MORAN — The way Lee Roberts sees it, he attends enough Moran City Council meetings on his own. He might as well do it as a voting member.
Roberts is one of five candidates seeking two Council seats to be decided in Tuesday’s general election. Others on the ballot are Rachel Blevins, Darcy Burton, incumbent Jim Mueller and Joe Stotler.
“Some people asked me if I wanted to run. I knew there were a couple of seats open, and I’d figured I’d give it a shot,” said Roberts, who has not run for elected office before now.
Roberts is “pretty much” retired after working for years as an emergency medical technician-intermediate with the Allen County EMS and then as a 911 dispatcher.
He still works in a support capacity with the Moran Volunteer Fire Department, providing water to firefighters on call and handling the department’s paperwork.
“Moran is a friendly town with a lot going for it. It just needs a little bit of a nudge,” Roberts said.
He’s eager to see the city’s infrastructure improvements continue.
“The Council has started updating the city’s water service, and that’s going to help,” Roberts believes.
He is a full-fledged supporter of building a substation within Moran’s city limits to provide local generation in case of regional power outages.
“It will be a big benefit to the school, to Moran Manor and the meat locker,” Roberts said.
“That’s still two or three years down the road, but it’ll be a big benefit for the city, and it should be a selling point to get some businesses in here,” he concluded.
Roberts notes housing shortages still need to be addressed, but he also understands the economic hurdles facing small towns when it comes to developers.
“I’ll try to be as helpful as I can,” he promised. “I can be available to answer any questions, or if I can’t, I’ll find somebody who can.”
