Door-to-Door Donna Burning the Pavement

Donna Sherwood has tried to speak with every voter in her ward in her efforts to become Wentzville’s next Ward 2 alderman. It’s tiring work, she said, but it excites her to know that if she wins, she’ll be working to make the city a better place to live.

Sherwood has been a resident of the area since 1994. She has always followed state and local politics, but it wasn’t until 2006 that she was elected a Wentzville Township committee woman for the Republican Central Committee, she said.

If elected as alderman of Ward 2, she said she’ll be a stalwart representative of the citizens. She would like to see a vibrant, renovated downtown area with boutiques, cafés and shops. She would like to see streets repaired, and, even more importantly, constructed properly in the first place. She would also like to see the city keep taxes under control. She said most residents she has spoken with feel they are “taxed to the max.”

She wants to see an end to “street creep,” a condition that occurs because of the expansion and contraction properties of concrete and poor installation of concrete slabs and joints. During hot summer months, concrete expands and during the cold winter months, it contracts, shifting the street toward homes and driveways, sometimes cracking the home’s foundation and, in worst case scenarios, buckling interior floors.

“I think the city should tighten the building codes and never lower building standards,” Sherwood said, noting that the fast-paced growth in the past few years seems to have moved forward without enough construction oversight. “I’ve been to 1,000 homes in my ward, and just walking down the street, I saw that the streets are ludicrous. If we don’t do it right the first time, it just costs the residents more money. We’re the ones paying and repaying for this shoddy construction.”

The April 5 ballot will ask residents to change the terms of mayor and aldermen from two years to four years. She says she is totally against that because it is self-serving.

“If someone is elected into office for a two-year term and does a good job representing residents’ needs, residents will know that and re-elect them. If they’re not doing a good job, residents need the option of voting for another candidate.”

Sherwood has observed numerous special interest groups eyeing Wentzville, and she wants to make sure decisions made are for the good of the residents and not for the good of the special interest groups, she said.

To back that up, Sherwood is funding her own campaign and has not accepted any contributions from special interest groups.

“I’ve attended every board of alderman meeting for the past two years,” Sherwood said. “That’s what made me decide to run. There are so many issues in this growing city; I want to be part of the decision-making process.”

Sherwood said she won’t tell people what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. As she campaigns door-to-door, she tells residents “your concerns will be my concerns.”

“I believe in being open and available to residents, and believe we need a very open and transparent government,” Sherwood said. “This is taxpayers’ money being spent on city services, and residents have a right to know what’s going on.”

Sherwood said when the St. Louis Homebuilders Association petitioned the city to reduce lot and home sizes, she was strongly against it. That’s why she joined 100 or so residents who, one-by-one, addressed the council to speak out against it.

She spoke at the board meeting, where she said she thinks the city could look at smaller homes in totally new subdivisions, but said “when a resident purchases a home with minimum home sizes specified for the neighborhood, it should stay that way.”

“It’s what happens between an election that is the true measure of how government officials treat its people,” Sherwood said. “When people are judged by merit and not campaign rhetoric, then the best and the brightest can lead the city. Everyone will benefit and more resources will be available for all and not just select groups.”

Sherwood retired after 32 years with the U.S. Army Department of Defense. She also worked for the City of St. Peters in human resources division and public relations department. Sherwood also worked for the Wentzville Municipal Courts system assisting the court clerk.

Incumbent Peggy Meyer is not seeking re-election. Sherwood faces competition from Chris Gard, William Schuette and Patrick Vining.