There are three candidates vying for the vacant Jefferson City Council Ward Two seat in the upcoming November 8th election.

Dan Benitz is one of those candidates. He’s been in Jefferson since 1971 and taught industrial technology until four years ago when he retired. He also started the student construction program and throughout the years, his students built 16 houses and $3.5 million in real estate to the City. With his housing knowledge, he says the City needs to step in and help the housing situation that he believes the City is currently facing.

“I would rather see an initiative for homeowners to fix their houses up. We have a lot of small lots, I don’t see anything wrong with going with a small house concept. Years ago, families of five and six were raised in a pretty small house. We need to make sure that housing that is rented to people, the houses are safe and are able to pay the utility bills and so on.”       

He also believes that maintaining skilled workers and updating the City’s infrastructure are other issues he would like to address if elected to the City Council. He also wants to see some short and long-range planning for the City and define the “wants” versus the “needs” to keep a balanced budget.

Benitz is running against Matt Wetrich and Kirk Hammer for the vacancy seat.