ST. JOSEPH (WJON News) -- Three men have thrown their hat into the ring to be the next mayor of St. Joseph.
Jon Hazen grew up in St. Joe. He was appointed to the city council in August of 2021 to fill a vacant seat. He's currently on the city planning commission. He says he's running for mayor because he has a passion to serve.
Hazen says finally getting a community center built is a top issue for him.
We were talking about a community center back when I was a teenager in the late 90s and early 2000s. That's a big one, I want to get that passed through, get the ground broken, and get something there for our younger families and everybody.
Hazen says another top issue for him is to help the city grow responsibly. He says the city is going at a brisk pace right now and it might need to slow down just a bit.
Hazen says he wants to work on connecting the city on both sides of County Road 75 possibly with an overpass.
We could have some walkways, but that takes a lot of planning. It takes a lot of working with your senators, the legislature, and the House of Representatives to see what kinds of funds are out there for bonding to try to become a safer city.
Hazen says with all the growth the city has had in the downtown and in the industrial park, they'll need to create more housing to accommodate a growing workforce.
As for the potential for St. Joseph to create a municipal dispensary, Hazen says he's not opposed to it but it would need to be heavily regulated.
He says he's a level-headed person who can stand in the gap on both sides of an issue.
The other two candidates in the race are Bob Loso and Adam Scepaniak. Current mayor Rick Schultz is not running for re-election.