ROSWELL — Rob McWilliams wants the city of Roswell to provide more activities for young people and more technology for fighting crime while trimming the fat on the city budget.
He also wants to promote economic development in the city, especially on the south side of town.
McWilliams is running for the Ward IV seat on the Roswell City Council vacated by Art Sandoval when he moved out of the ward.
McWilliams said the city has a lot to offer and he would bring a new perspective to the City Council.
“I can maybe shed some light on things that we need in Roswell to help everybody, all the citizens, not just the rich, not just the poor, but everybody,” he added.
He said he particularly wants to help the town’s young people, “because there’s very little for them to do here.”
Roswell should have more activities for young people, McWilliams said.
“We don’t have any amusement parks, we don’t have a water park,” he said. “We don’t really have things for the young people to do to keep them occupied.”
He noted Farmington has a water park. He said he looked at the park on the city’s Website.
“It’s a great, wonderful water park that would be a great family entertainment,” he said.
But the city should not just seek tax increases to fund such projects, he said. The city should get creative in finding funding for things like a water park, “push for grants or whatever else is out there to get the money for these kind of things,” he added.
He said he would contact the city of Farmington and ask officials there about the water park, how they managed to get it set up and how it was received by the public.
Roswell voters have failed to approve general obligation bonds to fund a water park in the past.
McWilliams said city taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund a water park or anything else without voter approval.
“I really think taxpayers should vote on most issues in the city,” he said. “We work for the citizens of Roswell. The citizens of Roswell do not work for the City Council, they do not work for the city of Roswell. The city government is there to provide services for its citizens — police, fire, water, sanitation, parks and recreation. Those are things the city is providing citizens to give them a better quality of life.”
Instead of seeking to raise taxes, city officials should look at trimming the fat in the budget, being frugal and accounting for every penny spent before considering raising taxes for any project, he added.
McWilliams, who is a Roswell police officer, also said funds should be spent on new technology for the Roswell Police Department rather than increasing pay for officers.
“The Police Department needs new technology to equip its officers to combat crime,” he said. “Some of the technology, yes, is expensive, but if we want a better-protected city, that’s what it’s going to take.
You just can’t hire enough police officers for every street corner to combat crime. That’s not economically viable.”
Although new technology may cost money in the short term, in the long run, the reduction in crime would be worth the expense.
Among new technology he would like to see the Police Department receive is night-vision equipment to help officers see on the city’s dark streets and alleys. He also suggested high-resolution cameras for busy intersections in town — not red-light cameras, which he opposes, but cameras to catch criminal activity.
“That might help cut down on some of the violence and burglaries and things of that nature that happen on a regular basis,” he said.
McWilliams said officers should get paid as much as professional football players, but officers should serve not just for the pay. Their main motivation should be the greater good, to make the city a safe place for citizens and their families, because they want to help and protect people.
“Yes, we would like to make a little more so we could do more things for our families, but in the end, for most police officers, it’s for the greater good,” he said.
He noted that as a police officer himself he would not vote on any issues affecting police pay, since that would be a conflict of interest.
McWilliams also wants to promote the city’s economic development. He believes Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell should go after a big-name flight school that would use the city airport.
“We have all this great airspace around Roswell,” he noted. “We have huge runways and a unlimited number of flying days, basically. I think that if we were to go after something like that and partner with somebody who would bring in instructors and airplanes, they would have people coming in from other states to fly.”
McWilliams, a pilot himself, said he noted when he went to flight school that there seemed to be a lot of revenue generated from the flight training because many people wanted to learn to fly.
McWilliams particularly would like to see more economic development on the south side of Roswell.
“I would try to get businesses to move back south and build south of McGaffey (Street) toward the base,” he said. “There’s lot of great property down there that’s not being utilized, and a lot of the population live on that side of town.”
In addition to being a city police officer, McWilliams serves in the National Guard and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He also served in the Gulf War.
He said he looks forward to serving the community.
“I already serve it in one capacity,” he said. “That’s been my thing since I joined the military in 1988, is civil service. I like it. I get enjoyment out of it.”
McWilliams is married to Nicole and they have four children. The McWilliams attend St. Stephen’s Anglican Church.