Vote Heather Branstetter for Wallace Mayor

I urge all Wallace residents to vote Heather Branstetter for Wallace mayor. Branstetter has run a campaign on results, not rhetoric, and the results speak for themselves.

In June 2018, the Wallace City Pool failed to hold water and could not open after an impressive 79 years of uninterrupted operation. Wallace City Council and mayor knew something needed to be done to get the pool back to operation. However, by early 2019, at least 11 months later, there was still no significant action toward a solution.

On April 23, 2019, Councilwoman Branstetter organized the first and only community meeting to discuss the future of the Wallace City Pool.

Branstetter's public meeting led to a revitalization of the Wallace City Council and mayor's attention to the project, as well as a community committee to raise money for pool repairs and summer swim programs. Long-lasting action toward reopening the pool stems directly from Branstetter’s commitment to this project. I would not currently be an active fundraiser for the pool without Councilwoman Branstetter asking me to be involved in 2019.

By the fall of 2020, the city was applying for a $225,000 grant to which eligibility was based on residents’ income. Wallace was on the threshold of qualifying, but the city hadn’t received back enough income surveys to be considered. Upon learning this, Heather spent a week knocking on neighbors’ doors with the surveys in hand. She doesn’t do this work because it was a televised event where people were standing around taking credit. She does this work because it needs to get done so we can get our pool back open and operational.

The city of Wallace secured the grant for $225,000 in November 2020 which turned out to be the keystone to starting reconstruction on the pool summer 2021.

The current Wallace Pool update: in July 2021, the pool reconstruction began. Unfortunately, as with most revitalization projects of older structures, additional work has been identified. These additional issues are being addressed and the city plans to have the pool operational by June 2022.

Vote Heather Branstetter for Wallace mayor on Tuesday, Nov. 2. She is committed to leading us forward.

JOCELYN BACHMAN

Wallace