(Community Matters 209) Candidate Interview: Ward 2 Candidate Hatcher Seeks to Build 'Cornerstones' for Community Connection

You took a shot at the County Board of Commissioners in 24, and that did not work out, but Ward 2 is where you're focused now.

Why is that? Talk about what motivates you.

Well, in 2024, I was taking a shot at my, which would have been my fourth term.

So terms previous to that, you know, if we want, they did work out.

But again, you know, there were some district changing and things like that, and that all kind of came into play.

So that one, you're correct, did not work out for me.

Yeah, thank you for that.

Not a problem, no.

Now, Ward 2, and why Ward 2? So, Richard, and I know that we discussed it a lot when we were talking and I was being interviewed for the county.

The county is larger, and the county is not condensed.

There's a lot that can be done, but for the most part on the county, a lot is already done.

And, you know, we're working with the roads.

We're working with the townships.

Ward 2, which is City Commission Ward 2, that is my ward that I live in.

That is the ward that I've invested in.

That is the ward where I raise my children.

My children went to school, neighborhood schools there, graduated from Ann Jay Elementary, Northwestern Junior High, both my kids, and then Battle Creek Central.

So very much so rooted in the neighborhood.

And I started this journey years ago, but always as a grassroots neighborhood student.

organizer is where it started.

And that's where my heart and my drive has always been in the neighborhood.

I, of course, wanted to make sure that I had a safe neighborhood for my kids to go to school, walk to school and have them, you know, just have a healthy lifestyle for them.

And that comes from your neighborhood.

That comes from your neighbors.

That comes from the people that, as they say, is a Sesame Street.

You took a shot at the County Board of Commissioners in 24, and that did not work out, but Ward 2 is where you're focused now.

Why is that? Talk about what motivates you.

Well, in 2024, I was taking a shot at my, which would have been my fourth term.

So terms previous to that, you know, if we want, they did work out.

But again, you know, there were some district changing and things like that, and that all kind of came into play.

So that one, you're correct, did not work out for me.

Yeah, thank you for that.

Not a problem, no.

Now, Ward 2, and why Ward 2? So, Richard, and I know that we discussed it a lot when we were talking and I was being interviewed for the county.

The county is larger, and the county is not condensed.

There's a lot that can be done, but for the most part on the county, a lot is already done.

And, you know, we're working with the roads.

We're working with the townships.

Ward 2, which is City Commission Ward 2, that is my ward that I live in.

That is the ward that I've invested in.

That is the ward where I raise my children.

My children went to school, neighborhood schools there, graduated from Ann Jay Elementary, Northwestern Junior High, both my kids, and then Battle Creek Central.

So very much so rooted in the neighborhood.

And I started this journey years ago, but always as a grassroots neighborhood student.

organizer is where it started.

And that's where my heart and my drive has always been in the neighborhood.

I, of course, wanted to make sure that I had a safe neighborhood for my kids to go to school, walk to school and have them, you know, just have a healthy lifestyle for them.

And that comes from your neighborhood.

That comes from your neighbors.

That comes from the people that, as they say, is a Sesame Street.