O'Fallon candidate forum spotlights growth, roads and senior transportation ahead of April 7 vote

The O'Fallon Mayor's Youth Advisory Council and the Senior Advisory Committee hosted a City Council candidates forum on March 17, 2026, where candidates across five wards laid out priorities on growth, infrastructure and services ahead of the April 7 election.

At the forum, Arnie A.C. Dinoff, a Ward 1 candidate, criticized local economic incentives and said the city must demand a taxpayer return on development deals. "There's an abuse of tax abatements, tax credits. Deals are made in closed session in the city council in violation of chapter 5 10 or Open Meetings Act," Dinoff said, arguing for audits and tighter fiscal controls.

Angelica Herrell, also running in Ward 1, urged what she called "smart growth," saying O'Fallon should avoid filling "every available space with concrete" and make land-use decisions that preserve green space and reduce traffic and school overcrowding. "We need to be smarter about this," Herrell said, pressing for better coordination between the city and school districts so new housing is planned with school capacity in mind.

Debate over infrastructure funding and pavement repair featured across wards. Incumbent Nathan Bibb, seeking reelection in Ward 3, described the city's road budget increases and ran through a data example: "O'Fallon has around 700 lane miles of pavement... If our budget... is $5,000,000, it's only $8,300 per lane mile that's currently budgeted," he said, using those figures to argue for data-driven fiscal analysis of development impacts.

Jeff Keoughan, Ward 4 incumbent, highlighted a return to longer-lasting repairs and said the city has increased road funding. He promoted partial depth repair (PDR) as a longer-term fix: "A PDR patch will last up to 10 years," Keoughan said, contrasting it with short-term pothole patches.

Senior transportation and outreach was a recurring theme. Dinoff proposed joining a county consolidated plan to free up staffing dollars for senior transportation, saying such a move could free "about $200,000" to help fund services. Herrell and other candidates emphasized better public education about existing programs such as Medicare- and Medicaid-provided transportation and more targeted outreach to seniors.

Housing approaches drew agreement on diversification. Candidates across wards said they would support a mix of housing types, including smaller homes or "tiny homes" in appropriate locations, to provide options for seniors, first responders and teachers while balancing infrastructure capacity.

Incumbents and challengers also described differing emphases on recruiting business and using incentives. Dinoff and some candidates warned against broad abatements that provide limited local employment. Other candidates, including Keoughan, argued bringing businesses to O'Fallon expands the city tax base and supports services without raising property taxes.

Organizers kept the forum tightly timed: opening and closing statements were three minutes each with two-minute responses during Q&A. The event concluded with a reminder from Emily Wen of the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council that early voting runs March 24–April 6 and Election Day is April 7.

What happens next: candidates continue to campaign ahead of the April 7 election; the forum underscored likely council priorities after the vote: negotiating development deals, funding roads, and addressing senior transportation and communication.