Candidate Questionnaire: Meet the candidates running for Princeton City Council

Princeton voters will have three names to choose from on the April 6 consolidated election ballot when making a selection for two new Princeton City Council members. Here is a further glance at who these candidates are, their goals and reasons for running for city council. The Bureau County Republican partnered with Voices from the Prairie to present the following questionnaire introducing these three candidates. Voices from the Prairie is a local transpartisan organization that promotes the importance of well-informed, involved citizenry.

Name: Jennifer Schnaiter

What is your employment: Student and a stay-at-home mother.

Governmental experience: None yet.

Community involvement: I most recently organized a food drive with my team members that raised food and donations for the Bureau County Food Pantry and Second Story’s food pantry. I also help with children’s programs at the United Methodist Church. I helped organize a rally to raise awareness of equality under the law for everyone. I was also a Girl Scout and 4-H member where I participated in many community service projects including road side cleanup, food drives, book collections and raising the original Flags of Freedom. I also earned the Bronze Award and Silver Award which helped teach me leadership skills.

Why are you running for the Princeton City Council? I want to involve myself more in the community as well as be able to make a difference. I believe everyone in town should be able to have their voices heard when decisions are being made as well as make sure they are informed about any decisions that will be made. I will also commit to making a blog of the city council meetings a day or two after the council meetings.

What are your top three goals if elected? I would like to see the city work with the police department on creating a program that would reduce repeat offenses of those addicted to drug use and in individuals with mental health conditions. There are programs being used in other areas around the country that have high success rates.

I also want to bring more indoor and outdoor activities for families and young children. Examples could be a splash pad or ice skating in the winter. Princeton is a wonderful place to live but other than going to a park, there is not much for young children to do. If we create more activities for young children to enjoy then more families would possibly be willing to move here, which in turn would boost small businesses.

In 2019 our poverty level was above 14% which is higher than the state average, so I want to find ways to reduce the poverty level in Princeton and find more ways to help those who are in the lower income bracket, such as increasing job opportunities, more affordable housing, or a community garden which would help battle the food insecurity that many families face.

What do you see as the most critical issue facing Princeton at this time? The poverty level. As of 2019, Princeton’s poverty level was at 14.5%, which is higher than the state’s average of 11.5%. My suggested solutions to this have been mentioned in a previous answer.

What changes would you like to implement if elected? There are a lot of children in Princeton and we need more for them to do as well as lower cost/free activities for families.

Why should the Princeton voters vote for you? I believe that I would be a good voice for the citizens of Princeton. When it comes to voting on whether to pass or veto an ordinance or proposal, I would be sure to have as many of the facts as possible as well as knowing how the citizens feel about whatever decision is being made. I will make sure I am always easily accessible to hear the problems and concerns of the citizens.

What would you consider to be your primary fiscal responsibility to the citizens of Princeton? To make sure the money that comes into the city is used to the benefit of the citizens that live here. I would also see if there are any areas that we could reduce taxes/try not to raise any taxes unless absolutely necessary as well as reduce financing projects done through debt.

What would be your vision for the city 10 years from now? I would want Princeton to continue to grow and thrive while preserving its historic charm. It should be a place where anyone and everyone feels welcome. I also would hope to see a larger variety of well paying jobs and the poverty level dropped. Princeton should be a place that people are proud to raise their families in.

Name: Mike McCall

What is your employment: Sales Consultant at Sysco.

Governmental experience: N/A.

Community involvement: Volunteer coaching with Princeton Youth Baseball over a number of years. Also I worked for a local grocery store for 25 years and was able to be part of helping places like Tri-County Opportunities among other charities over the years.

Why are you running for Princeton City Council? Over the past year and seeing what the pandemic has done to small businesses first hand, I felt it was the right time to get more involved and be part of solutions and decision making in the city of Princeton.

What are your top three goals if elected? Work with Mayor Quiram and the other council members to find ways to bring more industry and jobs to our city. We need to find a way to bring higher paying jobs and everything that goes along with that for people to want to live here.

Continue to improve our infrastructure. I believe we are going in the right direction the last few years but it is something that we need to make sure we can continue the improvements.

Get the community more involved in council meetings. Far too many of the meetings have very few residents attend. Although social media has brought on a platform to voice an opinion, I believe certain issues should be handled in person. If you look at the OSF merger for both meetings, there were very few residents at those readings yet there were a lot of comments on social media that could have been addressed better in person.

What do you see as the most critical issue facing Princeton at this time? As we start to come out of this pandemic we need to help small businesses sustain growth and stability to keep the store fronts open. Whether that be through jobs, tourism, etc. Our Main Street is more lively than it has been in years and if we can help in any way to make that happen that should be a priority.

Also we need to make sure we secure our emergency and safety services. With a full-time fire department, ambulance and police services we provide a great service to our community. Promoting our city in the future will help bring in new employees in those areas where they are needed.

What changes would you like to implement if elected? Maybe not so much of a change but making sure we all listen with an open mind to our residents. I feel we’ve become more transparent as a whole but we need to continue to do so.

Why should Princeton voters vote for you? I am an honest and hard-working individual that would like the opportunity to carry that over to city government. I was born and raised in Princeton and now my kids are doing the same and we love the community we live in. I am asking to be a larger part of this community to continue the path in the right direction. I will listen and take everyone’s opinions and thoughts in consideration when determining what the right answer or path may be at the time that is needed.

What would you consider to be your primary fiscal responsibility to the citizens of Princeton? Find the right way to keep costs down for residents so they can continue to afford to live here. I am sure it is a fine line when trying to continue to build our infrastructure and keep our services where they need to be.

What would be your vision for the city 10 years from now? My hope would be we will have higher paying jobs while we continue to bring more people to our city. Take it day by day, as with the pandemic we all know a lot can change. Even in one year.

Name: Martin T. Makransky

What is your employment: I am a retired master sergeant from the United States Air Force after serving 22 years, retired teacher from the local public schools and I am currently a cross country and track and field coach at St. Bede Academy.

Governmental experience: I worked in governmental hospitals in the Computer Systems Management area while in the Air Force. I retired after 21 years and went back for an additional year after 9/11 where our unit was responsible for supplying medical needs to Qatar for the men and women who were serving there on behalf of our country. This military service has afforded me the experience in dealing with people, policies, laws and regulations.

Community involvement: I have served our community as a Homestead Festival volunteer, original member of the Flags of Freedom Committee, current member of the Knights of Columbus at St. Louis Catholic Church, host family for Festival 56, and past coach for Princeton Youth Soccer League and the Princeton Youth Baseball and Softball League.

Why are you running for Princeton City Council? I believe it is important to be involved at the local level and help out if you are able. Being retired, I have time to contribute to the city council and the citizens of Princeton. Growing up in Princeton, I chose to come back because I believe it is the greatest community to live in. I know it is the best place to raise a family because I raised my family here.

What are your top three goals if elected? To assure that we stay focused on the mission which is to provide the highest quality municipal service to those who live in our community, work in our community and visit our community.

What do you see as the most critical issue facing Princeton at this time? The concern of the citizens regarding their property taxes.

What changes would you like to implement if elected? People continue to ask me what platform I am running on. You can take a poll and ask ten different people what is their concern about the town they live in. You may get ten different answers. The important thing to note is what may be important to one person may not be important to the next. We have to look at the most critical issues that small towns are facing. We have to have vibrant main streets, the continued support of small businesses and we need tourism dollars. All of these generate revenue that comes back to our city. It is more important now than ever especially when many people and businesses have been accustomed to working from home. We may have to face the fact that it is possible that there may not be many brick and mortar businesses coming to our area. We have to be creative and capitalize on what we have and make decisions on how can we make it better. We have a tremendous group of entrepreneurs here, and we need to set ourselves apart from other communities so that Princeton will always be a destination of choice by those who live here and by those who visit to assure that they come back. I don’t have any desire to change anything but only to help enhance what we currently have in this wonderful community that we live and work in. It’s important that the current manufacturing and larger businesses continue to prosper in Princeton. We are grateful to have our hospital that is such an asset to our community. And, we are also fortunate to have two outstanding school districts.

Why should the Princeton voters vote for you? First of all, I don’t have an agenda. I am willing to work with the council and on the residents’ behalf while making responsible financial decisions. I promise to do my research on all items that come before the council and make sound decisions especially when it comes to the taxpayers. I believe in communication and being transparent. I will listen to the citizens of Princeton and be fair and reasonable. I will vote confidently knowing that I made the best decision possible that aligned with the taxpayers while moving Princeton forward. I will also work closely with police, fire and public works personnel to maintain our city’s safety. I promise to represent the core values of the city which are integrity, professionalism, excellence, service, collaboration and accountability.

What would you consider to be your primary fiscal responsibility to the citizens of Princeton? We want to keep the citizens of Princeton here. I want to make certain that the cost to live here does not have an impact on them in a negative way.

What would be your vision for the city 10 years from now? I look forward to serving the citizens of Princeton so that in 10 years we will continue to have a thriving main street, growth in tourism, strong city finances and a safe community.