Courtesy Johnna Barnes
Robert Barnes
Twelve Oaks resident Robert Barnes is running for Chelsea City Council Place 1 this August.
Barnes has lived in Chelsea for over 25 years and previously served on city council from 2008-12. He said he chose to run again for council because the city will see a large change in its administration and he believes he could bring experience to a relatively new council.
“When I ran and served on the council before, I really enjoyed it,” he said. “As far as running this time, I started thinking more about it when some people who have been in the community for a while asked me if I would run again due to the fact that there’s going to be a new mayor and possibly five new council members.”
Because of his experience on the council, Barnes said he would be able to jump back into the administrative process with an understanding of how things work.
“Having been through the process for four years, I would have an immediate understanding of how things function and the process you have to go through to get things done,” he said. “Where somebody coming in new, I remember the first few months as a councilman, you just kind of sit there and try to take things in.”
Barnes said he does not have specific goals set for the city, but he recognizes there are definite needs Chelsea has because it is growing.
As a conservative, however, one concern is the amount of money the City of Chelsea has spent, Barnes said. If elected, he would like to assess the city’s finances.
“My fear is that a lot of money has been spent, there’s a lot of debt for the city,” Barnes said. “When you see what happened in Fairfield when Walmart pulled out, they’re barely surviving over there, … and the city of Chelsea depends an awful lot on the Walmart that’s in city limits.”
While Chelsea is growing and he supports the construction of new parks for the city and its residents, Barnes said it is important those new projects are built in a conservative way.
Another issue Barnes said needs to be addressed is some of the city’s roads, especially those that were left abandoned by developers.
“One thing that’s been an ongoing issue is just roads,” Barnes said. “Some of the roads in subdivisions are in need of repair — the money just wasn’t there when the market collapsed.”
Barnes said he hopes to improve some of those roads in addition to maintaining the roads and properties the city already owns.
For more information, visit Elect Robert Barnes for Chelsea City Council Place 1 on Facebook.
Cody Sumners is also running for Chelsea City Council Place 1.
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.
If you are running for city council or mayor in Chelsea, you can reach our community reporter Erica Techo at erica@starnespublishing.com.
