“I believe Auburn is in a prime position to have a bright future,” Mayor Ron Anders said. And with an upcoming election, he believes that his vision for Auburn will make the most of Auburn’s potential.
Anders has held his position as mayor since October 2018. Auburn's municipal election will be held on Aug. 23, 2022.
On Thursday, March 3, Ron Anders officially made his announcement that he will be seeking re-election. Anders has a few main goals that he wants to continue working on as mayor: to make Auburn safe, educated, prosperous and healthy.
“When you understand what Auburn has gotten done over the last four years, there is a testimony of progress and hope that Auburn’s future is set to be fantastic,” Anders said.
Anders views Auburn’s safety as a standout feature during his term, and he plans on continuing his support of all those involved in protecting the community. A large part of this support includes allocating the proper resources to these entities so that they are always prepared.
“I want to continue to make Auburn the safest community it can possibly be,” Anders said. “My number one priority will always be the safety and security of this community.”
Along with prioritizing a safer Auburn, the mayor also believes that the education of Auburn’s youth is key to its future. Directing more attention to the public education system is vital to Anders’ campaign.
“Making sure that our kids have access to education and providing for our public education system is very important to me,” Anders said. “A strong public education system is an asset to everyone, whether you have children in the system or not.”
Anders said that a strong education system was vital in preparing Auburn’s youth for life and to help them grow.
Another issue that Anders claimed was challenging Auburn was maintaining its infrastructure. City planning was key to his mission as Auburn is seeing rapid growth.
“At the rate that we’re growing, we’ve got to methodically plan for upgrades and improvements in our infrastructure,” Anders said. “We cannot get behind on this.”
Among the infrastructural struggles that Anders believes Auburn faces are a lack of recreational facilities and traffic management.
“The growth of Auburn has been created largely by families, and a lot of the children in these families are involved in youth sports and other recreational activities,” Anders said. “We need to provide better spaces for our children, and, really, all of our community.”
Regarding traffic, Anders considers it to be one of Auburn’s biggest issues. He said that getting around Auburn has become difficult, especially in the morning and evening. With the growth of Auburn, he believes that we now have our own version of rush hour.
“This is why it is incumbent upon us as leaders to make sure that we’re planning well for improving intersections where there is the most growth, and we have to stay ahead,” Anders said.
Anders also put a focus on creating a business-friendly environment for Auburn. He hopes that people can find quality jobs in Auburn and build a stable life here.
Along with Auburn’s safety, education and infrastructure, Anders believes that by making Auburn a healthier community is also key to its future.
“I think what makes Auburn a great community is having quality healthcare,” Anders said. “I’m excited about East Alabama Health’s first-ever facility here in Auburn, and I believe that it will only grow and improve from there.”
Attracting more doctors and healthcare professionals to Auburn is a big deal to Anders. He said that it would not only make Auburn abundant in healthcare facilities, but it would allow people to choose a professional that caters best to them.
As far as challenges for re-election go, Anders was confident in that if some were to arise, that he and his team would be ready to take them on.
“We’re ready and working, and if challenges do come up, we’ll be ready for them,” Anders said.
In Anders’ view, Auburn has plenty of great attributes. His campaign seeks to play on these attributes and make Auburn continuously better.
“The challenges of keeping our community healthy, of keeping our businesses open, of keeping our children educated and working through the pandemic has been enormous,” Anders said. “But we are coming through that because of the collective ambition of our community.”
Anders had one message that he believed voters needed to hear before this election.
“Auburn has endured a very difficult period, and we are ready to move forward into a great future.”
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Tucker Massey, junior in journalism, is the content editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
