ALTON - Self-described community activist Joshua Young is the fourth man announcing his candidacy for the position of Mayor of Alton ahead of April elections.
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Young said he is running a campaign based on the Progressive Era of the 1870s-1920s. He said that movement has more potential now than ever based on science and technology. Some of Young's progressive ideals include more STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) based projects for the city involving projects as varied as renewable energy, robotics and urban farming.
"The sky is the limit if we take a collective pool of our intellectual resources," Young said. "I like to switch it up. I like to give an opportunity for all of our residents to assist me in building a progressive city. Let's give it back to the people."
Among his proposed progressive projects, Young said he would like to install solar-powered streetlights in Alton, which he said would alleviate costs in the future. He also said he would like to work on sustainable agriculture projects, such as sustainable urban farming. Through projects like those, he said people of all ages, colors and backgrounds could benefit from what he described as a "hidden gem" of Alton.
"Urban community farming could give us more homegrown products - Alton-stamped," he said. "It's time we take advantage of the people we have here with a broad range of talents, education and expertise."
Young has plans for police reform as well. He said he wants to create a community panel to do oversight on the police department while protecting citizens and hearing their complaints against the department. He currently believes Alton's Community Relations Commission does not have enough power to provide this function. He also described the Alton Police Department's Internal Affairs division as "lacking."
Commissions will be a large part of Young's administration if he is elected. He said he would like people from all different walks of life to be part of his commissions. He also said he wants more non-Altonians to serve on commissions, so various perspectives are heard and observed. He said, however, he does not want to continue what he describes as the "limiting" functions of current commissions in Alton.
"I want infrastructure and policy reform," he said. "I want to get rid of the limiting policies. Our historic commission has limiting policies the State of Illinois doesn't. As a municipality, we limit the creative freedom and expressions of our homeowners."
Other problems within Alton Young cites are issues of prioritization and modernization.
"If we take a progressive approach of more projects and scientific modernization, it would give the city a big savings over their current costs."
He said several things are currently going in the right direction in Alton, however. He said he would like to continue the work of Alton Main Street in reviving some of Alton's formerly-abandoned business districts. Like Main Street, Young said he would like to see more local businesses thrive in place of out-of-town corporate interests.
"I would like to continue the trend Alton Main Street has set forth," he said. "I would love to continue building economically. There are a lot of pluses in Alton as far as economics is concerned. We are focusing on one direction and one demographic, however. I would like to open the playing field to everyone."
Part of Young's "open playing field" mentality will include more integration in Alton. He said he would like to break Alton's invisible and unspoken color barrier with improved education across all lines. He said defeating a current perceived lack of cultural knowledge will give the chance for Alton's African-American population to experience a sort of "cultural renaissance." Young said this would further encourage more cooperative cultural events, which will lead to a sort of renaissance from everyone sharing each other's cultures.
Previous to his candidacy for mayor, Young said he worked as a community advocate. He said he was partially responsible for lowering the crime rate in Belle Manor, using what he referred to as "social advocacy by scientific methods." He is currently in the beginning stages of a non-profit group tentatively being called the Valkyrie Association.
To lower the crime rate at Belle Manor, Young said he went on-site in 2012. He said he used police reports to target specific addresses causing problems. He said simply speaking to those people provided results.
"We realized to reduce crime, we have to reduce the variables that cause them," Young said. "Through a process of being available to the people with great rapport and a trust factor, trust was formed between people. Once trust is formed, the social anxiety dissipates immediately."
Young said the problems from Belle Manor existed due to poor infrastructure and financial situations. He said shared problems like those could precipitate into neighborhood scuffles and fights, which led to the police reports.
Further information on Joshua Young may be found by contacting him on Facebook, under the name "Joshua Young." Young said he would be "futuristically transparent" if elected mayor.
"I plan to be futuristically transparent," he said. "I really want people to bring their full experiences of social and political science with me into that office. I want them to bring their cameras and be a part of the city's affairs. If people can't make it, I want them to be able to stream it in their living rooms. I want people to be aware of every process influencing their lives as an Altonian. I want to work across the board to strengthen weaker areas, because strengthening weaker areas will increase our city as a whole."
Young is running against business owner and self-described "urban planning geek" Scott Dixon, Alton Police officer Lt. Dan Rauschkolb and current Alton Mayor Brant Walker in the upcoming April 2017 elections.
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