FAIRMONT – Two Fairmont residents, Jay Maynard and John Davis, are looking to fill the vacancy in District 1 left by Bruce Peters, who is not seeking re-election after serving two consecutive terms. District 1 residents will choose either Maynard or Davis to represent their District in the November 8 election.
The city is divided into four wards, and residents of these wards vote exclusively for their respective departmental council representatives. Ward 1 covers the southwestern part of the city.Ward and district maps are available at www.fairmont.org “city council” tab under “Department” drop down menu.
Maynard is from Houston, Texas, but has called Fairmont home for 20 years, having moved here in late 2001. Currently, he works remotely as a software development engineer for Amazon Web Services.
Davis was born and raised at the Fairmont. He attended St. Paul Lutheran School and then graduated from Fairmont High School. He works at a power plant.
Each candidate shared their reasons for running for city council.
“I became interested in the city government during the 2019 catastrophe that laid off city attorneys and city administrators. I decided that I needed to get involved.” Maynard said.
Davis said he had always been interested in politics and had been thinking about running for several years, but the time just happened to come.
On the topic of community centers, Mr. Maynard said he favored “some” community centers, but he is not necessarily in favor of either of the proposals currently under consideration, as both proposals have their pros and cons. said no.
“My opinion is that we should not demand continued tax increases from Fairmont citizens who are already overtaxed to build, operate and maintain community centers.” Maynard said.
Ms. Davis said she is a supporter of the community center even though her children are grown up.
“I feel like I have to start somewhere so that future generations can add it for their families.” Davis said.
Both candidates shared plans to improve Fairmont’s streets and infrastructure.
Maynard acknowledged that Fairmont’s streets and other infrastructure require a lot of money, and the city can only spend a limited amount each year.
“We will carefully consider our budgets to ensure that every dollar we receive is spent on something at least as important as our cityscape, and that money that is not or can be redirected is redirected.” Maynard said.
He also said the city’s engineering department is doing the best job it can within its budget and that the city council should not micromanage their plans.
Davis believes the council and administration need to work together to identify a clear path forward.
“Every street in town needs construction. But finding a starting point is most important.” He said.
As for ward-specific issues, Maynard said ward 1 is lucky because there are no major, obvious problems affecting just that ward. He said the biggest problem is city-wide.
“Fairmont needs to grow and prosper, and to do that we need to be in the business of saying yes to development. It means that if we continue our own duck and meet all the requirements of a reputable development, we need to find a way to get to yes.” Maynard said.
He added that the bigger problem was that the city had built a not-so-favorable reputation because of its past actions.
“Part of what makes it an attractive place to do business is that it provides a certain stability to the city’s interaction with business. I will continue it in the office.” Maynard said.
Davis acknowledged that the boat launches and parks needed updating, but agreed that Ward 1 wasn’t plagued with many issues. He said it was a low priority but he still needed to address it.
“On the more important side of things. I think we need to figure out what the N. Grant Street infrastructure problem is. It’s a big one in my opinion.” Davis said.
Candidate Forums spotlighting these candidates will be open from 5:30pm to 8:00pm on October 26 and 6:00pm on October 27, just like other candidates running for office. It will be held from 8:00 to 8:00 in the Chamber of the City Hall. It will also be broadcast live on local public access channels.
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