Michael Hays: Candidate for Wentzville Alderman, Ward 3

Name: Michael Hays
Age: 59
Family: Wife Connie of 29 years, Sons: Ben, Zach, & Luke
Education: Some college, and FEMA certifications
Occupation: Disaster Recovery Analyst with Scottrade
Previous elected offices: None
Number of years living in Wentzville: 25
Organizations: Founding member of the Wentzville Community Emergency Response Team (CERT); Adjunct instructor with Missouri Emergency Management Agency; 17 years on Wentzville's Planning and Zoning Commission

CANDIDATE QUESTIONS

1. What is the primary reason you are running for this office?
I believe in giving back to my community.  With my emergency management and citizen preparedness background I can use my experience and knowledge to bring our city staff and elected officials together to work on the challenges that Wentzville faces.   

2. What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?
Making sure that our parks initiative continues in order to provide our residents a place to play without leaving Wentzville.

3. What's your favorite thing about Wentzville?
Our small town feel, even though we have grown into a large city our people are friendly and welcoming.

4. What is the biggest problem you see in Wentzville?
Our growth has created challenges in infrastructure. Trying to stay ahead of the growth with parks, public safety, and roads keeps us busy.   

5. What is your vision for Wentzville?
To make Wentzville the place our children and grand children will enjoy and be glad to call their home. 

6. If an incumbent, why do you think you should retain your seat? If you are challenging an incumbent, what do you think qualifies you for the position more than the incumbent?
As the incumbent I feel I have the experience and the ability to bring people together to work on our tasks that will bring about the positive changes Wentzville needs.

READER SUBMITTED QUESTION: What leadership will you bring to the Board of Alderman and the City of Wentzville that will help avoid costly mistakes like the one currently happening with the building of the new parks, specifically like with Splash Station?
We are working hard to manage complex projects.  If there are mistakes we must learn from them so not to repeat, work with the successes and keep Wentzville moving forward.  I will support our staff to manage our projects, and where needed I will support outside contractors to bring to us the expertise that we need in order to manage what we can not.