Please tell us about yourself:
My name is William (Will) Wetzel, and I am running for Decatur City Council. First and foremost, I am a dad to my 5-year-old daughter, Ava, and husband to my wife of 8 years, Tiffany. Currently, I work in the IT field as a contractor at Ameren, providing support to about 250 field workers in Central Illinois. I was born and raised in Decatur. I attended Decatur Public Schools and graduated from Eisenhower High School in 2003. I attended Richland Community College from 2003-2005, while there I participated in Student Government and served as the Richland Community College Student Trustee from 2004-2005. I then moved to Macomb, IL in 2005 to attend Western Illinois University. I attended WIU from 2005-2007 and then from 2010 until my graduation in July 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies with Minors in History and Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration. In 2008, I joined AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, a 10-month team-based national service program for 18- to 24-year-olds. During this time, I worked in St. Bernard Parish, LA rebuilding houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina, at the Camden Children’s Garden in Camden, NJ, building trails in northern Florida, and working with the Disaster Response during Hurricane Ike. I then moved back to Macomb in 2009. I took another National Service position with AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) with the American Red Cross. I worked on modernizing the McDonough County Chapter’s disaster response plan. I then completed a 2nd AmeriCorps VISTA year, 2010, at the First Presbyterian Church of Macomb, working on housing and homelessness issues. After completing my VISTA term of service, I was hired on as lay staff with the church. I worked at the First Presbyterian Church of Macomb from 2010-2015. I helped start a free after school program that served 65 children per day, relaunched Macomb’s summer meals program, and helped lay the framework for a non-profit called Genesis Garden. After Genesis Garden’s launch, I served as the first Executive Director from 2015-2017. At Genesis Garden, I established a Family Emergency Homeless Shelter, continued the summer meals program, and worked with low-income entrepreneurs.
I left Genesis Garden and Macomb in 2017 when my wife started a job as a social worker in Decatur. Since returning to Decatur, I made a career change to the IT field. I have been volunteering behind the scenes with several local organizations providing planning, logistics, and IT tech support.
Please list any endorsements::
Decatur Trades and Labor Assembly
What do you believe is the role of a Decatur City Council member?:
A city council member’s job is to represent everyone and make decisions that benefit the highest number of people. No matter where they live or work, each member of the Council represents the entire population of approximately 70,000 people. This is a daunting task, and often our elected officials take the time to listen to everyone, not just the people close to them. Beyond council meetings, it is important to be out in the community listening to the needs and wants of a diverse group of people.
Please tell us your platform and key areas of focus for the Decatur City Council:
I am seeking a seat on Council because I have faith in Decatur and want to help make Decatur a better place for everyone – people, families, and businesses. This means doing everything possible to provide the best quality of life for the people of Decatur and the best economic opportunities for everyone.I will meet people where they are, listen to their needs and wants, and put their needs and the needs of the community first.
1. Economic and Population Decline. According to the US Census Bureau, Decatur, IL has shrunk from 94,000 in 1980 to 69,550 in 2019. That is 25% of our population. If we continue to shrink at the same pace from 2010-2019, 0.71% per year, by 2030, our population will be approximately 65,000. At the same time, the City’s liabilities continue to grow while the tax base shrinks.
• There must be a long term comprehensive plan for the City of Decatur that does not tie its future and success exclusively to large manufacturing. While it will continue to be the economic heart, diversity will be the key to long-term success. We can address this by recruiting companies with good-paying manufacturing, agribusiness, and technology jobs. This includes ending the prohibition on cannabis-based-businesses.
• We must also encourage entrepreneurship in small and micro-businesses. When it comes to economic opportunities, nothing should be off the table, including the operation of legal cannabis-based-businesses and other non-traditional businesses.
2. Expanding Neighborhood Revitalization – The City can be a leader in helping to bring non-profit organizations, State and Federal Funds, private funders, other governmental agencies, and the people who live in the neighborhoods together. This means developing an inclusive and holistic approach that goes beyond just fixing infrastructure and tearing down houses. The “top-down” approach needs to be replaced by an “across the board” strategy that does not leave the affected members of the community out of the planning process.
3. City Council must change its rules and practices to engage and seek community members’ participation. A first step is to return to allowing its constituents to speak to agenda items. Council must also reduce the number of Council members it takes to place an item on the agenda from 4 to 2 to allow new ideas to be heard and considered. The most significant number of people in the community must participate in leadership.
