Mission mayor lists duties
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News from Neighborhood Watch
ST. IGNATIUS — St. Ignatius Mayor Charlie Gariepy told the town’s Neighborhood Watch Chapter Sept. 20 that his main duty is to oversee the day-to-day operation of the town. Of course that includes delegating tasks to the town’s four employees, he said.
One of the town’s main tasks is maintaining its streets.He said he is proud of the condition of St. Ignatius’ streets.
“There will always be some complaints,” he said, “but compared to other towns and cities in the area ours streets are pretty good.”
He was operating the town’s new street sweeper himself this past Sunday. He is also Lake County’s south road foreman. Gariepy said when his mayoral term expires next year, he will not run for reelection. He said that although he has always tried to do what’s best for the town since he became mayor 10 years ago, it’s time to get some new people with fresh ideas involved.
Gariepy said that up until the hiring of Police Chief Matthew Connelly, the toughest problem for the town was hiring and keeping a good police department.
“The town doesn’t have the money to pay competitive wages so in the past, we have put new officers through the academy on the town’s dime and then they left after a while for better paying jobs,” Gariepy said.
Connelly, who also attended the meeting, said that is not going to be the case with him.
“I want to grow old here,” he said.
He said the crime situation in the town has been pretty “smooth” recently except for a case of vandalism, which has been traced to a juvenile. A few residents who attended the meeting praised the police department for its performance.
The Neighborhood Watch Chapter meets every third Tuesday of the month in the St. Ignatius Senior Citizens Center at 212 North Main Street at 7 p.m. The public is invited to the meetings.
