On Tuesday April 17th Margie Mejia-Caraballo will be seeking re-election as 5th Ward Alderman for the city of Rock Island. Margie has been in her position since August of 2006 when she was chosen from a pool of candidates and appointed alderman by the mayor. Over the past 7 months Margie has addressed all the concerns brought to her attention by the citizens she serves. The complaints range from noisy
neighbors and parking tickets to street improvements and traffic lights. In her next 4 years Margie hopes to continue serving the city and bringing more family orientated activities to the area.
Margie worked for 18 years as a social worker and knows the importance of families participating in positive activities together.
“Safe, fun, and affordable family entertainment is what needs to be added to The District,” said Margie. “Too often there are great events but it is hard for a family to pay $8 dollars a person to attend. I want Rock Island to continue being a great city for families.”
With the current riverboat moving from its current location, new ideas and possibilities for the Rock Island riverfront are being sought out. Some ideas for the area include a possible amphitheater, new businesses in the district, and throughout Rock Island.
“I want to be sure that the city council is fiscally responsible with our taxpayer’s money,” Margie says.
When asked about the negative press that Rock Island gets, Margie was very quick to respond in saying, “There is some negative press about Rock Island, but a lot of the good is never reported. Our police department solves most crimes brought to their attention very quickly. Rock Island also has a solid number of merit scholars, and a variety of activities that bring the whole Quad Cities together. We also have great housing options for all age groups.”
Margie hopes that the citizens of Rock Island will do their part as well in making their city better.
“We all have the opportunity to get involved and improve our situations and our communities. It’s so easy to sit back and let things be done for us, but that is not enough, we need to get involved. We are in America, and we have opportunities to change things. So many people use race and gender as an excuse for not achieving more, but this is not the correct mentality. As we walked across the bridge during the immigration marches last year, we chanted today we march tomorrow we vote, well tomorrow is here and we need to keep our promise and vote. We have a lot of Latinos running for office and we need to get out there to vote and support each other.”
Margie Mejia-Caraballo
Born: Rio Bravo, Monterrey, Mexico
Education: Rock Island High School
Hesston College
Easter Mennonite University
Career: 18 years of social work
Social Security Administration/US Government
Volunteer: Red Cross, Festival of Tree’s, President of the Church Council Spanish Mennonite Church in Moline and Co-president of the Day of Unity Commitee