Lincoln Alderman Tracy Welch throws name in the hat for mayor

 

[September 16, 2019] 

The large dining room at the Oasis Senior Center was nicely filled Sunday afternoon by guests invited to attend a reception hosted by Lincoln Ward 1 Alderman Tracy Welch. At the reception Welch announced his intention to run for mayor of Lincoln in the 2021 election.

The day began with Welch’s wife Annette getting everyone’s attention and thanking all who were in attendance. She noted there were plenty of sweets for everyone and invited all to enjoy. She then kicked off the official announcement by introducing Mayor Seth Goodman.

Goodman opened saying, as was attested by his shirt showing support for Welch, he personally would not be running for mayor in 2021. He said that he was two years into his term, and had just about two years left. He said that anyone who has served in his capacity or local politics in general knows that it is “no walk in the park.” He said that he had enjoyed the support of many including Welch, who he has called on many times to assist with city issues and “he has never said no.”

Goodman then introduced Welch who came forward during a nice round of applause from the guests. Welch began by thanking those who had assisted with preparing for the reception including Nancy Cunningham of the Oasis. He moved on to acknowledge that his parents Jack and Donna Welch and his brothers. He concluded his thanks with his wife Annette and spoke about how she was taking the lead in managing and helping him with his campaign.

Welch also had kind words to say about the sitting mayor saying he is passionate about the community and is a great leader. He said that Goodman had allowed the council to have its voice and empowered the members to make the decisions they were expected by their constituents to make.

Welch provided a biography for the press, and his speech went along with the biography with a few added remarks along the way.

(See attached – Tracy Welch to announce candidacy for mayor of Lincoln)

Welch noted that he was born and raised in Lincoln and except for a short stint when his parents moved the family to nearby Beason and another stint in the United States Army.

He spoke about his youth and marriage to Annette and noted they have two daughters, Kayla and Haley.

He noted that he and Annette became a couple at a young age, and that when they were married, folks wondered if they would make it. He said that this past Friday the couple celebrated 27 years of marriage, so he thought they had done pretty well.

Welch said he works at State Farm in Bloomington and both of their daughters do as well. Haley is with State Farm in Bloomington and Kayla works for State Farm in Arizona. Annette has worked for Bard Optical for the past eleven years and spends a good amount of time at the Lincoln office.

Welch spoke about his raising and said that he had worked a variety of jobs from “walking beans’ for local farmers to working at Kroger, Graue Pharmacy and the Holiday Inn.

After high school he also worked at Meyer Industries and the glass factory. He joined the military in 1991 and was married in 1992. He and Annette were stationed out of state. When his stint in the military was over they returned to Lincoln and Welch worked first for Southern Illinois University in technology. He said he found his niche in “IT” work and after a few short years, went to work for State Farm. He has now been with State Farm for about 15 years, and is quite content with his position there and hopes for a long continued relationship with that company.

Welch said that the career choices he and Annette had made would make it possible for them to live in other locations, and perhaps even easier from certain viewpoints, but this is their home and their community and they choose to stay in Lincoln. He noted that they spend their money locally and support as many local businesses as possible.

Welch delivered what he called his summary of his “road to city hall.” He noted that in 2012 he began watching the Monday night city council meetings on channel five. He said he was like many other people, exclaiming over the decisions made by the council and failing to see the logic in those decisions. After a while, he decided that it wasn’t right to sit at home and complain about it, when he had the power to do something. He began with his website Lincoln Speak. He said to a certain degree it was a watchdog website, but it was also a place to compile information from a variety of media sources as well as thoughts and opinions from local citizens, giving everyone a voice and a venue for expressing their feelings, opinions and concerns.

Along the way he met and made a friend in Misty Bell who encouraged him to become a part of the Main Street Lincoln organization. He did join that board and in 2014 was elected the president. He noted that was the last year of the MSL because of the unification project that went on in the city at that time. He noted the Main Street organization went to the wayside as a result.

But, he said his time on that board opened a door and a new relationship with Alderwoman Jonie Tibbs, who became like a mentor for him. She also led him to Marty Neitzel. Tibbs and Welch talked about Welch running for city council, but at that time he did not do it.

However, when the late Mayor Scott Cooper was appointed it left a vacancy in Ward 1 where Welch lived. Cooper passed away suddenly before filling that position. Marty Neitzel, then a Ward 4 Alderwoman was appointed to fill the position. Welch went to her and sought the Ward 1 seat while Rick Hoefle sought the seat of Ward 4.

Welch chuckled and said that he and Hoefle had “shaken things up a bit” on city council then added “maybe a bit too much.” Welch filled a two year term then was elected for an additional two years. He ran for his second four-year stint in 2019.

Since being elected, Welch said he has been a part of several opportunities that he is proud of.

The Union Street negotiations, which are part of the city’s mandated sewer upgrades is one. In that project, the city worked with Lincoln College to come up with a fair plan for the city to acquire the land needed from the college and the college gain some much needed improvements along public streets running through its campus.

He helped aldermen approve lowering the tax levy on property taxes for Lincoln residents and said that was a “small success” but he felt it was significant for the community.

Welch has been involved with Third Friday’s Downtown, the brainchild of former City Administrator Clay Johnson. Welch said it was a great idea and one of the best contributions Johnson made to the community. Since Johnson’s departure, Welch along with several others have worked to keep it going because Welch said it is good for the community.

Welch is the city liaison to the Logan County Tourism Bureau and said the bureau had to rebuild itself and it took time to acquire the right people on the board and in the office to move that organization forward, but he is pleased with the progress the LCTB is making.

He is also the liaison to the Logan County Veteran’s Commission and is proud to work with such remarkable veterans as Dan Benedict and Joe Schaler.

Welch has been involved in the city’s “clean” initiatives and was “out there slinging TV’s” at the TV recycling events and worked with the many constituents who volunteered for a clean up the town day led by local resident Scott Turner.

Welch said regardless of how the mayor election turns out, he will still be a part of the city governance. If elected, Welch will replace himself with a new Ward 1 Alderman. If not elected he will remain on the city council and will continue to work toward goals that benefit the people of the community.

He said if elected he wishes to continue in the footsteps of Mayors Marty Neitzel and Seth Goodman in empowering the council and making sure that the aldermen have a voice in the decision making process.

He feels that the city needs to focus on economic development, but realizes that there are large challenges in that area including finding the right person or people to lead the way.
 

Welch said he feels the city lacks amenities that help retain residents and draw potential residents to the community. He recalled the campaign for a dog park in Lincoln and said those are the types of things that the city should embrace because it improves the quality of life for residents and makes the town more attractive to those looking to relocate.

Welch said that the city needs to do more grant writing. He said there are grants to be had that would help finance projects within the city. He noted little grant writing has been done recently and that does need to change.

Budget control is important to Welch as well. He noted that this year there have been some very heated discussions around budget control and he anticipates that those discussions will continue in the year ahead.

Transparency is also important, Welch said. He noted that he is the one who bought the needed equipment to start live streaming the city council meetings on social media. The end result was that the city saw the value of this as did the constituents and know the city has a streaming program of its own and constituents can watch every city council meeting on social media or on YouTube.

Welch began winding down his speech by saying that the final important topic he wanted to address is relationship building. He said that constituents deserve follow up and he works to provide that as an alderman and will continue to do so as a mayor and encourage other city officials to do the same. He said when a constituent comes to him, he doesn’t just pass the problem off to someone else. He strives to find out when and how the issue will be addressed then makes personal contact with the constituent to let them know what to expect. Welch said this is a good practice that the constituents deserve and appreciate.

Welch said that being an alderman, being a mayor, is a lot of work, but it is important to him and he is willing to do the work. He said that he wants to be the voice of his community and he wants to spend his time with the citizens listening and hearing their concerns.

He wrapped up with the simple statement, “I am Tracy Welch, and I am going to throw my mane in the hat and run for the mayor of the city of Lincoln.” He said he hoped that he would have the support of the people, and thanked all those who were in the room for giving him their time on a Sunday afternoon.

To date, Welch is the only one to announce his intent to run in 2021, but there is still a great deal of time to do so. If other candidates come forward in the same party there will be a primary election held in February of 2021 and a general election held in April of 2021. The new mayor will then take office May 1st, 2021.

[Nila Smith]