GREENVILLE — Jeff Whitaker is announcing his candidacy for mayor of the City of Greenville. The following is his statement.

It’s been my honor and privilege to have been able to serve and represent the citizens of Greenville on City Council for the past five years. With that experience, along with over sixteen years in administration within St. Clair County government in the state of Illinois, I will soon be filing my petitions with the Darke County Board of Elections to run for Mayor of the City of Greenville. I will devote my full energy and attention to continuing the effort of making this city a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family.

All of my goals are aimed at continuing to provide the residents of Greenville with those services they expect and deserve as hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens.

At the top of that list is always providing for the safety and security of our families with strong, effective police and fire protection. Those that serve will always have our full support in carrying out those tasks.

We will always ensure Greenville residents have the ample supply of clean, safe, and healthy drinking water it requires, as well as the utmost in sanitary wastewater treatment. This will always receive the highest level of attention. It is far too vital to tolerate any sort of circumstance which might compromise the integrity and safety of our supply of drinking water.

We will always prioritize the maintenance of our streets, sidewalks, and all of our city’s infrastructure to the very best of our ability. As our city’s number one physical asset, it is imperative that we take the very best possible care of it.

We will always continue, as we have in the past, in being most judicious with the spending of our hard-earned, taxpayer dollars. We will, as it becomes available, continue to seek grant funding and zero to no-interest loans in making our dollars stretch even further in providing the current level of services, as well as any other necessary projects and services as they may arise.

We will continue our best efforts in encouraging a strong business environment throughout Greenville and, very importantly, an active and vibrant downtown district.

We continue to see investment in new local businesses, and a very large amount of it by many of those who are owners of buildings downtown, improving the overall structure and appearance.

It is the spirit of the entrepreneur that is making the difference in strengthening our downtown district into a more vibrant and successful one for the benefit of our entire community. The same rings true for that of business owners all over the city.

Homeowners throughout the city are constantly seeking to improve their properties and keep them clean. We will certainly continue to do what we can to encourage more of it. In fact, there are some programs that have been made available to help in that effort. All of this has an effect on increasing our property values and tax base.

Since living here, I have always taken notice of the tremendous amount of generosity on behalf of so many of our citizens willing to give of their time, talent, and personal finances in making sure that those in need are given care. I find it incredible the abundance of programs and services within the city and throughout Darke County in helping those in need, be it providing shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, clothing for those that need it, counseling for those with various addictions, and help and encouragement for those seeking employment. Each individual, ultimately, has a certain level of responsibility for themselves, but as a community, we are also to encourage anyone in need to seek that help available to them and utilize all of these resources.

With this, you know where my efforts lie. I’d certainly appreciate your help, encouragement, support and, as we approach the May 2, 2023 primary, your vote. It takes a continuing, ongoing effort from all of us in bringing our community together, in keeping Greenville strong, vibrant, safe, and clean. This should be of the utmost importance to us all. It will truly be an honor to serve you as your next Mayor. Thank you.