Independence mayoral challenger looks to give residents choices

David Galewski isn’t running for city government in Tuesday’s election because he thinks the incumbents have done a poor job, he’s just looking to add some competition to the mix.

Galewski, who served a couple of terms on the city council previously, filed to run for mayor against Robert Baecker and city council against Cleo Skroch. In an interview with the Times last week he said he considers both to be friends, “may the best friend win.”

Galewski said he contacted Baecker before filing to run for mayor and Baecker wasn’t certain he was going to run again. He said people have encouraged him to run, so he did. 

“I said, well, I’ll run and give people an option,” Galewski said. “I hate to call them opponents because we’re all working for the betterment of the city. If people decide they want to stay with them, that’s fine by me.” 

Perhaps the biggest difference between Galewski and Baecker is how they view the appearance of the city.

Baecker said the city “looks pretty good,” whereas Galewski mentioned cleaning messy properties as among the biggest goals he would look to address if he were elected.

“Sometimes people don’t take care of their properties like they should and that begins to cause an eyesore in the city and neighbors being upset with neighbors,” Galewski said. “If the city can intervene somehow and direct people to take more pride in their property, that would be big.”

Galewski said he considers Independence to be “more of a retirement community” and that he hopes it stays that way. He is now retired, but worked in the city as the police chief when he moved to Independence in 1978. 

“We need a good police department to answer and guard the city,” Galewski said. 

Baecker said some significant issues include digging out a holding pond and putting a park in green space that is located downtown. Both candidates agreed that trying to attract more industries would be beneficial. 

Another issue he noted was attempting to attract more people to reside in the city, specifically getting more homes build in the city’s newest residential development, the Markham addition. 

Baecker has been a city resident for 69 years the mayor for 21 of those. He said he likes the path the city is going and wants it to continue. 

“They are a very good council, they’re always looking to make the city better and continue in that mode in all aspects,” Baecker said. 

He complimented the work being done in committees and said the city librarian is doing “an outstanding job.” Among the goals he has is trying to decrease the taxes. 

Baecker said he is seeking another term because he enjoys being the mayor.

“I think it is a challenge to get everyone to work together in the city and keep it on a good path,” Baecker said.