You paid for it: Alton mayor talks about trip since taking office

ALTON, Illinois — Alton’s former pastor-turned-mayor spoke about his journey since taking office.

David Goins resigned as pastor of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church to apply for the best job in town, which he won in 2021.

After nearly two years as Alton’s first African-American mayor, he said he’s making progress but hasn’t accomplished everything he set out to do.

“If there’s an error, it’s only because we weren’t able to address all the streets that we want to address,” Goins said. “If you’re trying to count that as a failure, there’s still a lot of run-down houses.”

He said Alton is dealing with a budget deficit of $1.6 million. However, Goins said it was $3.8 million when he took office.

When the city received $21.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, it gave the city a big boost, Goins said.

Alton spent $7 million of ARPA funding to upgrade the city’s HVAC systems. The city bought a fire truck, two ambulances and just over a million dollars to upgrade the field in the city park.

Goins said he has many economic development projects ahead of him.

When asked if he misses being a pastor, Goins said, “I’m glad I took this job. I see many similarities in this job and compare it to my role as a pastor. Similarities are that the city is like a church; it’s a bigger community.”

https://fox2now.com/news/you-paid-for-it/you-paid-for-it-alton-mayor-speaks-out-about-journey-since-taking-office/ You paid for it: Alton mayor talks about trip since taking office