From neighborhood walks to City Hall Larry Miller puts name on ballot for mayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Larry Miller, a familiar face known for waving and smiling on his daily walks, is running for mayor.

Miller was born and raised in St. Joseph and graduated from Central High School. He worked at Johnson Controls before retiring.

Known as the "Walking Waver," Miller said oftentimes while out on said walks, he would be asked by residents if he would run for the mayoral office.

“I told them I would. I decided about the last three years, I been wanting to run. People been asking me to, so I did,” he said.

Miller said his campaign is based on the notion that he wants more ideas to get to the mayor's office.

“That you need to go and talk to the people to see what they want and what’s not getting done. That you can do for them,” Miller said.

Miller said he is interested in people, and if he is elected mayor, he will have an open-door policy.

"Any people that want to come and see me, they can, they gotta a problem and we’ll see if we can fix it," he said. "I’m planning on every three to four months, I’m going go to everybody’s district, and I’m going have a meeting with the people and see if everything is going okay or if they need something."

Miller said he wants to focus on multiple items if elected.

"I want to work with the Chamber of Commerce. I would like to get more jobs for people. I want to work on the streets, get the streets ready for them," he said. "I want to get maybe two or more policemen on the street. I would like to start neighborhood watch again, so we can stop the crime."

Miller said his top priority is fixing the streets in the city.

“I think what they’re doing right now is putting a Band-Aid on the streets. It only lasted for a year. The people are working hard for their money and paying their taxes, he said. "I think we need to start fixing streets right. Even if we only fix two or three streets a year, at least the people would say they’re trying. I want to get their trust back."

Miller said the most pressing issue in the city is safety.

“I think the biggest problem is people not being safe. We need to tackle that first of everything," he said. "Get the people back safe again, and I want to do everything I can to get that done. It’s gonna take the people of St. Joe helping me to do it."

Miller thinks we should have an audit of St. Joseph.

“To see where every dime is going. We should start from there and build from there on up," he said.

Miller said he wants more interest taken in the city's infrastructure.

“The sidewalks, people can’t walk. They are all overgrown, and we need to clean the city up. We need it so you and I can go Downtown and walk anywhere we want to and have to not worry about anything," he said. "If I’m elected mayor, once I’m in office for three weeks, I’m going to work with the city street people for a day or two. See how they’re doing and see if there’s anything I can do to help them with their jobs."

Miller said he wants to hire more police officers and start neighborhood watch again.

"I want them to walk downtown every Friday and Saturday night. I wanna start the neighborhood watch again because the police cannot do it by themselves," he said. "There’s just no way, and if we can get the people involved with it, our crime would go down. Carjackings will stop. We need the people working with the police."

Additionally, Miller wants to make sure the fire department has the right training and equipment to do their jobs.

Miller said he wants to let the people know when the city makes decisions.

"We need when we're going to have to do something like that. We need to tell the people when we do that. Tell them why we have to do that and get their opinion on it," he said. "I don’t like closed doors. Closed doors to me are like we’re hiding something. Everybody should know what’s going on at City Hall."

Miller said he thinks all of St. Joseph is filled with nice people.

“Everybody’s not the same. All that I have met and waved at, I haven’t had one that’s mean. They are all nice. I just like people," he said.

The primary election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Miller is running against St. Joseph's mayoral incumbent, John Josendale, and candidates Jonathan McClain and Kenneth Reeder.