With four years of mayoral experience under his belt and the funds to do necessary work, Mayor Bob Dandoy said he’s looking forward to getting Butler back to the place it deserves to be.

Dandoy has served as Butler’s mayor since 2022 and has seen the city through numerous important moments during his first term, including finalizing the sale of the Butler Area Sewer Authority.

Since receiving the sale proceeds, the city placed $75 million into two investment accounts and created a long-range plan that outlines the spending of the remaining $15 million through 2030.

Upcoming projects according to the original version of the city’s long-range plan

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■ 2026: $2.5 million is planned to be allocated toward capital improvement projects, $2 million is planned to go toward updates to the tier parking garage and $500,000 is planned to go toward continued city street paving.

■ 2027: The draft outlines plans to spend $3.1 million across four projects. Another $2 million is planned to be spent toward the tier parking garage, $250,000 is planned to go toward city street paving, $450,000 toward the South McKean Street parking deck and $400,000 toward Main Street sidewalks.

■ 2028: The draft allocates $1.75 million toward projects. $1.25 million is planned to be allocated toward the flood plain project on Mercer Street over Sullivan Run, $250,000 toward Main Street amenities, such as benches, and $250,000 toward city street paving.

■ 2029: $1.5 million is planned for projects: $1.25 million for the flood plain project on Monroe and Elm streets and $250,000 toward street paving.

While the process of finalizing the sale took the majority of Dandoy’s first term, he said it gave him the opportunity to learn a lot of the intricacies of the job.

“A lot of the stuff I learned while we were going through the process to sell are things that I now apply to almost every aspect of my mayoral service. I’m able to understand things that I never understood before,” he said.

He explained he and city council knew the sale would involve an overwhelming amount of money, which required careful consideration on how to manage it. As for spending, he said it was vital to ask residents what their biggest concerns were.

“Sure, I can tell you 20 things I want to do. But are they what the city needs right now? They may not be. So to do all those things and do it in a way that isn’t too self-serving and dictatorial … is listening to people, hearing all their arguments and hearing why we should or shouldn’t do something, then execute,” Dandoy said.

He said even if the sale did not happen, he believes it was worthwhile to connect with residents and their needs in the way they did.

“We learned things about the people, the community. We learned how to do things, what their priorities were. We wouldn’t have known had we not gone through the process. Now, I can look back and I can say ‘this was important to people,’” Dandoy said.

Looking ahead, most of the purchases will follow the city’s long-range plan for the funds, but other projects may be considered as needs develop.

For example, the city is poised to contribute more than $2.5 million to stormwater projects in 2026. Dandoy said conversations about mitigation were immediate after some streets flooded during heavy summer rains.

“It was a painfully obvious thing we had to attack,” he said. “There were things that were already in the planning stages or pipeline of projects, but we weren’t able to do them. Why? Because we didn’t have the money.”

He said the most immediate projects would aim to redirect water from the areas that flood.

Another project Dandoy hopes to address in his second term is the amount of absentee landlords who rent property in the city. He said some landlords sometimes do not address the property’s condition as quickly and efficiently as a homeowner.

“If we can decrease that, then that creates the atmosphere where people are constantly improving and maintaining their homes. That raises the quality of life for everyone in the city,” he said.

As for generally improving the city, Dandoy said he thinks whether to improve the commercial or residential areas is a “chicken-and-egg” situation.

“Is it more jobs equals more people ready to come in and buy homes? Or is it more people ready to come in and buy homes creates a workforce, meaning more companies come in and create more jobs? Well, it’s probably a bit of both,” he said.

He said he envisions a place where people can live, eat, work and find recreational opportunities all without even needing to drive. For that to happen, however, he said it will require residents stepping up to the plate as well.

“You can’t say (Butler) is a horrible place, a terrible place, or a dangerous place — it’s not — and then turn around and say ‘why don’t people come to my shop?’ You have to be the one that’s the salesperson in addition to just the mayor or city council or Butler Downtown. Everybody has to be involved in this,” Dandoy said.

One way he said he’d like to see this realized is through businesses cooperating more often, especially directly.

“When there’s something going on with the Penn Theater, every business should know about that, and they should be running some kind of special promotion. But when they have events in downtown Butler, people were realizing that the day of the event, people might not come to your store. But if you give them a coupon for 25% off, they’ll come back next week,” he said.

Ultimately, Dandoy said he believes Butler is on the right track already, citing West Virginia University Health System’s acquisition of Independence Health System as well as the $200 million proposed upgrade to Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works as signs that companies view Butler as a worthwhile place to invest.

He said these complement preexisting strengths, such as the local entertainment scene and Butler Area School District, to create a city that is on the rise.

“All roads lead to somebody sitting there and saying ‘They have it together and we’re going to invest,’” Dandoy said.

He said the most important thing about his plans for his second term are that they end up benefiting everyone in Butler, not just one specific group.

“Everything I’m talking about has to work for everyone,” he said. “Everybody’s got a full belly. Everybody’s got a warm place to sleep. Everybody’s got a job. That’s human decency. That’s what we need to do. We need to be a welcoming community and one that takes care of its people.”