DEXTER — Residents in all three of the City of Dexter’s wards will decide Tuesday who will represent them on the Board of Aldermen for the next two years.
The only contested race is for the Ward III aldermen position, as both Ward I Alderman Terry Battles and Ward II Alderman Tim Aslin are running unopposed.
Incumbent Frank Killian is seeking re-election to his fourth term as Ward III alderman. He is being challenged by Ronald Ahrens.
Each candidate was asked the same set of questions, and their profile stories are presented in the order in which their names appear on the ballot.
In seeking re-election, Killian hopes he and the Board of Aldermen can continue on the “positive path that Dexter is on.”
The city, he said, has partnered with the Dexter School District to put a school-resource officer on campus.
“We’ve done some other positive things here in town,” Killian said. “I just want to continue to see Dexter continue to grow and continue on a path of being a great community.”
Killian, who is superintendent of the Richland Schools, believes his education background qualifies him to serve as an alderman.
Killian said he knows how a school board works and how to deal with people.
Those qualities, along with doing “my best to make sure any situation has a positive outcome lends itself to being a good alderman,” he said.
“I enjoy meeting people and enjoy talking to people,” Killian said. “I also want to do what’s best for the community.”
According to Killian, the issues the city currently is facing are the same as any community.
The city has what Killian described as some “big industrial places” in town, such as Tyson Foods and Faurecia Emission Control Technologies (formerly Arvin Industries), that have contracts with the city.
“Each time (the companies) change hands,” it is given a certain number of years on its contract, Killian said.
“I always try to make sure that jobs do not leave Dexter” and make sure “better paying jobs continue to come to Dexter because we want our people to continue to do good for themselves and improve their way of life,” Killian said.
Killian believes the City of Dexter is moving in the right direction citing its partnership with the school for the SRO to “ensure the safety of our kids” as an example.
“Our (Park and) Recreation Department has partnered with the school to improve the baseball facilities,” he said.
The city, he said, is doing things that are “going to help our kids, help our athletics program.”
City Administrator Mark Stidham, Killian said, also has helped secure Interstate 57 will go through Dexter.
“We’ve seen the growth of different companies and stores opening up at Dexter,” Killian said. “Dexter has grown; it’s definitely what I believe is the industrial hub of Dexter.”
The city, he said, also has hired a lot of good people to work for the police, fire, water and street departments.
“We have a lot of great people working for the city” and those people are what make Dexter the great city that it is, Killian said.
Should Killian be re-elected, he said, his goals include the city’s partnership with a local organization to bring a dog park to town.
Killian also cited the continued partnership between the school and Dexter Park and Recreation to “ensure our athletic facilities are what our kids need.
“I know we’re working on a walking (trail) to help our other citizens.”
Killian said he also would like to see the city and its citizens do their best to “keep our streets and yards clean.”
That way “anybody coming through Dexter, the first thing they think is, this is going to be a great place to move and raise our kids and retire,” he said.
Having been active in Illinois politics, Ronald Ahrens believes what he learned there can help him should he be elected to serve on Dexter’s Board of Aldermen.
“I believe that I’ll give a different perspective, a different look at the stuff in how it’s done,” Ahrens said. “I’m not going to be a yes vote for the mayor.
“I’m just going to do what I think is right for the people in my district.”
Ahrens said his cellphone is “always on,” making him available to constituents, and he will attend every meeting.
As far as issues facing Dexter, Ahrens said, it looks “like everything’s fine” from what he’s seen, but “we have to start looking at our infrastructure.”
In Illinois, “we didn’t look at our infrastructure,” he said. “Then, we had to do infrastructure replacement, it was the whole city. Water bills, he said, went from about $40 to $120 per month.
“I don’t want to see that happen to the people (in Dexter), so we’ve got to start preparing for repairs, what needs to be done as time goes on,” Ahrens said.
The police and fire chiefs, he said, also need to be given what each needs to do their jobs.
From what Ahrens can see from attending the monthly board meetings, he believes the city is heading in the right direction.
“I feel, yes, we have the money, but we don’t want to (get) into complacency where nothing gets done because everything’s going fine … ,” Ahrens said. “Then, 10 years, five years, from now (and) something needs to be fixed, and we don’t have the money. We don’t have the ability to fix it” because of complacency now.
Should Ahrens be elected to the board, he said, curb side recycling is among his goals for Dexter.
“I recycle … I think more people would recycle if it was picked up at the house” instead of having to drop it off, he said.
Ahrens said his second goal would be to keep taxes low and not waste tax money.
Ahrens said he will look for “any way we have to spend taxes and help the people that live in Dexter to be able to enjoy living in Dexter without taxes going up.”
Another goal, he said, is bringing more jobs to Dexter, which would mean “more people spend money in the city.
“Where they work is usually where they spend (money) and where they live is usually where they spend.”
Frank Killian
Age: 52
Family: Wife, Cathy; five children; five grandchildren
Occupation: Superintendent Richland Schools
Education: Specialist degree in educational administration, William Woods University; master’s degree in educational administration, Southwest Baptist University; bachelor of science degree in education from Southeast Missouri State University
Current Affiliations: Member of Missouri Association of School Administrators, Missouri Association of Rural Educators and executive committee for Missouri For Better Schools and president of the Stoddard County Superintendents’ Association
Terms on the board: Three
Ronald Ahrens
Age: 42
Family: Wife, Tasha; four children
Occupation: Forklift driver at Midwest Organic
Education: Associate of applied science degree, University of Phoenix
Current Affiliations: Member Dudley Church of God
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