The last time Crystal City Mayor Tom Schilly faced a challenge in an election was 2010, when he was running for a third four-year term.
In that election, he defeated Jack Ginnever, who is a current Ward 1 councilman. The only other time he’s faced a challenger was when he won his first term in 2002, when he defeated Terry Yesberg.
In the April 5 election, Schilly is running for his sixth term, and has drawn a challenger in Mike Osher, a current Ward 4 councilman.
The mayor is paid $350 per month.
SCHILLY, 70, and his wife, Linda, have two children and four grandchildren. He is retired as a welding supervisor at Progressive Recovery Inc. and also taught welding technology at Jefferson College. A graduate of Crystal City High School, and has a degree in welding technology from Jefferson College. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a jet aircraft mechanic.
OSHER, 41, and his wife, Mandie, have one child. A teacher at Crystal City High School, he is a 2007 graduate of Jefferson College. He received a bachelor's degree in education from Missouri Baptist University in 2009 and a master’s degree in administration and leadership from Southeast Missouri State University in 2015.
What experience do you have (elected office, civic organizations, volunteer work, etc.) that might serve you well in this position?
Schilly: During my time as mayor, the city has done two major bridge projects and with STP grants did road replacements including Mississippi Avenue, County Road, Jefferson Avenue, Bailey Road, Eighth Street, Eleventh Street and Crystal Heights Road, a state-of-the-art water plant, a new street department building that moved it out of the floodplain. I oversaw the city’s finances to allow the purchase of a new firetruck and street sweeper and update of our police vehicles.
Osher: I served on the Crystal City Park Board for four years and was vice-president for three of those years. During that time, we were able to make major improvements to the park system and obtained more than $150,000 in grants that allowed the installation of new sidewalks around the park, resurfacing and updating the tennis courts to American with Disabilities Act standards, all for little cost to residents.
What are the biggest problems facing the city and how would you address them?
Schilly: Bringing business into our city to create more revenue. With growth in our business community, we should be able to accomplish more infrastructure projects, road repairs, water lines, sewer lines and shut-off valves, items that are out of sight but need to be addressed just as well as items that our residents see every day. We budget money monthly to cover these items, but increasing revenue would allow us to continue to replace these items, some of which are more than 100 years old.
Osher: Lack of revenue, aging infrastructure and lack of forward thinking. Crystal City has stayed status quo for far too many years. When other towns are developing new businesses, industry and events, we choose complacency. We need a leader willing to recognize these issues and employ a visible effort to recruit businesses for our town. This would allow for increased revenue and more routine infrastructure improvements to take place.
Why should voters elect you to this position? List your goals, if elected.
Schilly: My goals would be to continue to work on new sidewalks, resurface our streets and alleys that do not qualify for STP grants and continue to seek out new businesses.
Osher: As mayor, I would bring new events and develop a plan to bring new revenue into the city. Building relationships with current business and property owners, along with future business owners, will help eradicate the empty storefronts that plague our city. This new revenue source will allow the city to stop annual water rate increases and asking for new taxes. Organizing family events will bring members from the surrounding communities and allow us to showcase our town in a positive light.
Do you support the local use tax issue on the April ballot? Why or why not?
Schilly: I support the proposition. Because of the change of the way that individuals shop on the internet with Amazon, Prime and others, a burden has been placed on our local retail shops, thus causing some of them to close. This is not a new tax, but one that should have been placed upon internet sales from the beginning. The state collects a tax on internet sales, but did not include municipalities. I feel this is only fair, so as to put internet sales on the same playing field as our local retail businesses.
Osher: I support the use tax. This is out of necessity. Crystal City has a revenue problem years in the making. Our roads and infrastructure are failing across many areas. This use tax will bring in revenue to allow our aging roads and sidewalks to be improved. This tax will also allow current business owners to compete with the online marketplace. Our local businesses contribute greatly to this city and we need to support them any way possible.