Silvius continues to stress ‘unity’ as she prepares for new mayoral role

 

The 2021 city/school election is now behind us, and with the votes now tallied, the City of Red Oak will be seeing a change in leadership. 

Shawnna Silvius, who challenged incumbent Bill Billings for the Red Oak Mayor’s position defeated Billings with 413 votes to Billings’ 355. Silvius described her emotions when the final unofficial vote count was announced. 

“Complete and total gratitude to the one to whom I give the praise and to all my special campaign committee members and other volunteers who bravely stepped forward publicly or behind the scenes to support and do the work that needed to be done in just five short weeks. I was ecstatic for all of our team, for our win, because I greatly value each of their contributions - their time, talent, efforts, persistence and bravery - and their belief in me to do what I say I will,” Silvius said. “From sharing words of encouragement, to hosting us for meetings and an exceptional thank you party, from making maps and assigning brochure canvassing and sign coordinators, to door knocking, for our graphic designer/IT coordinator, to my silent and special encouragers, for supporters and voters and so many more who believed in what I’ve done, stand for and have accomplished. Additionally, having both my parents present from southern Kansas and western Nebraska to share in such an amazing victory for one of the first times I’ve had them together was surreal and so special. I could feel how proud they were of me and how impressed and grateful they were for each person who came together for one goal, to support me and our shared priorities, which together we accomplished.”

 While Silvius has served in many capacities in economic development, including a recent stint as Montgomery County Development Corporation director, Silvius said this is her first foray into public office. She said some of the things she did during the campaign  may have given her the edge going into the final vote. 

“I stepped out in faith with more courage and boldness than ever, to face the opposition head on with a solid but simple platform message that I intend to abide in as my guiding principles. I believe running a campaign showing positivity and grace was a critical example of why positive change is so necessary and why unity is critical. I believe the opportunity to clarify misinformation the constituents needed to be made aware of and hear from my perspective with my level of expertise, experiences and observations was key to bringing light on topics and issues most likely few had been previously aware of,” Silvius explained. 

Oftentimes, it seems the incumbent defeats the challenger in elections. Silvius said she didn’t have any major strategy in place to counter that.  

“I believe just being my true, optimistic, gracious self who firmly believes in bringing people together to be heard, like I did with childcare, housing, broadband, career fairs, talent development committee, and more, and stressing the importance of people having a voice, being heard and being invited to become engaged, and lead change and help leaders solve our issues is essential. Positivity always wins over negativity,” said Silvius. 

Silvius described her plans to prep for taking over the new position at the end of Billings’ current mayoral term.

“Myself and the new councilmen will spend a significant amount of time learning and gaining knowledge we need to know from what we will learn by attending the municipal leadership academy sessions to sitting down with our administration and department heads gathering information, getting familiar with our budget and current projects and operations, understand processes for internal and external communications, identify ways to be more transparent and inquire with other city employees issues and concerns so we begin thinking proactively as we prepare for strategic execution of short term projects and longer-range comprehensive planning.” 

Silvius also outlined what her goals are during her first year in the position.

“I’ll be working to understand the current operations and budgeting practices. Determining ways to improve transparency for the public to easily access information, such as our top priorities, budget, meeting information, apply for permitting and other services, etc. I’ll also be determining the current culture and striving to make adjustments that may be identified that give employees more voice and opportunity to engage in planning. I also plan to host a variety of listening sessions around specific topics giving our citizens the opportunity to participate and engage in sharing their voices and opinions,” Silvius stated. “Both of these will help the council craft our priorities in the long-term comp and strategic plans. I will also formalize and publish these plans and create metrics for accountability we will report so the community can stay apprised of our progress. I will continue to complete current projects in the works and identify any simple projects that can be accomplished promptly. I will learn our union negotiation process and budgeting process for the next year, as well as evaluate our committees and determine if there are projects or committees we can help support or encourage and bring people together to work on those types of projects. I want to create an environment that is positive, inviting and makes people feel their ideas and concerns matter and are heard as well as solved.”

Silvius wished to extend her appreciation to everyone who cast their vote for her in the recent election. 

“I appreciate everyone who voted for this priority to inspire positive change, critical unity, essential infrastructure, and engagement of our citizens in our processes moving forward as we Build a Healthier CommUNITY. I appreciate you for taking a chance on my expertise, leadership style, proactive, long-term vision and ability to bring people together to serve everyone making certain you feel heard and you matter. We are here to represent you and we invite your input,” commented Silvius. 

She added she is truly humbled and honored to serve Red Oak as the city’s new mayor, and along with a strong council, she said she cannot wait to see how much more can be accomplished by engaging more people in the planning process and projects geared toward resolving issues and challenges and creating opportunity. 

“I’m anxious to feel the synergy with more people with purpose and passion coming forward on a mission all toward shared similar end goals. Ultimately, it is our responsibility to improve the quality of life and increase opportunities to grow our population by retaining and recruiting more families and nurturing a creative culture for innovation, business and entrepreneurial initiatives and seeing we improve our infrastructure to support housing, fiber delivered broadband, water and wastewater and street improvements. I take this responsibility to serve and represent our community very seriously. Building people up, rising above and loving everyone where they are, bringing growth and progress through unity.” 

She also shared the steps she’ll take to unify the community now the election is completed. 

“I’m going to establish strong relationships with our key partners - Economic Development, Chamber, Educational Institutions, Hospital/Healthcare, investors, and developers, as well as take a good look at what boards and committees we ought to be participating in. I’ve already connected with surrounding new mayors in neighboring counties and am setting plans to work regionally; and reaching out to our other county community mayors to establish a regular schedule meeting to work cooperatively. We are all supporting each other either, yet focusing in on what Red Oak’s greatest strengths and quickest wins are. A stronger more prosperous Red Oak equals a stronger more prosperous county and region! I appreciate your support and cannot wait to represent you proudly.”

 

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

Comment Here