ST. JOSEPH (WJON News) -- Two current city council members and one former member are running to be the next mayor of St. Joseph.

Bob Loso has been on the council since 1986. He says he's running for mayor because he wants his fellow council members to have more of a voice.

Make the mayor's role what it is supposed to be.  It's kind of been the mayor, his opinion, and that's it not much of a council opinion.  Hopefully, I can bring that out in the council with my decorum on how to run meetings and how to incite conversation.

Loso says a top issue for him is to get a final decision on a community center. He says they need to get a definitive answer on whether it is going to move forward by the spring of 2025.

Loso says he's excited about the growth of the downtown over the past several years, but he says he's also skeptical of how long it can last.

St. Joseph has been working toward becoming the first city in the state to open a municipal dispensary, but Loso says he hasn't been in the loop on a lot of those discussions and he still has a lot of questions.

My question is where is it going to go?  Who's going to run it? What are the numbers? Is there a profit in it? As far as the edibles, the pot and all the other good things that come along with it, I don't know it's a question.

Loso says opening a municipal dispensary should be voted on by the residents and not just the city council.

Loso says he's also an advocate for affordable housing and the city needs to reel in some developers with relief of SAC & WAC fees and subsidies from state programs.

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The other two candidates running for mayor are Adam Scepaniak and John Hazen. Current mayor Rick Schultz is not seeking re-election.

If you'd like to listen to the conversation with Bob, it is available below.

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