Mayoral Candidates: Mark Lambird Part 2
The snow had slowed down and had already started melting on the ground as I arrived back at Ophelia’s Cup for my second interview of the day. This time I was meeting with Mark Lambird. I arrived and as I settled in with my cup of tea and my notes my phone rang. It was Mark letting me know he had arrived and would be to the table after he got a cup of coffee. As he walked to the table people said hello and he politely stopped to shake hands and say hello. Once he had gotten settled in I jumped right into the interview.
Mark was Olney Mayor before and my first question was of course, Why are you running again and what makes you want to be Mayor again? Mark was very open with his answers and said he felt like his time as Mayor had been productive for the town as a whole. Rural King moving locations and the major improvements at the mall
was just one of the many accomplishments that he was clearly proud of. Development of the town by bringing in businesses during a hard-economic time for the entire country was also something that he was proud of. The ball diamonds were something that as Mayor he had fought for and it proved to be a great investment by the city earning fifty to sixty thousand a year in sales tax. And local restaurants are showing added profits during the weekends that events are being held at the new ball diamonds. And those ball diamonds will have fully paid for themselves by the end of this year or next based on those revenues. He worked hard as Mayor to bring people and revenue into the town without raising the citizen’s property taxes a crazy amount. A few small tax increases and the raising of some fees of course was needed just to be able to properly maintain the city. Water rates were something he accomplished not raising and in the last four years’ water/sewage rates have raised by twenty-five percent. Which he agrees with me is crazy since we own the water! He wants to get back to that progress that he saw happening when he was Mayor before. Making Olney a more customer based government is a major thing he wants to see happen again. “A lot of the progress we made has come to a grinding halt. I worry about it every day,” Mark said, “I want to see Olney change and do better.” He admitted that in the last year, his life had changed drastically and a year ago, he would have never thought he would be sitting here talking about walking in those shoes again but his love for the town he grew up in and is now raising his own children is clearly a large motivation for him. Protecting the community as a whole is always a focus for him but also the growth and development of the town to make the future of this town safe and stable for generations to come.
Mark admits that Belinda may have a leg up on him with our group because he is not a regular motorcycle rider. He remembers his dad riding his motorcycle to work every morning and has family and friends that ride. He has ridden and enjoys riding motorcycles and four wheelers but would much rather be out in nature on his feet than on wheels. However, he hopes to work closely with Richland County ABATE on activities to bring people to town as well as other projects if elected. He also has high praise for all the good work that ABATE has done here in Olney.
I of course brought up the issue of the roads and the condition of those roads in Olney. Mark is in complete agreement that the roads in town are something that need attention. He hopes to look not only into repairing them but looking for a possible solution that will make them last longer before repairs are needed again. In his work on the flooding issue on Boone street he found a company in a magazine that was working with a completely new product and he contacted them to have them come see what they could do. Hopefully that out of the norm thinking can yield some ideas about fixing the roads that will prove to be a real fix that doesn’t break the bank. Something we must also consider is that there are items under those roads that we also have to look at fixing or at least keeping those pipes and things in good working order so we are not tearing up the roads again to fix those. This is a huge project that is going to cost. “What’s the answer to the issues with the roads? I don’t know,” Mark said very honestly, “We have to see those numbers put down on paper and see what we can do.” Main street is a road that is due to be redone and that is going to be a large bill for Olney. Alan the new city manager has some ideas and Mark hopes to work with him to find something “that is sustainable and that we can make the most out of it. Something that we can continue to use year after year and is going to last. There has to be a better product then what we have.”
The golf cart issue was proposed to Mark as well. And he understands the safety concerns that were brought up before. “Golf carts just aren’t made to be hit by cars,” Mark said, “Olney is bisected by some major roads and it isn’t those in the golf carts I am worried about it’s the cars. It’s the same with all of you on your motorcycles.” If there is a large number of people who are for golf carts Mark is not against it. Golf carts led to the sidewalks and sidewalks are a major issue that Mark worked to help fix previously especially with the safe routes to the schools but says that he knows more are needed. He sees the need to have sidewalks for the citizens who walk to Wal-Mart and the new Dollar General and hopes to make strides towards that to make it safer and easier for them to shop.
Mark is hopeful to bring change and growth to Olney but also is very realistic on the budget issue not only here at home but also at the state level. When he was in office before he worked hard to keep a very close eye on that budget and work on ways to cut that budget down. In four years, he and the council worked hard to cut about two million from that budget. “Because we looked for new ways to do things and ways to do things more efficiently. And that’s what I want. I don’t want to spend all the money we can unless something is going to pay dividends in the future. Smart investments.” Mark said.
Speaking of what ABATE is I explained that we have a huge focus on Safety and Education. I told him of the issue with the cutting of locations and number of classes offered for the Motorcycle Rider Safety Program. I explained that the course itself is something we need, not only for the 16 to 18-year old’s which it is required for but also for anyone wanting to ride. “How much would it cost for you to offer that class here locally?” was Marks first question. Mark would love if he is elected to help ABATE work with local law enforcement to offer a course here locally. That would be a great draw for people to come to Olney for a weekend as well as a much-needed resource for this area. Mark joked that there wasn’t much he could do to help us with this issue now but hopefully in a month or so he could work with us to get this started.
Mark was very down to earth and friendly during the whole interview and answered as honestly and fully as possible to all my questions. He had many facts and figures that helped support his points and his hopes for Olney but added those hints of comedy into the interview when needed. When I asked him if he thought the youth of town was going to come out and vote he simply said “No”, with a slight laugh. He said that in a locall election like this we have somewhere around a 20% turn out of voters. “There will be somewhere around 2000 turn out to vote.” Mark feels that at the local level there is not much need for the political party affiliations to play a role in what is happening, “We are all pretty much just people” was Marks main point.
Mark wants to help Olney grow in jobs as well as bring in revenues with events. “Sometimes it’s just about not being afraid to go to those businesses and ask them point blank what will it take,” Mark explained, “Sometimes you just have to take chances and sometimes you have to come up with crazy ideas. I mean there not all going to work but occasionally the mud sticks to the wall.”
Mark also wants the citizens to know that he will be there voice and wants to hear their issues and problems. He will never tell you point blank he will fix the problems but he will stand beside you and help you have your voice heard. If you and your neighbors have an issue whether it’s like the flooding issues on Boone and other parts of town or anything that is affecting, you and your neighborhood contact him and come to those board meetings to speak to the council. Mark looks at his job as Mayor the same as he looks at his everyday job. “If I take care of my farmers, then they take care of me,” Mark said, “And the same goes as Mayor. If I take care of the citizens, then the citizens take care of Olney and we will grow. The very least we can do is have good customer service.” The citizens of Olney do not elect a Mayor to say that’s not my problem because as the Mayor it will be his problem and he wants to work to fix those problems in the best way he can. Mark believes he has a responsibility to ensure that the town is running smoothly and the citizens are being heard and taken care of.
Marks agrees that many of the organizations are facing the same issues of having members but not having many active members. He feels that working together with ABATE and other organizations the town could hold some new events throughout the year which would draw individuals to Olney. He commented on the town of Palestine and how they have an amazing wine festival for such a small area. Olney has some amazing winery’s close to us and that would not be a hard event for us to hold. And not everyone is going to see the benefits of an event like that but the world is changing and growing and Olney needs to learn what is new and exciting and do those things. And he encourages all organizations to work together to strengthen Olney. Mark has many great ideas for activities and events that will bring people to Olney and help the town with generating revenue. The more events we can have the more revenue is raised which leads to new businesses wanting to come to town. When Mark was Mayor his focus was to always look for new and better ways to do things as well as new and exciting things to bring to the community and hopes to do that again if elected. He wants to focus on the growth of this community to be the best it can be. A gentleman told Mark recently that Olney has always been happy with what they had and there was always something that was always going to keep Olney going, whether it was the cigar factory or the shoe factory in years past. The problem with that is those things are gone and we as a community can’t only focus on what is keeping the town going right now but what will keep the town going in the future. “We have to look at what happens if ten years down the road those businesses leave and we want to focus on keeping the best people here.” Mark said, “Unfortunately some of our best and brightest are leaving and never coming back and we need them to come back.”
“You can be as big as you want to be. I don’t believe in abusing the power but I also think that someone has to be out there directing us and directing us forward,” Mark said, “We have some of the best school systems in southern Illinois, OCC, a hospital, a clinic, and more shopping than areas around us. Olney is a nice place to live and thank god for that because we are seeing our population grow. We can do more to grow and there are people looking for places to live and there just aren’t that many out there.” Many of the areas of town that are in worse condition need to be improved. Mark would like to see many of the damaged and dilapidated houses in Olney be fixed or rebuilt to offer affordable housing options to those coming into Olney. Which is a win win for all of us, we beautify the town while bringing in more people and in turn revenues and new businesses.
Mark would like to invite everyone out to the VFW on April 1st for a Pancake Breakfast with him. And thanks to early voting and extended hours after breakfast you can head right over and vote.
I also want to send Thanks out to Mark for taking time out of his day to speak with me. And encourage you to look up his page Lambird for Mayor on Facebook. This article is based on my interpretation of what he had to say unless specifically quoted.
*All attempts to contact Brian James O’Neill were unsuccessful at the time of publishing these posts. If he returns contact with us we will be glad to interview him as well.
