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After four years as a Pittsburg city commissioner, Dawn McNay has decided to run for a second term.
According to the official Pittsburg, KS website (pittks.org), McNay’s childhood was spent in Omaha, NE before she moved to Pittsburg with her family in 1993. She worked for Via Christi hospital for 18 years and has been the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas director of development for eight years. She frequently volunteers with multiple Pittsburg community organizations including the USD 250 School Board, the Family Resource Center, and the foundation boards of Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg Public Library and Mount Carmel.
McNay was elected to the city commission in 2017, and she served as Pittsburg’s mayor from 2019-2020.
“Serving as Commissioner the last four years has given me a comprehensive understanding of both the current strengths of the city and its future opportunities,” McNay said. “Pittsburg has made incredible progress in the past five-six years to increase housing options, to improve infrastructure and to strengthen partnerships. I am also proud of how our community has worked together to navigate COVID-19 this past year.”
According to McNay, her re-election campaign for the upcoming election centers around the update of Pittsburg’s infrastructure to match pace with the growth Pittsburg has experienced over the past half a decade.
“I’m running for re-election to continue the work to remove barriers to planned growth leading to enhancing our overall quality of services,” McNay said. “We have seen growth in housing and business; however, growth cannot outpace the city’s infrastructure. The work of the city will need to continue to update outdated systems. To keep our talented PSU students we need to continue to work with PSU and the business community to build an economic base that capitalizes on our strengths, such as our extensive broadband, to attract diverse businesses. Along with that, the city needs to be a leader to solve the barriers to those trying to enter the workforce, such as access to childcare.”
In addition to a public Facebook page centered around her campaign, McNay said that she believes community involvement is one of the best forms of communication with the public.
“Through my years of public service, I’ve found the best way to communicate with the public is to be involved in our community,” McNay said. “I’m fortunate to be involved in various organizations in our community, such as the PSU Foundation, along with working at Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas. This gives me a broad reach and the opportunity to visit with people one on one and in a more constructive way. In addition, Pittsburg has made a conscious effort to provide comprehensive information to citizens through several avenues to include televising our Commission meetings; this allows the public to see the business of the city in real time.”
Anyone interested in information about McNay’s re-election campaign can follow her page on Facebook, “Dawn McNay for Pittsburg City Commission” (@mcnay4pittcommission). The page also includes additional contacts for McNay for more direct inquiries about the campaign.
Any questions about the upcoming election should be directed to the Crawford County Clerk’s Office.