Sedalia Mayoral Candidates Speak at SBW Forum

Sedalia Mayor Andrew Dawson and his challenger Traves Williams verbally duked it out at a public forum hosted by the Legislative Committee of Sedalia Business Women (SBW) held at the Municipal Building, 2nd and Osage, Monday night.

The Council Chambers were packed with citizens interested in hearing what the incumbent and his challenger had to say about their own style of running the City of Sedalia. Voters will decide their fate April 7.

In his opening statement, Dawson noted that he first served as a Second Ward Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem before moving up to Mayor after being elected in April of 2022. He is now up for reelection.

“Those experiences have given me an opportunity to see firsthand how local government works and how important it is to get things right,” he said, adding that he and his wife Rachel care deeply about the community while raising their five children.

“Over the past several years, Sedalia has made real progress. We worked to create a climate where businesses feel comfortable investing here, and we’ve seen new businesses open their doors and create jobs. We’ve also seen new housing being built across the community as more families choose to make Sedalia their home. At the same time, we’ve continued to invest in basic things, to keep our city running, such as infrastructure and the services that people rely on every day,” Dawson said in his opening statement.

“One thing I’ve learned from serving as mayor, is that the success of a city is never about one person. It happens because city employees show up every day, do the work. It happens because businesses choose to invest here. And it happens because citizens care enough about Sedalia to stay involved in their community. My job as mayor has simply been to keep that work moving forward,” Dawson said. “And, it’s a responsibility that I take seriously.”

In his opening statement, Williams said he is running for mayor
“because it’s time for transparency in city government.” He added that “the opportunity to talk about our grievances was taken from us by our current administration.”

Williams said he’s been a part of Sedalia for 33 years. “I love this city,” he said. The City of Sedalia is not ran by government. It is ran by people and its citizens. And I know this first hand.”

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Through a volunteer organizations that helped form in 2022, Sedalia Community Helping Hands (SCHH), a total of 66 people to date have been prevented from losing their home due to demolition through “aggressive code enforcement” in a “corrupt administration.”

He also criticized Mayor Dawson for his work on getting the Washington Avenue Bridge repaired and back into operation.

“He’s had four years to come up with a vision for that bridge,” Williams said of Dawson. “We need change.”

When asked what his top three priorities would be as mayor, Willliams replied “Citizens should have input on how they want to be governed, affordable housing and restoring downtown.

Dawson replied fix the streets, bring back recycling and more traffic enforcement to ensure citizen safety.

Williams announced his candidacy for mayor in early October. Dawson announced in early December.

Dawson has been endorsed by Sedalia Professional Firefighters Local 103.

Williams said he has been an employee of the City of Sedalia for over 20 years.

The entire mayoral forum can be seen online at the SBW’s facebook page.

A similar forum will be hosted by the SBW on Thursday for City Council candidates, also starting at 5:30 in the Council Chambers. This one will last 90 minutes. Monday’s event was SRO, so get there early for a decent seat.

No excuse voting in Pettis County begins March 24.