrong- but these were hard choices made with the council. Ms. Faith said she will listen to people, get things done and create jobs. I’ve been doing that for 12 years.”

The candidates said they would like to see smoking banned in the city on a broad base. York said she’d like to put that decision in the hands of the people. 

“You get into, if we do it, and St. Peters doesn’t, they will go to St. Peters then,” she said.

Faith said she also would like to see the residents vote on the issue. She thinks that it should – and eventually will- be a statewide ban.

Future Growth

York said the next step in growth and redevelopment of the city to start building "up" since the city is landlocked. York said she sees the central part of town as a prime location for high density housing, specifically within the Lindenwood Town Center development.

“These are the kind of opportunities that young people want,” she said. “That’s why they move back to the city, because they have some place diverse to live.”

York said the key to attracting young people is to have places to shop, dine and raise a family.

Faith said young people are looking for good and affordable housing in which to raise their families. She said the city has to maintain good housing stock and ensure there are no distressed properties. She said it’s important to get the word out to people about the federal dollars available to people through block grants.

“The Mayor made the comment about young people moving back to the area,” Faith said. “Young people will move back to the area if they have jobs.”

York mentioned the average number of new businesses in the city was 12 per month during her tenure. Faith said she questions the number of businesses that are leaving the city. She said the city needs to support existing businesses so there are jobs.
“If there are jobs, there are people paying taxes, the city will continue to work and to grow,” she said.

Crime

York said she met with the city’s Police Chief and task force of liquor control group to see what could be done about the city’s liquor laws. She said the city is seeing an increase in crime. “It has a lot to do with how the economy is going,” she said. “We used to have one bank robbery in a decade, we’re seeing that now, all the cities are seeing that.”

Faith said the police chief needs the ability to do what needs to be done. “He needs that opportunity to get that job done and not be micromanaged,” said Faith. 

Frontier Park

York said Frontier Park is one of the biggest jewels in the whole state and she said to keep it pristine, the city must limit how many big festivals are held in the park.

“When this park was dedicated, it was dedicated to be a passive use park,” she said. “We don’t have that many areas that are truly pristine that don’t have lots of playground equipment and things like that. It will stay in our city as one of the real jewels of this whole area.

Faith said the city needs to look at the number of activities going on in the park. “There has to be a plan to say, ‘We are going to narrow down the number of activities. This is the date we’re going to do it so we can have the ability to keep it a passive park and that’s what it should be,’” she said.

York added that the city has met with the parks board several times and has implemented a plan. 

Betty Luebke, a New Town resident, said she attended the event because she didn't know much about either candidate. She said she left feeling like she had more to learn. 

"I heard to many generalities," she said. "I was looking for real answers."