|
 My wife Meghan and I bought a home in Lincoln and
moved here from Princeville, IL back in 2014. She is a registered
nurse and works in pediatric surgery at OSF Saint Francis in Peoria.
We settled in Lincoln so that she could finish nursing school and
begin working at the hospital, while I could get closer to the state
capitol and put my Bachelor’s Degree in Politics & Government from
Illinois State University to use. I graduated from there in 2013.
Feeling a fiscal pinch, I took a night time job in 2014 as a marine
deckhand on the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino. I still work there
today, albeit chiefly for the unique schedule (week on/week off) and
the health & retirement benefits.
Last fall, Logan County GOP Chairman Dave Bender reached out to me
and urged that I make a run for the open seat on the Logan County
Board, and I am happy to be doing so now. I love meeting county
residents and hearing feedback on what they like and what they want
to change in the county. I worked the parade circuit last summer
with State Representative Tim Butler and Congressman Darin LaHood,
and I must say that the part I loved the most was simply being out
among the people at their respective town festivals and talking with
and listening to them all.
I am running for the County Board now because I truly recognize a
duty for public service. I’m not vindictive, I don’t have an axe to
grind with the Board, nor am I looking to just pad a resume. I look
around and see opportunities for my generation disappearing left and
right. By no means am I set for life, so I clearly have a vested
interest in seeing jobs and opportunities for prosperity return en
masse to Logan County. I’ve got skin in the game just like the rest
of us.
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 I want opportunities for success to be here for
myself and for the future of my family and I am willing to fight for
the existence of those opportunities. We can achieve economic
successes by taking steps to make ourselves attractive to outside
businesses. We should help cater to their needs and help them help
us; not block them at the border. With the business climate in the
State of Illinois, we are lucky businesses are even coming to
operate in our state, thus we must become extra competitive with all
101 of our fellow counties. If commerce is being brought to
Illinois, we must ask, “Why not bring it to Logan County?” This is
home for all of us, and I really want the best for our home.
I share the frustrations that many primary voters have with
governments at all levels. People feel like they aren’t being heard.
We try to contact our elected officials, request that they hear us
to vote our wishes; and then they do the opposite, without
explanation. That is in part why I am running, to be a real voice
for the people and to carry out their wishes. I want to be
accessible to the people of Logan County and truly hear them out
whenever they have issues to discuss with me. And I will be
accountable for the votes that I cast on the board and will always
offer to share my reasoning for voting the way I do. This isn’t
something that I want to do just in my spare time, or whenever I
can. I am committing to the people of Logan County and I want to
make great things happen here. I can’t sit on my hands any longer,
now is the time to get involved and inject a youthful, energetic
voice into county government. I will bring with me a new perspective
and a fresh set of eyes. The stakes are too high to sit it out for
another election cycle, that’s why I am getting deeply involved at
this time.
I respectfully ask for your vote on March 15th.
-- Casey W. Hoag -- [Text from file received] |
