Letter to the Editor: Seitz vital for forward drive

I am writing this letter to share why I believe the re-election of Mayor Terry Seitz is vital for the continued forward drive of our community.

Born and raised in Jasper, I am part of a family that has built great business success in this community over the last 60 years. Growing up in this environment, I have been groomed to believe in tradition and success.

Just last year I graduated from Purdue University. There I learned about the importance of surrounding myself with strong, creative, and hardworking peers that will positively impact the future. I had the privilege of interning at City Hall last summer. There, I worked closely with Mayor Seitz and learned of his vision for the future. I quickly became very passionate about his plans, as I believe they are built on tradition, hard work and creativity to build success for Jasper.

Being 24 years old, living somewhere with culture and a place where I could build success for myself was very important. I never looked at Jasper that way until seeing Mayor Seitz’s vision.

The Parklands of Jasper has become a beautiful green space that Mayor Seitz saw as a place where generations of Jasper citizens and visitors could call home.

He has supported the repurposing of former downtown industrial sites like JOFCO and Hoosier Desk, and is also bringing a city-wide fiber network at no cost to the taxpayers!

Most importantly, Mayor Seitz is placing major emphasis on Downtown Jasper. Making Downtown more alive and more cultural is certain to attract youth and travelers, alike. Jasper has the potential to have that big city feel in a small town. Attracting young professionals is vital to improving the economic success of our future.

As a community, we need not look at Mayor Seitz’s vision as a change to what we have done in the past; we need to embrace this vision as progress. Jasper has established itself as a community of makers. Let us also look to the future as forward thinkers, looking toward a thriving Jasper with Terry Seitz as our leader.

Shelby Hettinger
Jasper, Ind.