ABC 17 News This Week: Jefferson City Mayor-Elect Carrie Tergin

On Tuesday (April 7th) voters in Jefferson City, elected a familiar name and face to be the city’s next mayor. Former Council Member Carrie Tergin was elected with nearly 50-percent of the votes out a crowded field of candidates. A year ago at this time, however, she was cleaning out her desk after being voted off the city council. As our guest on “This Week,” we ask the Mayor-elect if she thought losing her council seat was the end of her political life.

Here is the transcript of our visit:

Carrie Tergin: You know, I really enjoyed serving as a councilwoman for six years, so I knew there was more that I wanted to do. I certainly wasn’t finished at that time. My heart maybe wasn’t in it because I felt that maybe things could be done different and better and I just truly wanted to be the leader. I felt that this was my role, and after that time last April I had people coming up to me almost immediately saying, “Okay great, now you can run for mayor.” And it’s just been support from that time forward and it’s just been wonderful.

Joey: And you did exactly what the constituents said you should do: You ran for Mayor. And how about those results? More than forty percent of the voters.

Carrie Tergin: Yes, I am so, just, humbled by the support of the voters. It’s been wonderful, it’s been amazing to see that kind of support. It really shows that Jefferson City clearly wants to move forward with a leader like me, a very positive, action-oriented Mayor.

Joey: In an article I read from about a year ago, Bob Scrivner, who was also one of your opponents in this race, said you forced him to really think about the positions he took. He also said he looked forward to a continued friendship after defeating you in the race. Do you think that’ll change?

Carrie Tergin: Absolutely, I intend to work very closely with all the council including Bob, and I absolutely know that will not change.

Joey: All right.

Carrie Tergin: Mmhmm.

Joey: What are some of the first things you’re gonna do after you’re sworn in as Mayor?

Carrie Tergin: I am really excited to get to work. I’ll be sworn in on April 20th, and one of the first things I wanna do is form a vision for our community along with the Council and some key leaders. I think we need to form a good, strong vision, we need to know where we’ve been and where we want to go, and I intend to make it very visible. I want the people to feel like they have an open, accessible voice when it comes to me as Mayor and with our Council. One of the, my favorite things is working directly with the people and so I want to make the mayor’s office the people’s office. I have an office at City Hall and I truly want people to know that that is their office. I want to take ideas in, I want that office to be a place where people will see what’s happening in city government with our vision, with our vision boards, with pictures of where are we at, where are we going, what are our brain-storming and ideas. So I would welcome people to know that at any time they can see where we are and what we’re working on.

Joey: In your estimation, is there one single issue that you think is Jefferson City’s biggest challenge?

Carrie Tergin: What I learned as I was visiting with the constituents and working on the campaign is people were concerned that maybe Jefferson City was stagnant in growth and we weren’t moving forward, and that was what I heard over and over. And so this vote shows that people are ready to move forward in a thoughtful manner, and they want to see good things happen. We’re a capital city, we have a lot to offer, we have a lot of potential, we have great, wonderful potential, and so this vote really shows that people want to move forward and I’m the leader to do that, and that’s what I kept hearing mostly.

Joey: And speaking of growth, a lot of people want riverfront development. Do you support that?

Carrie Tergin: Sure, I think there’s some options we can look at. We have the retired Missouri State Penitentiary site, which is a great view of the river and the Capitol, and there’s a lot of potential there if we work closely with the state and other partners that maybe we can make things happen. And that’s what I’m about is working with and building those partnerships so we can make these things happen together.

Joey: Well, ABC 17 News will be seeing you at the swearing in.

Carrie Tergin: Wonderful, I look forward to that.

Joey: Congratulations.

Carrie Tergin: Thank you so much.

Joey: Good luck to you.

Carrie Tergin: Thank you.