Name: Gary J. Salmela 

Age: 41

Occupation: Paramedic

Years lived in village: 15

Incumbent? No

Have you been on the village board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: I have not been on the village board before. I am currently serving on the Belleville Community Club Board of Directors, a position I have held for the past six years.

Why are you running for village board? I feel that the current board make up does not represent the demographics of Belleville. Our population demographics are diverse and our board representation does not have any members in my demographic. I feel that priorities and ideas of the current board are not the same as mine or with many of the people I have spoken with since announcing my candidacy. I feel that having teenage children and not living in Belleville all of my life, I have a different perspective and fresh ideas that can help Belleville grow and thrive.

What issues do you find most important to the village board? How would you handle these issues? There are three issues that I feel are most important that need to be addressed, infrastructure, strengthening public safety, and our downtown. The most important issue is fixing our infrastructure. We have three problems that I feel need to be worked on. The first is our police station. The police department should not be headquartered in two side-by-side trailers. They need a secure, up to date facility. I feel that this should have been addressed many years ago and was not. The second problem is the public works garage. As our village has grown, so has our public works department. They have outgrown the building they are currently in and need more space. I feel there is an option to fix these two problems but we have to wait to see what is going to happen with the elementary school. The third part of this issue is East Pearl Street and East Avenue. These streets are in bad shape and need to be replaced. I feel that all of these projects can be accomplished if we prioritize what needs to be done. I feel these projects need to be done before we spend a few million dollars building a new library.

My second biggest issue is strengthening public safety. Currently our police department does not have the staffing to provide 24-hour coverage, seven days a week. Due to our location and the size of our community we should have round the clock coverage. We are lucky to have a fire department and EMS service that is staffed with volunteers that respond when needed to an emergency. Unfortunately it is becoming more and more difficult to find people to volunteer. We are only a few years from having to pay people to staff our fire department and EMS service. There needs to be a plan and a funding source to provide these essential services.

Lastly I feel that we need to work on revitalizing downtown Belleville. In the years I have lived in Belleville there have been a lot of businesses that have come and gone. I feel that the Village, the chamber, and local businesses need to work together to bring more business to town. I don't have an exact answer how to do this but this should be a priority for everyone. We have some great businesses in town now but if we were able to bring in other businesses those current businesses would also benefit.