Belleville Village Board Candidate Salmela

Gary J. Salmela
Age: 43
Occupation: Paramedic
Years lived in village: 17 years
Incumbent? Yes
Have you been on the village board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: I am currently a Village Trustee.
Why are you running for village board? I am running for Village Board to continue the positive growth that was started two years ago. Even though I am only one member of the Village Board, all current members of the board are on the same page wanting to make the Village of Belleville a better place to live. Over the past two years, we have moved forward on some well needed projects. We moved forward on a new police station that should be completed later this year. The police department was in a temporary building that does not have adequate space or safety features, now they will be set for the next 30 plus years. Even though I asked many difficult questions, I voted for the building of the new library, which will be a great addition to our community. We completed multiple road projects that helped fix our aging water and sewer infrastructure. Lastly, we been able to fund all other projects and made well needed purchases without increasing taxes. I need to make sure that these tough decisions are made correctly to continue this smart growth.
What issues do you find most important to the village board? List your top three priorities: The most important issue that I see in Belleville is growing our tax base. We need to work with the developers to add both commercial properties and residential properties to Belleville. These developments need to have all types of properties, small and large commercial, high end residential, and affordable housing. We need to make sure that these developments add park space and other public infrastructure. Growth in these areas will help lower the tax burden that the new facilities have put on the taxpayers of the community. The second issue that is important to me is the old Elementary School site. There are so many possibilities for this great property. We need to find a project that not only makes good use of the property but helps revitalize Main Street but also increases the values of the surrounding properties. The last issue that I have is that we need to increase funding for public safety. As we grow, the calls for service will continue to grow. Right now we are able to handle this but there will come a point that it will become overwhelmed. We need to have a plan in place before this happens.
If you could reverse one village action, what would that be? There are no village actions that over the past couple years that I would reverse.