Politics & Government

Michelle Hohmeier: Ward 2 City Councilman Candidate

Hohmeier will face William "Bill" Moritz on the April 5 election.

Biography: Michelle Hohmeier works for Panera, Inc. and helps run Hohmeier Auto Body in South St. Louis, according to Arnold-Imperial Leader newspaper.

Michelle Hohmeier provided the following information.

What is your plan to deal with expected budget constraints in the City of Arnold?

Find out what's happening in Arnoldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In these difficult times, I believe our main concern as a City Council is to be frugal with the monies given to us. As more people take cuts in pay or lose their jobs all together, the budget constraints could grow even tighter. As responsible representatives and citizens, we must take a stance of conservative spending. We must examine every line of the budget to see if and where cuts can be made. Finding creative ways to finance a possibly padded budget is not the wisest move we can make. Sound financial wisdom must rule the day.

Pet projects and city business ventures can no longer be saddled on the backs of the taxpayers.

Find out what's happening in Arnoldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I understand people miss the pool at Ferd B. Lang, but making a multi-million dollar mistake by replacing it simply because the City didn’t make the correct decision regarding the pool at the rec center is not in the best use of taxpayers’ money. Also, since the purchase of Pomme Creek, it has continually lost money. The principal payments of $105,000 have now come due, and again this will be passed on to the taxpayer. A city has no business being in business.

What areas of Arnold need to be improved to attract businesses and industry and why?

Being a constitutionalist and a proponent of the free market economic system, I do not believe it is the responsibility of any government entity to actively set out to “attract businesses and industry” to their city. When the free market system is allowed to work without restraint of the government, it is proven to work more efficiently than any government entity could ever provide.

During the Industrial Revolution, we experienced a overabundance of new inventions. Ideas, coupled with newfound technological advances made luxuries affordable for the common man. At that time, the government had not heaped on the regulations and restrictions. Businesses were able to flourish and succeed or fail as their innovations were approved or rejected by the people.

I believe if we, in the City of Arnold, lift our overburdening fees and ordinances against business, that our city will naturally flourish because corporations and businesses, large and small, will want to come to our city without the city government having to coax them in with TIF’s and other special deals.

What are your priorities in office and why?

  • Have an independent audit of the budget. Why? To find areas where we can cut back to improve efficiency.
  • I would like the water/sewer bill system analyzed. Why? Since talking to people in my ward, I have heard many complaints. There seems to be a great discrepancy in the amount of water people are using. Small families in smaller homes at times are shown to have used more water than is almost physically possible, whereas small families in larger homes don’t even use up to the minimum.
  • I will work to rid the city of the red light cameras. Why? As much as the Council tries to convince us the current process of stopping red light violators is not unconstitutional, they are simply wrong. The only way the courts, judges and lawyers can justify the so-called “constitutionality” of the red light camera tickets is by categorizing them differently. So if you run a red light and you are caught red handed by a human, you receive a ticket that is called a “moving violation”. If the camera catches you, you receive a ticket that is called a “civil violation”. Is that justice?

    If we are truly interested in making our city safer, we need to pressure state legislators to examine the possibility of lengthening yellow light times, or implement a four way red for a couple of seconds.

Click here to return to entire candidates list


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Arnold