Two incumbents held on to their seats in the Trafalgar Town Council primary, and three newcomers were selected to join them.
Republican council members Jessica Jones and Jason Ramey will move on to the November general municipal election for the council. First-time candidates Jackie Bryant, Ashley Chaney and Mike Peters also pulled through wins, unseating incumbents Jeff Eisenmenger and Kyle Siegfred.
The Trafalgar Town Council sets annual spending for the town, adopts local rules and ordinances and appoints members to various town boards. Each member’s salary in 2023 is $3,600 per year, and the council president makes $4,000.
No Democratic or third-party candidates have filed for the general election for Trafalgar Town Council, so these candidates may be uncontested come November.
Bryant felt led to run because he thinks current council members have dragged their feet in fixing certain problems in town.
He specifically cited various drainage problems in town, including one near the park, which is causing some yards and streets around it to flood. Bryant said the town has taken too long to fix that. Other top priorities of Bryant’s include promoting growth and bringing more jobs to the area. He also wants to see the town get a small grocery store.
Chaney grew up in the area and moved back with her family a few years ago. She ran for the council because she wants to do her part if she wants to see a change in town.
One of Chaney’s top priorities would be to promote unity in the town and among council members. Chaney has said wants to be open-minded to all citizens of Trafalgar. She also thinks transparency from the council is important. On the town’s growth over the years, Chaney has said the town should embrace change as it grows with new subdivisions and businesses coming in.
Jones, the current council president, won the Republican nomination to secure a second term on the council. She ran again to continue her efforts to bring transparency and “positive changes” to the town’s processes.
She has said one of her goals is to continue reviewing and updating town ordinances to make the town more efficient. She also wants to apply for more grants to improve quality of life, such as parks grants or grants to revitalize Trafalgar’s downtown area. Jones also has advocated for the town to hire a town manager, which could help manage daily operations and solve problems faster.
Peters ran for the council because he wanted to make a positive change in town. He’s lived in Trafalgar for 28 years, and he has said it seems like many residents are unhappy.
One of the biggest issues he noticed is the current town council members spend a lot of time dragging problems out, with few solutions in place. Current town council members bring up issues and “talk them to death” often with few solutions. He also wants more checks and balances to be in place to make sure town employees are doing the jobs they say they are doing. Peters has said he is open to the idea of looking into hiring a town manager.
Ramey won a chance to continue a third term on the Trafalgar Town Council. He wants to finish improvements to the town that started when he first took office.
His No. 1 priority is working on retaining quality employees for the town. With his background in public safety, Ramey currently sits on a committee aimed to come up with solutions to recruit and retain police officers.
Another priority for Ramey is for the town to get a better grasp on approving new developments, and fixing other problems caused by the approved developments. Various housing developments, and the town park, have been alleged causes of infrastructure and drainage problems throughout town. Ramey believes these issues happened because of a lack of oversight by previous councils.
Ramey also supports hiring a town manager in some form to help the town with some of its problems.
HOW YOU VOTED
Trafalgar Town Council, at-large (choose five)
Jackie Bryant: 12.7%
Ashley Chaney: 15%
Jeff Eisenmenger: 8.3%
Jessica Jones: 11%
David Moore: 8%
Rick Morgan: 10.2%
Mike Peters: 10.9%
Jason Ramey: 12.9%
Kyle Siegfred: 10.3%
