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Webb City Mayor highlights population growth, city services, and finances during 2023 State of the City address

Mayor Ragsdale speaking at 2023 SOTC
Fred Fletcher-Fierro
Mayor Ragsdale speaking at 2023 SOTC

Later this afternoon, Missouri Governor Mike Parson will deliver his State of the State Speech from Jefferson City.Tuesday morning Webb City Mayor Lynn Ragsdale provided numerous updates on the health of his community during his 2023 State of the City speech.

Mayor Ragsdale highlighted the 11% residential growth according to the latest census. In 2010, the bureau recorded just over 11,000 residents; that figure has now grown to about 13,000. The Mayor highlighted the work of the city council and city staff, keeping the community on the right track.

“This thing that some city gets into, especially the midrange city’s like ours is we get leadership that says this is where we need to be, let’s freeze that, let’s not expand, let’s not do new things because you never know what’s going to happen, and always be cautious the sky could fall. And so there’s that balance that says, no, if we manage it well, if we reserve well, we go into things knowing that there are potentials, but we’re going to go forward, not backward, and that’s where we are as a city.” 

The next meeting of the Webb City city council is Monday, January 23, at 5:30 pm.

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.

In the fall of 2023 Fred was promoted to Interim General Manager and was appointed GM in Feburary of 2024.