Bouska: Trust Me, I Sleep Well

Allen "Snooks" Bouska takes Tuesday's mayoral election win as a mandate from voters: Stop the Seventh Avenue Project.

But he has one problem.

Bouska said in a recent with Marion Patch that in order to alter the reconstruction plans, he would need two or three like-minded city counselors to be elected. He got none.

He said that without the support of Marion City Council members on the Seventh Avenue project, he has altered his strategy.

"You can't be as forceful in your goals," he said. "But we can still incorporate the mandate from the citizens."

As for how he would implement the mandate without support, he was vague.

"We will monitor it closely," he said. "It won't happen overnight. It is a long steady process."

Jean Bell, owner of and a Bouska supporter, said Bouska's leadership skills will help him gain the support of the city council.

"I feel that it is going in the right direction," he said. "I think we need more accountability for city hall to speak to the people. I don't think they were listening. That will change."

Bouska said his main goal for his term as mayor is to bring a level of transparency and resident involvement that he believes is not present in the current city government.

"There are numerous petitions submitted to city council," he said. "The council does not believe in citizen-based-government."

Nick Glew, a current Marion City Council member who lost in the mayoral race Tuesday, said Bouska's campaign has been divisive and has spread misinformation on the Seventh Avenue Project.

"Being the mayor and leading the community is about more than one project. I hope he invests the time required to be the mayor, he said. "There are a lot of people who he is going to have to work with now, that he has been attacking."  

Bouska said he disagrees with Glew's assertion that his campaign was negative, and said he never "threw mud."

And, as for the city council members and city employees offended by his allegations, such as that the Seventh Avenue Project is a designed to kill businesses on the main street to bring in new developers, Bouska said he doesn't think they will pose a problem.

"They will keep to themselves," he said.

As for himself, he said he plans to be respectful and professional to those he disagrees with. According to Bouska, neither the city government nor the people of Marion have to worry about that.

"When an individual sleeps well at night that is a sign of an honest, truthful person," he said. "And I have been sleeping well."