By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale this morning gave a bird’s eye view of the progress he says the city council and city staff have made over the past year.
Josendale gave his State of the City addressed, delivered via a video, to a packed crowd at a St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce event held at the Stoney Creek Inn.
Afterward, in an interview with KFEQ/St. Joseph Post, Josendale says the city council has worked hard on the sustainability of its projects.
“It’s not just build a building, but how are you going to maintain that building or how are you going to position ourselves for success in the future?”
Josendale touts partnerships as a means to growth in St. Joseph, from working with Missouri Western State University to help it and North Central Missouri College to build the $12 million Convergent Alliance Technology Center to improvements at Rosecrans Memorial Airport for the benefit of the Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Group.
Much work has been completed on the parks system, according to Josendale, pointing to new bridges and bike trailways.
Josendale says the last city council election illustrated the need for the change, because voters elected seven new council members, who had to face big financial decisions immediately with little context.
“When you’re elected in April, you have to immediately jump into the budget. The budget’s due in June. So, you’re getting all kinds of stuff thrown at you,” Josendale says. “By staggering it, you don’t have all of us coming new at the same time.”
Josendale says the city has been tackling two issues citizens repeatedly list as top priorities in surveys: crime and cleanliness.
Josendale has given his State of the City address, via video, at a breakfast meeting of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce.
Josendale says the city has made progress on crime. The mayor credits the work of new St. Joseph Police Chief Paul Luster and the department on a drop in violent crime.
Josendale also acknowledges residents want to see an improvement in the look of the city, which he says the city council, along with city staff, has been working on.
“If you drive down Frederick (Avenue) now, you can start to see some of the difference,” Josendale says. “We want to see that same thing happen with, like, St. Joe Avenue, some of the downtown area, and then down 6th Street and King Hill.”
Josendale notes federal COVID relief money has dried up, so the city has to make sure it can finance sustainable growth.
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