An interview was held with Mayor Mark Spencer in which he explained his views on why he feels best quaified to be re-elected as mayor in the upcoming April 5th election. The Mayor emphasized that the city has made great progress and accomplished many things during his tenure because the city has worked together as a team with other groups.

The mayor pointed out the many projects that have been accomplished the past four years. He pointed out that his appointment of a committee to raise funds for the Westside Park Pavilion made it possible to build the War World I memorial after previous administrations ignored the project. The mayor added that in spite of the many naysayers, the city worked together with everyone to construct the beautiful pavilion which is a source of pride foreveryone in the community.

The mayor said the construction of the New Millennia Park was another example of the city cooperating with a community group. He said he made trips to Springfield to make presentations on behalf of the New Milliennia Group in order to get state funding that made construction of the park feasible.

"The best example of people working together was the reorganization of the ambulance squad into a full time staff", according to the mayor. He said his opponent wanted to put the ambulance squad in El Paso where response times would have been much greater. "Instead, we now have a full time staff in which the response times have been dramatically reduced. People don't want to live in a community which has no ambulance service. Again, this adminstration persisted until the ambulance squad problem was resolved".

The mayor said another example of using cooperation to getting things done was the construction of the food pantry building. He said the city went together with the Minonk Township Board to plan and fund the new building.

"Before I was mayor, ordinance violations were not being prosecuted. Now they are," according to the mayor. He said the city tries to take a positive approach to enforcement by working with individuals to help improve situations rather than just immediately writing them a ticket. He said, "If compliance cannot be accomplished through negotiation, then they will be prosecuted."

The mayor said the city has been actively involved in promoting Minonk in association with the Economic Development Council of Peoria. He stated that the city was able to get a $6,000 grant to upgrade the MinonkTalk website to promote Minonk and its economic development opportunities.

The mayor said the city has been actively involved in seeking new development. However, he said that potential developers want negotiations to be done privately until the public needs to be involved. "There will eventually come a time when the public will be brought into the decision making process before anything is finalized in regards to the city's involvement. Until that time, you must respect their right to privacy." He said the city has to take some risks when it seeks out development for the city and the city must determine what is in the best interest of the community.

The mayor said he is open to all types of development including fast food restaurants. He stated that their sales tax revenue and real estate taxes is just as good as any other kind of revenue. The mayor said his opponent wanted to eliminate the hotel tax which helps fund the city's Fourth of July Celebration and the Parade of Lights. He added that the motel owner said this tax does not hurt his business and that the tax is from nonresidents.