Neeley, Wiginton face off for Marble Hill mayor

Incumbent Trey Wiginton and Charley Neeley are running for mayor of Marble Hill in the Tuesday, April 2, municipal election. Wiginton is a write-in candidate.

Charley Neeley

A longtime employee of the city of Marble Hill, Neeley wants to put his years of experience and knowledge to use as mayor.

“I feel like I’m the right man for the job because I’ve got the experience and knowledge to carry out the tasks and assignments and restructuring for the town,” Neeley said.

Born in Oklahoma, Neeley spent 16 years working for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, where he served as a bridge inspector and worked in road maintenance and erosion control. He and his wife, Anglia, and children moved from Oklahoma to Marble Hill in 1997.

The Marble Hill area is what Neeley described as his parents’ stomping grounds.

“They came here for vacation. My dad and uncle bought a farm on Highway JJ, and we went there to spend time in the summer,” Neeley said.

Unlike Neeley, his parents never got the chance to move from Oklahoma to Marble Hill. For them, this area was only a vacation spot.

During his first year in Marble Hill, Neeley worked as a parts salesman for Napa Auto Parts in Cape Girardeau. Then he worked for the city of Marble Hill in maintenance from 1998 until he retired in 2021.

“I took care of the water, parks and streets,” Neeley said.

Now, at the age of 67, he’s doing much the same thing in Marquand, but only part time.

“I take care of water, sewer and streets like I did in Marble Hill,” Neeley said.

Years ago, Neeley said he served on the Marble Hill Park Board. His service also includes five years in the military: three years in the U.S. Army and two years in the National Guard. He and his wife have three sons, one daughter and four grandsons.

Neely has a number of goals for the city.

“I’d like to see if we can get grants to replace all the water lines in town. I’d like to repave all the streets in Marble Hill, bring new businesses to town (and) bring back events and attractions, like concerts and get-togethers,” he said.

“The biggest thing we need to do is get more businesses in Marble Hill. It’s a good little town, but it’s slowly collapsing,” Neeley said. “I’ve lived here a lot of years, and I don’t want to see it going down the way it is.”

Trey Wiginton

Wiginton has served as mayor of Marble Hill for the last four years. And he served as city alderman two years prior to that. He lives in Marble Hill with my wife, Becky, and two children, Celesse and Dillard. He has a degree in construction management from Southeast Missouri State University and has worked in facilities management at SEMO for 16 years.

“During my time on the city board and as mayor, I fought to keep as many businesses open during the COVID shutdown to keep people safely working and supporting our sales tax base. During this time, cities and towns all over the nation experienced lower sales tax numbers. Marble Hill experienced higher than normal sales taxes and lower COVID infection rates than our neighboring communities,” Wiginton said.

“During the height of COVID, I also researched and was able to find out that we could use federal funding to overhaul and improve our sewage treatment structure and get damaged sewer pipes relined in order to satisfy the abatement order on our sewer system that was in effect for years before I was elected. The way this project has been handled has not required us to raise water and sewer rates and is bringing Marble Hill’s sewer system into full compliance with current regulations,” he said.

“Businesses have grown in the last four years that I have been mayor, and that has allowed us to add two full-time police officer positions, and we are now working with eligible applicants to help them enroll in and receive scholarships to attend the Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Academy in Cape Girardeau,” Wiginton said. “I also worked with grant writers and city staff to secure one new and two late-model police cruisers with warranties to replace aging cruisers that had become maintenance problems by using federal grant money and not costing the citizens anything.”

In addition to these projects, Wiginton said he has begun the process of seeking grant funding to update the water system in Marble Hill.

“Most of the current water system is in excess of 60 years old and in desperate need of modernization, including the fire hydrants that are necessary to keep our community safe. It is my intent to use as much grant money as possible in the hopes that water rates and cost to our residents do not increase,” he said.

“My purpose in running for reelection as mayor of Marble Hill is to continue making our town a better place to live. It isn’t a quick process and it is definitely not an easy process, but I promise to work to improve our town in a way that everyone benefits equally,” Wiginton said.

“Due to an error in paperwork, I will not be listed on the April 2 ballot for Marble Hill mayor,” he said. “However, I would be humbled if you would fill in the circle to write in on your ballot on April 2, 2024, and write in Trey Wiginton for mayor of Marble Hill.”

— Wiginton submitted the information in his candidate profile.