The Sedalia Business Women held a Mayoral Candidate Forum in the Sedalia City Council Chambers on Monday, March 9.
Moderator Diane Simon posed a series of questions to incumbent Andrew Dawson and challenger Traves Williams.
Simon began the forum by giving each candidate two minutes for opening statements. Excerpts chosen by the Democrat are as follows.
Dawson:
“Good evening, thank you to the Sedalia Business Women for hosting this forum - my name is Andrew Dawson,” Dawson began. “It's been my honor to serve you as your mayor. Before that, I served on the City Council as Second Ward Councilman and as Mayor Pro Tem. Those experiences have given me an opportunity to see firsthand how local government works and how important it is to get things right. Sedalia is my home for my family. My wife Rachel and I are raising our children here. Like many of you, we care deeply about this community and where it's headed. Over the past several years, Sedalia has made real progress; we've worked to create a climate where businesses feel comfortable investing here, and we've seen new businesses open their doors and create jobs. We've also seen new housing being built across the community as more families choose to make Sedalia their home.”
Williams:
“I'm running for mayor because it's time for transparency in city government,” Williams said. “We have failed opportunities to talk about our grievances, and that was taken from us from our current administration. I love this city. I've been part of this city for 33 years. I cofounded two organizations that gave back to this community and gave everyone an opportunity to be included. We need a form of city government that plans for the purpose to put your needs first, that considers all your options and makes you the priority. The City of Sedalia is not ran by government, its ran by people and its citizens, and I know this firsthand because when we started our Community Helping Hands in 2022, we started with two members and we elevated that to 14 and we were able to keep 66 people in their homes from our current administration's aggressive code enforcement habits for tearing people's houses down.”
When asked about their leadership experience, the candidates offered these answers.
Dawson:
“In addition to my local work, I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Missouri Municipal League and chair the Municipal Administration and Intergovernmental Relations committee, that role allows me to work closely with city leaders from across the state on issues that affect municipalities and local governments,” Dawson said. “I've also taken advantage of the education opportunities offered to me through the Missouri Municipal League, held my certification through the MML Governments Institute as well as an advanced certification. I believe those kinds of opportunities are important because if we're going to serve our communities well, we first have to understand the work that we're doing and the balance of that work and what we're able to do.”
Williams:
“I cofounded two organizations; I served on Paul Klover Soccer Association for nine years, coached dozens of kids, gave my time, never asked a dollar for anything I've done,” Williams said. “Like I said before, we kept 66 people in their home from an aggressive code enforcement within the last four years, so I think when it comes to leadership role I think I've done a pretty good job in this community when it comes to me because I have a lot of support from this community and it's because of what I'm doing and sacrificed my time and my efforts to help somebody else in this community by putting their needs before mine in most cases so as far as my leadership skills, I think it speaks for itself.”
The candidates gave their opinions on the restoration work done on the Washington Street Bridge.
Dawson:
“The Washington Street bridge has been one of the more frustrating projects I've dealt with during my term as mayor, mostly because of how long it's taken to get the work started,” Dawson said. “And at the same time, I also understand that that process takes time. When engineers are designing repairs on a bridge that people are going to be driving on every single day, we want to make sure that the work gets done right and the design works. Before construction could begin, we had to have the repair designed by HR, and then reviewed and approved by MoDOT and then reviewed again by engineers from the railroad, since the bridge crosses their right-of-way. All of that had to happen before the problem could move forward; the actual construction portion takes far less time. The work started in January and the expectation is that those repairs will be completed this spring.”
Williams:
“From the very beginning, I was strong on the idea of repairing that bridge; it’s a lifeline for the northside citizens of Sedalia,” Williams said. “Unfortunately, it took public pressure for the current administration to act because, you can verify this, look at their agenda, look at the council meetings. From the time the bridge was closed, it was not a priority. It was a priority, like he said, in January, and hadn’t been a priority up until then. And you can go back to all the public records and see how long it took him to act or make a solution, a viable solution to opening that bridge back up.”
The issue of homelessness also highlighted some differences in the candidates’ outlooks.
Dawson:
“Programs need clear expectations, accountability and a path towards stability. Whether that's employment, recovery or permanent housing,” Dawson said. “What I don't believe works are situations where there's no structure, accountability and people remain stuck in the same circumstances without a path forward. I think the council has supported the right kind of approach; one example is The Embassy, where the city has directed a portion of our opioid settlement funding. Their program is structured, it has rules, and it focuses on helping people rebuild their lives. That's the kind of model that I believe we should continue supporting.”
Williams:
“We currently don't need a homeless shelter in the City of Sedalia, because we don't want to attract other homeless communities to come here,” Williams said. “But I do think we need to modify the warming shelters by offering therapy, some kind of drug treatment if they are willing to do that, to give them a hand up instead of a hand down. And then if the ones that are willing to really work at getting back on their feet, provide job opportunities and gear some kind of program to modify that so we can work with that community to help them succeed.”
The Municipal Election is April 7.
The hour-long forum may be viewed on the Sedalia Business Women Facebook page.
Chris Howell can be reached at 660-530-0146.
