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Galesburg's Future, Population Discussed at Mayoral Debate
Three of the candidates for Galesburg Mayor have ideas for how the city can grow -- or at least maintain its current population -- over the next several years.

Candidates at Monday night's City Hall forum, broadcast live on WGIL, were asked where they thought the city was headed and where they saw the population going over that time.

Among them, David Roknich, says small businesses will drive the city's future, and to help get there, they should be allowed to set up shop on all of the unused real estate the city owns. "Put people into the spaces that the city owns, instead of opening these up to outside developers," Roknich said. "The City needs to be run by its people. People need to be encouraged to start their own businesses here."

Eric Delawder says, for him, the answer to that question isn't easy. "It depends on which type of crowd (that) we want to draw," Delawder said. "(If) we want to draw the young people, we're going to need bio-technology, computer technology...jobs that attract young people. If we want to keep it a retirement village, yeah, we can draw people from Chicago."

Fred Peterson, meanwhile, says whatever happens, thinking as usual just won't work. "Nobody has a crystal ball," Peterson said. "But if we can stay on the same page, we can keep our population at least where it is."

Peterson suggested, in his words, thinking outside the box to create success and opportunities.

Hear everything all nine candidates said by downloading the entire forum by CLICKING HERE.


(Co-moderator Norm Winick, left, listens to an answer, as do half the candidates, from left to right: Roland Paulsgrove, Fred Peterson, David Roknich, Bob Sheehan, and Marilyn Webb. WGIL News Story and Photo by Will Stevenson.)
03 24 09 by Newsroom
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