Elections for Nauvoo City offices will be held on Tuesday, April 1. The candidates for mayor, city clerk, and aldermen have provided the following information about themselves to assist you, the voter, in learning about themselves and about how they would try to guide Nauvoo through the next four years if elected. The decision is yours.
Jim Boyles
I have spent a total of 61 years living in Nauvoo, on and off. Following two decades of service in the military, I returned to Nauvoo and have served 16 years on the city council.
I support the innovative ideas emerging from the Mapping Committee; however, we need to allocate more funds in our budget to bring these concepts to life. It is crucial to have a design prepared so that we can seize grant opportunities as they arise. To increase housing availability in Nauvoo for both young residents who grew up here and newcomers looking to settle down, we must secure funding for engineering and design.
Carol McGhghy
I am a fourth generation (Kachle)/Koechle from Nauvoo, and have worked for the City of Nauvoo since 1993. This will start my ninth term as city clerk. I have two amazing kids, my son lives in Nauvoo and my daughter lives in Utah. I am a graduate of Nauvoo-Colusa High School as well as a graduate of Western Illinois University.
I know that my position does not allow me to vote on city council, but I will say that my vision for Nauvoo is to be a community that is friendly, active and committed to the betterment of Nauvoo. I plan to continue to help the residents of Nauvoo in any way I can, be available, and strive to keep our office running with the highest integrity. I would appreciate your vote on April 1.
Barb Schafer
I grew up on a farm outside of Nauvoo and am a proud graduate of the Nauvoo-Colusa Class of 1969. Growing up, my parents always emphasized the importance of contributing to the community and maintaining a strong work ethic. My husband Don and I are members of the Union Presbyterian Church in Ft. Madison, Iowa, and are the proud parents of two children and three grandchildren. My work experience includes managing the Nauvoo Cheese Shop, followed by 32 years at Ziegler Industries, retiring as office manager in 2017. These jobs have taught me the importance of good communication and organizational skills. I also worked for three years with my husband at Martin Accounting, before we both retired. As current co-chair of the Nauvoo Betterment Association, our group continues to be instrumental in numerous projects aimed at enhancing the quality of life in Nauvoo. I was the past co-chair of the Nauvoo Community Center Capital Campaign Committee as we successfully completed the fundraising and construction of the new City Center, a significant achievement for the community. Currently I serve as the First Ward Alderman, completing the term of Jeff Chirstensen who relocated.
As a member of the council, I have learned valuable lessons about our community’s needs and priorities. It is crucial for citizens to take pride in their property to maintain the charm and appeal of our town. Attracting and keeping young people and families must be a central focus, which leads to housing being a top priority. We need to ensure there are suitable homes for current residents and newcomers alike. In addition, fostering a thriving business environment is essential. We must support and encourage new businesses while also ensuring that our longstanding establishments continue to prosper. Exploring and working to secure grants that will make it financially feasible to improve our town is vital. As a member of the mapping committee, I am committed to working closely with citizens to achieve these goals and further enhance the quality of life in Nauvoo. I look forward to continuing to serve my friends and neighbors in the First Ward and the city. Together we can build a bright future for Nauvoo.
Rita Souther
Rita Elaine Souther was born in Missouri and grew up on a farm near Roseville. She began visiting Nauvoo as a child and in eighth grade, wrote a report on her favorite historic place– Nauvoo. She attended Western Illinois University for two years, majoring in history with a view to teach before transferring to Brigham Young University, to major in archaeology– the real childhood dream occupation. During her college years, she also began attending classes and workshops on how to do genealogy, another life-long interest. After graduation she worked as a cook for an archaeological survey crew, surveyed for archaeological sites along a proposed highway route, wrote local correspondent items for the Monmouth newspaper, taught genealogy classes in the adult education program at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, and drove tractors to help on the farm. She also volunteered with the Henderson County Historical Society to help set up its museum as a Bicentennial project in 1975-1976 and was director of the museum until 1980.
In the spring of 1980, she packed up her car and drove East, where friends urged her to join them and get a job in Washington, D.C. There she was able to pursue her other love: genealogy. She spent nine years as a genealogist at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) library, followed by 25-plus years as a genealogist with the Department of the Interior in Indian Affairs. She worked with anthropologists and historians to research and write reports regarding the groups of people seeking federal recognition as Indian tribes. She retired from federal service in 2017 and moved to a Little House on the Big River in Nauvoo. Since then, she has been involved in the Nauvoo Historical Society, Nauvoo Betterment Association, the mapping project, Shadrach Bond Chapter of the DAR, and held various callings in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Vision and Goals for Nauvoo
“My goal would be to unite the diverse skills and resources in Nauvoo for the good of the entire community. The settlers of each period of Nauvoo’s history worked hard to overcome difficulties, build homes, improve the environment, educate children, be good citizens and develop new skills and businesses as the times changed. However, honoring those pioneers– be they the early farmers and veterans of the War of 1812, the Latter-Day Saints, the Icarians, or the German and other later immigrants who built up the business district, is not enough. We need to look beyond the image of a charming historical site and develop opportunities for year-round economic and social growth. Growth can come in at least two ways: (1) the children and youth of current residents seeing interesting and fulfilling jobs that will entice them to stay in Nauvoo or return here after getting an education and (2) new move-ins who will bring or develop long-term employment opportunities, will buy or build homes, and will stay to become a part of an active community. My vision is to see renovated buildings (or new structures) in the business district– from the city limits on Highway 96 along all of Mulholland Street to the historic district. These renovated or restored buildings, or those that need to be replaced with attractive, safe, modern facilities will invite new businesses and present the image of Nauvoo as a growing, modern city. These kinds of visual improvements, along with improved, consistent public services (upgraded water, sewer, streets and sidewalks) will attract new residents and improve the lives of all residents. But it takes all of us working together, so that our differences become our strengths.”
John McCarty
John McCarty a lifelong resident of Nauvoo, is currently semi-retired. Encouraged by his father’s advice that “if you want change, you need to run for office,” he has served four terms in various capacities, including alderman and mayor.
McCarty is particularly passionate about addressing the issue of neglected properties in the community and encouraging the use of collected Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds to promote new businesses, stimulate existing ones, and incentivize construction and new housing projects.
Lee Fields
My name is Lee Fields and I was born here in Nauvoo and graduated from Nauvoo-Colusa High School in 1980. I received my bachelor of science in nursing at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa; I also received my MBA from Rosary Collage in River Forest. I moved to central Florida for business in 1994 and retained my boyhood home in Nauvoo after my parents passed away in 2013. My wife Anne and I decided to relocate back to Nauvoo in 2017. I’m currently the Group Practice Administrator for Blessing Health System in Quincy. I also currently serve on the Nauvoo Planning Commission and have done so for the past several years.
I would like to be considered for the Nauvoo 3rd Ward alderman position. Very succinctly if I didn’t believe in Nauvoo, my wife and I would not have moved back to Nauvoo. I believe Nauvoo consists of friendly and benevolent people. I also believe city leadership has worked hard for the citizens of Nauvoo and in my opinion, like most local governments, there exists opportunity: business development and business-friendly governance, broadband development, observing common sense ordinances regarding property upkeep and maintenance (for quality of life) and reducing fraud and fee avoidance with respect to select businesses here in Nauvoo.
Forward looking, I feel the next several years will be very prosperous for the nation and Nauvoo. With public input, sound financial leadership, a balance of business development and maintaining quality of life, Nauvoo can grow and develop while keeping its beauty and welcoming ethos as it has done for decades. I would appreciate your support.
Bruce Bromley
Hello my name is Bruce Bromley and I am running for the 3rd Ward alderman position. My family and I have been here for about four-and-a-half years and we love it here! I spent most of my working career in the Air Force as a mechanic on the flightline. I have been service-oriented all of my life. I believe that we should help each other as much as we can. I also believe that Nauvoo is a great town to live in.
I feel that we need to work on the infrastructure of Nauvoo, i.e. roads, water lines, sewer etc. I believe that we can find grants to help with the repairs and modernization that is needed. I also think we need to work on housing for those that are wanting to move here. Nuisance properties should be cleaned up or torn down for replacement homes. I think the building permit process could be streamlined so the building can go more quickly. I believe in Nauvoo and want to see it grow in the right ways for all our citizens.
Christian Levesque
Christian Levesque, 32, was born in Quincy but has lived most of his life in Hamilton. He first moved to Nauvoo in 2014.
“I’m mostly self-educated. I started going to college after graduating from Hamilton High School in 2011, but I couldn’t afford to continue, so I dropped out. We live in the era of almost limitless free information; a literate person can learn nearly anything they want via the Internet and their local public library.
After high school, I worked various factory jobs, ultimately working my way up to factory mechanic. During my off-hours, I studied software development. Through self-study, I earned proficiency in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and C#. After a particularly bad week at work, I started applying for software developer jobs despite my lack of formal education, and within a couple of weeks, I was hired by a local company out of Burlington. I have been a software developer now for the last five years.
My most important hobby is reading. Reading isn’t just a gateway to another world; it’s a tool with which we can improve our own world. Beyond reading, I spend a large chunk of my free time outside of work writing software for myself. I truly feel like I was born to write software, and I’ve been incredibly blessed to have been able to do something I love so much for a living.”
When asked about how he felt about serving on the Nauvoo City Council, he stated:
“I feel good about being an alderman. I like being helpful. My highest aspiration is to be helpful to the people of Nauvoo– to help them via public service, to help them have better relationships with their elected officials, and to help improve their lives here in our great town.”
The winners of the April 1 election will be sworn into office at the May 13 city council meeting. They will serve for four years, except as noted.
