Three Incumbents, One Challenger Running in City of Trenton Election
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
On November 7, City of Trenton residents will head to the polls to vote for members of the city’s board of commissioners. The qualifying candidates are three incumbents and one challenger.
Incumbent Joseph Alex Case is running uncontested for mayor, incumbent Lucretia Houts is running uncontested for fire/utilities commissioner, incumbent Monda Wooten is running for street commissioner, and John Taylor is running against Wooten.
Taylor worked for the street department from September 2008 to July 2017. The Sentinel attempted to contact Taylor multiple times, but he did not respond to phone calls or text messages.
Wooten, Case, and Houts each said that they enjoy working alongside their fellow commissioners and serving their community. Wooten said, “We have accomplished a lot together to move the city forward. I’m especially proud of how much we’ve cleaned the streets and sidewalks up and have made them all handicap accessible.”
Wooten noted challenges the city has faced with the budget, saying, “We’ve been dealing with increases in utilities and fuel just as everybody else has, but we’ve managed to continue to provide a high level of service without raising our millage rate.”
She concluded, “I hope people will give me the opportunity to continue to serve them and our community.”
Case also noted improvements to the streets and infrastructure as a positive outcome from the previous term while also something to continue improving. Of the streets, he said, “I like the city looking clean and pretty. That’s something Monda has really strived for. We want to get our streets in better shape because we’ve got some aging infrastructure there. Our ditch lines and things like that need to be worked on.”
Another project Case mentioned is sidewalks connecting to the high school and middle school. “That would be wonderful if we could get funding for it. That’s something I’ve been working on since I became mayor.”
Of the sewer system, he said, “Additions to the sewer is a big goal for the future to help citizens and allow us to grow. We’re working on ARPA funding for sewer infrastructure.” He explained that he sees public works, police, and fire services as important for the city to thrive.
Case concluded, “Each commissioner is great to work with. We have our moments, but we work as a team. I just enjoy helping our community. It’s not me; it’s the team, the staff, the employees.”
Houts, who is running for her second term after working as the city clerk for over 30 years, also reported, “I just enjoy working for the public.” Her goal for the future is to keep everything running well.
Houts noted that knowing the employees aids her in her role. “I know all the people in the departments that I’m over. That makes a big difference, and it’s easy to get along with people. It makes it easy to get things done.”
Details about location, voting hours, etc. are available in the physical edition.
