Jack Ginnever speaks fondly of his historic Crystal City home.  When Ginnever moved here, he envisioned Crystal City as a place he could retire someday.  He now runs for mayor hoping to transform how the city handles everything from water billing to council meetings, and he believes the city desperately needs to update its 41-year-old Master Plan.

      Ginnever says that cities should create a new Master Plan every 10 or twenty years, depending on how much the community changes over time.

      " I think this area here is one of the most changing areas in at least eastern Missouri," he said.  "I grew up in O'Fallon, which changed a lot in my lifetime.  When I was a kid that was like 2,000 people and now it's almost a hundred thousand.  They were real proactive about it, though."

      Ginnever believes that Crystal City should have either followed its Master Plan when rezoning a large tract of land from conservation to industrial, or involved citizens in the process.

        "The re-zoning of that property went completely in the face of that," he said.  "Now understand that it's over 40 years old, but that plan said there was supposed to be conservation and that's why it was conservation before.  They rezoned it, all of it, to industrial without any type of input from the citizens.  If all the citizens agree that that's a good thing to do, then you go ahead and go forward and rezone it as industrial.  The way it happened, there's  a lot of citizens that are mad about that, especially the people who are close to it.  You can imagine, you buy a new house, you've got little kids, you expect to stay there for twenty, thirty, forty years." 

      Although Ginnever questions the industrial rezoning, he believes that the city should welcome industry, with a caveat.

      "You don't sell the farm to buy short-term gain," he said.  "I think that's probably a difference between myself and my opponent."

      In his observations about the economy Ginnever noted that the current recession has had a more widespread effect than previous ones.  

      "What's interesting about this recession, it's not just the manufacturing jobs," he said  "It has trickled up into middle America.  It's the higher-paying jobs, the white-collar jobs.  It's not just manual labor, which I'm not belittling that, but that has been a problem for a number of years.  Now there's people with college degrees that can't find work.  If we can't find work for people that we've educated to do the job, what are we going to do?  Part of the thing that you do for the people that lost their manufacturing jobs is reeducate them to give them new jobs.  Well if you reeducate them and there's no jobs to have, what are you going to do?"

      Ginnever aims to actively solicit a broad range of businesses for the area. 

      "It would be nice if from the very beginning we tried to diversify the types of things, not just in Crystal City but in all of Jefferson County,  so that the next time some type of recession like this happens, which in the steel industry where you're manufacturing things, those are where the cyclical problems have the most problems.  They're deep and they last a long time.  If you balance that and have a whole bunch of diversity, it's just like managing your financial portfolio."

      So what about the smelter project?  Ginnever explained his opposition to some of the steps taken and said that as mayor, he will work with the existing contracts and oversee the project closely.

      "One of the primary things about the lease agreement is that they will have to have something running within five years," he said.  "They have to produce goods within five years.  That’s a common misconception that people think they just have to put some kind of construction on there, some sort of trailers and that will show that they’ve gotten started."

      Ginnever doubts that Wings Enterprises will be able to meet its obligations under the conditional use permit.

      "They provided what types of technology they intended to use, at least as much as they knew because some of them haven’t been permitted yet and they don’t know if they’ll be able to get permits on them," he said.  "They provided a timeline for how they intended to finish on time within that five year period.  Well I’ve looked at that timeline and last year it was aggressive.  This year I would have to say it’s ridiculously aggressive." 

      He also sees Wings Enterprises making empty promises without adequate planning.

      "No one was paying attention to the feasibility of the project at all.  They just continued to sell the jobs and how well they were going to do things."

      One of Ginnever's top concerns regarding the smelter's feasibility is the roads required to bring materials to the property.  He pointed out that when PPG made glass on the property, their primary material, sand, was available locally.  

      "They didn’t have to build roads for that," he said.  "They just built a bridge over Plattin Creek."

      Ginnever spoke about PPG's access, from Bailey Rd and off of Crystal Avenue.

      "A  lot of the heavy traffic came right here through this area, but we’re not talking about the heavy traffic that is being proposed for the stuff that a select few are trying to tell us that they want done," he said.  " The glass manufacturing was something with a lot of overhead that they could justify the making of that product.  This, there isn’t.  You just smelt it, and you make a little pellet, and you put in a whole bunch of bulk and ship it out.  So they have to find big ways, big ways, to bring stuff into here, which would include rail, port, river way, and road.  The road is a real big problem.  That’s probably one of the more controversial things about that whole thing.  They’d have to find a southern route into that property.  They would have to certainly enact eminent domain to do that."

      In addition to limited roads, Ginnever also has concerns about Wings' plans for river access.

      "I have seen the plans for the Wings project and their use of the river, and I have seen plans for the Jefferson County Port Authority and their use of the river, which are conflicting, by the way," he said.  " They both want control of that majority of property that the Bill Bradley property occupies."  

      "Neither one of them has anything in it about public access," he added, explaining that he had written to the Jefferson County Port Authority suggesting provisions for residents to access the river.  

      In addition to closely scrutinizing projects like the smelter, Ginnever plans to inform citizens on an ongoing basis as he addresses each point of the city's recent audit.  Topping his priority list are making sure that the City Council approves payments before the city pays its bills, keeping better records, and figuring out discrepancies in water billing.

      Ginnever says that he would like to have a public debate with the mayor, but so far his opponent hasn't accepted his challenge.

      "One of my initiatives from the very beginning is that people have to make an informed decision about the election."

      Here's more from Jack Ginnever:
 

Jack Ginnever Q&A:

Will you please tell us about yourself, your background, education, work experience, places you’ve lived, family, and other significant biographical highlights?

I grew up in O’Fallon, Missouri.  When I was a young boy the city had less that 2,000 people.  It now has a population nearly 100,000.  I am the youngest of 5 children, went to a Catholic grade school and high school.  Then I went on to get a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from the University of Missouri at Rolla and a Masters degree in the same field at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.  I worked at McDonnell Douglas Automation during the summer months and when I graduated I went to work for Burroughs Computers in Goleta, California. 
I then moved to Alaska and worked for the telephone company in Anchorage.  I married and had two boys.  I moved to Crystal City in June of 2004 with my fiancée.  I’ve worked in the computer software business now for over 38 years.

Are you affiliated with a political party?  If so, which one?

I consider myself an independent.

Is there a politician or elected official you especially admire, and what do they do well?

I very much admire the recently deceased Jack Murtha who, despite being a decorated Marine and having a long military career, spoke up about his unpopular beliefs of the Iraq war.  Generally I admire anyone who would take to the time to work as a public servant and that speaks what they believe regardless of how popular it is. 

Is there anything you would like to tell voters about your platform or where you stand on specific issues? 

The main tenant of my platform is to support and promote an open, fair and transparent government in Crystal City.  My opponent has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not want the citizens to have any input or decisions in some of the most important matters in the history of Crystal City.  This is most apparent in the recent industrial developments that secretly rezoned 1/3 of Crystal City from conservation to industrial and allowed secretly negotiated industrial projects to go forward.  He has effectively handed over the keys to the city of Crystal City to any outside developer that supports his myopic industrial vision. 
As mayor I will create an open environment for the citizens to participate and contribute to the public good.  I will immediately get rid of the restrictive speaking rules that were enacted to stifle public comment and I will communicate all new developments to the citizens.  I will also be aggressive in seeking new sustainable industrial and commercial opportunities for Crystal City.

Why are you running for office?

I feel that Crystal City has reached the most critical time in the entire one hundred year history of its existence.  Without new leadership I fear for the future viability of the city and the community.  I am running because I believe that the time is now and I believe I can navigate the city through this critical juncture.  

Have you held any previous elected positions?

I have not held any elected governmental positions.  I have been elected to represent various groups in college and work.

What qualifies you for the office, and what in your experience or background will help you succeed in the position?

Though I did not come up through the ranks of the council, I have attended all but a handful of the city council meetings of Crystal City for the last 2 and ½ years.  I have studied the details of the ordinances and the procedures that are necessary to correctly enact them.
I have also been selected to be a member of the Executive Committee in the formulation of the new Master Plan for the City of Crystal City.  In O’Fallon I participated in committees to run the popular 4th of July activities and the sesquicentennial celebration for the city of O’Fallon. 

Is there anything you feel the incumbent candidate has done especially well during his/her term in this office?

I have to have a certain level of respect for anyone that offers their time and services to become a public servant.  The effort is great and the monetary rewards are negligible.  I believe that my opponent has established himself to be someone that is always willing to help anyone in any way.  I’ve heard that from a lot of people. 
However, I believe that the time has come for someone that can manage the complex issues that are facing the city right now.  I believe that I am better qualified for those challenges.

How do you envision the state of the economy affecting your position and your job if you’re elected?

It is obvious to me that the job situation and the economy are the number one issues for the next four years.  I want to make it clear that I am not against industry and I am certainly not opposed to creating new jobs for our area.  So, to answer the question – Yes, the economy is affecting the position that I am taking in my stance on the issues.  My opponent has used the promise of jobs as his main, and really only, position.  I have to point out that every job that has been promised is in heavy industrial and is highly speculative.  I have been very vocal at every step of the smelter and port projects.  My points are that we need to consider the feasibility of the projects and that we need to make sure that we don’t give away all of our city’s precious assets to create these jobs.
As mayor I will also promote industrial use of portions of the land that is within the Crystal City limits.  But I will be much more involved in making sure that the interests of the people are represented and that our security is assured.  As the president of the Concerned Citizens for Crystal City I have helped to demand for an amended lease for the smelter project that guarantees the city will receive tax dollars to fund our schools.  The same amended lease secured a fee for unprocessed iron in the event that the project did not get the permitting for a smelter but only used the PPG property for shipping.  Mayor or not, I will watch every step of the process that may bring a new port to the wetlands that occupy our precious riverfront.

What do you hope to change about this office and how do you intend to do it?

One of the first things I will lobby for the council to repeal is the process that forces public speakers to let the council know four days ahead of time what they want to talk to the council about.  I will generally create a much more open environment where anyone will be allowed to voice their opinion about any pertinent topic that relates to city business.  I will not engage in questionable activity that would encourage lawsuits or require that mounds of legalese be created.  It is for these reasons that the legal bills for the city of Crystal City have skyrocketed over the last two and a half years.
I will also methodically address each and every one of the items on the State Audit.  There are simple, common sense items in that audit that will save the city many thousands of dollars.  One of the more significant ones to enact is to make sure that there are proper records for all contracts and that all contracts are awarded based on a standardized bidding process.  The accounting system also needs to be addressed.  Currently, the city council is given a list of paid bills to approve.  The city council should approve paying the bills before they are paid. 
Most of all, I want to bring the people into the process of making these critical decisions that we are facing.  An obvious area is in the enactment of a new Master Plan for the city.  The recommended process for doing any type of major rezoning is to first create a current Master Plan.  The Master Plan seeks opinions and views from all citizens on the proper use of the entire city.  When my opponent’s administration secretly rezoned 1/3 of the city of Crystal City from conservation to industrial back in 2007, they had a Master Plan that was created in 1969.  That Master Plan recommended that the wetlands remain zoned conservation.  As Mayor I will make it a priority to get the new Master Plan done and make sure it is done in the proper way.  
And, despite of the accusations that I get, I will not be a radical that tares apart everything that is in place.  I will only do the things that I feel are fiscally responsible.  And I will make sure that the city is fairly represented when it comes to large projects that commit our time and resources.  

Personal:

I love every aspect of nearly every type of music.  I also enjoy hiking, backpacking and canoeing.
I’m just an average guy with a typical family.  I am very empathetic.  I have a good work ethic and a strong sense of morals. 

Ginnever's campaign website has further information:
 www.JackForMayor.com