MARION -- Mike Absher announced his candidacy for mayor of the City of Marion late last week.
Absher presently serves as president on the Marion Unit 2 School Board. He made his mayoral announcement formal on Thursday at the Celebrations Event Center.
Absher is a lifelong resident of the community and founder and CEO of Watermark Auto Group. He was named Marion's Citizen of the Year as voted upon by the Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
"For us to be successful as a town, we need to have more of an entrepreneurial mindset to grow our economy. It's not just about being business friendly," Absher said. "There are so many challenges to this job, but I am looking forward to those challenges. I believe We need to become an oasis of opportunity for smaller companies. Getting big manufacturers like Aisin are nice, but rarely happen. We need to recruit smaller companies to Marion."
A 1989 graduate of Marion High School who also owns a business degree from SIUC, Absher said that should he get elected, he would not accept a salary from the city.
"I would prefer to see that money donated to the creation of a boys and girls club in the community," he said.
