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New Fairfax Mayor Butch Sauls is pictured during an interview with The People-Sentinel to discuss his vision for the town.
In November 2023, former Fairfax Town Council member Butch Sauls won the Fairfax mayoral election on a platform of increased transparency between local government and the town’s residents, bringing a grocery store into the town, and repairing municipal infrastructure.
In the nearly two months since Sauls took office, the town council has met five times and has prioritized forming a budget for the town.
On December 29th, Allendale County reporter Elijah de Castro spoke with Sauls about ongoing efforts to get the town a grocery store, the ongoing budget process and the town’s need for infrastructure upgrades.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. A video version of this interview is available here.
Elijah de Castro: The first thing I wanted to ask you about is something we've reported on before at The People-Sentinel, which is the nutrition crisis in Allendale County and the fact that there is only one grocery store for the whole county. When you were running for mayor, you spoke about this issue. Now that you’re mayor, how are you addressing it?
Butch Sauls: I've been reaching out by texts and emails to various food chains, as well as trying to put it out on the website to see if we can get some interest here in Fairfax. We had one gentleman who came by who was interested in opening a store here, but one of the problems is we don't have buildings available that are price wise or cost effective. It's really expensive to purchase them and then open a grocery store here. I'm trying to reach out to some grocery store chains. I've gotten one response but hadn't had the conversation phone wise, I do have a phone number. I am working on it, but it's been a challenge. I can't expect it to come to me, I've got to go to it.
de Castro: Obviously getting a grocery store here takes a long time, so what can be done in the meantime, what can be done for those who don’t have access to food when they need it?
Sauls: What [council member] Phyllis Smart has done is bring food to help with that distribution for seniors and [people who are] on fixed incomes have something. That helps in that respect, but it’s not like having something stationary here 24/7 that everyday citizens can go to. I’m working on it, trying to get other people involved [and] I’m here every day to see through to that. It is one of the top priorities right now is to get a grocery store.
de Castro: In more recent council meetings, one of the biggest issues you’ve talked about being your first priority is getting the town a budget again. It’s been operating without a budget for a while. Can you talk about that?
Sauls: We’re in the process of having an audit done. When we get that accomplished, we can get to a budget. We just had a request this week for more information to do that. We’re hopefully gonna have that done soon. A budget is vital to any operation. You have to operate on a budget, you cannot operate on just a whim. The focus needs to be on priorities, and the priorities for this town are getting the town’s infrastructure where it needs to be and to have the equipment for our guys to work. A budget is extremely important for that, and we’re working to do that. It’s not going as fast as I would like for it to, but it’s moving and hopefully here soon we’ll have that [audit] finished.
de Castro: The American Rescue Plan money that the town got was used for the Fairfax Community Center. Whether or not that was the best use for it, the money has now been spent. You’ve mentioned that it should have been spent on the town’s infrastructure and almost anyone would agree that the town’s infrastructure needs an upgrade. How are the funds going to be made available for infrastructure upgrades?
Sauls: For me personally, it could have been spent better to serve the needs of the citizens of the town. The infrastructure is going to be vital because you have a new plant coming. I’ve talked in the last week or so with some engineering firms about refurbishing or redoing all of our pumping stations and things of that nature. I’m in conversation, I’m reaching out as much as I can and as often as I can to try to get people involved to get them in here to help the Town of Fairfax.
de Castro: Do you think that the town council is moving fast enough to meet the level of urgency for issues like the lack of a grocery store and the town’s infrastructure?
Sauls: There is urgency there, but one thing I really like now is that our council is all working together. We’re unified in the mindset that we want what’s best for the Town of Fairfax. That’s what’s encouraging to me is that we’re not working against each other. There is urgency, but sometimes you can’t move so fast that you can’t miss the opportunities that are there for you. It’s a council form of government, but I can do what I can do as mayor to reach out to people to get help here.
