If you ask Alex Coogan a question, he’s more than happy to answer you even if he knows you’re not going to like it.
And it doesn’t really matter who you are.
“When I say I’m going to get something done, that’s what I do, and even the city officials who have to deal with me know that,” Coogan said. “But now my city has a mayor who still won’t talk to me, and it’s hilarious. He shuns me in public, and I just have to chuckle because it’s only because I disagreed with him on a few things.
“But what are you supposed to do when something is wrong? Stay silent like the mayor and the Council members want us to be? This city can’t afford to keep taking it on the chin,” he said. “This city has lost so much, and sure when (Andy) McKenzie was the mayor, we finally saw some growth, but what have we seen for the past four years? I’m always going to be outspoken about the lack of progress and therefore a lack of good leadership from the top to the bottom.”
Potholes Not Playgrounds?
In other words, Coogan will not change his approach, his message, or his belief that his proposed initiatives not only will improve Ward 2 but the rest of the city, too. It is his belief the vacant building registry needs to be repealed to return urgency for property owners to either improve them or sell them to someone who will, and Coogan remains steadfast that potholes and not playgrounds should be a priority near the top of Council’s list.
“I’m going to go about this campaign saying what I know, and I am going to share my opinions about how we can finally improve the important things to the people of this city,” he said. “If I make people mad along the way, well, it won’t be the first time that’s happened.”
Coogan owns several businesses under the “Reliable” brand, including a lawn service, appliance sales and repair, and small engine repair. He also serves as the property manager for Monoceros Properties, and he owns rental properties of his own.
The new Eden Family Restaurant at 135 Virginia St. in Wheeling, in fact, is yet another venture with which Coogan is involved, and it is an eatery that welcomes children and refuses the negative influences that have led to business failures at the location for the past several years.
“I’m not afraid to speak my mind, and if it makes people mad, so be it because most people refuse to take up an issue or any cause,” Coogan insisted “That’s because they’re nervous about doing it because attorneys aren’t cheap. But I’m not one of those people, and Ward 2 is where I live, and I want to work to make things better on a day-to-day basis.”
Coogan for Mayor 2016?
He was one of four candidates for the mayor’s office in Wheeling, but candidates Gene Fahey and Glenn Elliott expended more than $20,000 collectively, and Coogan and fellow Wheeling Island residents spent a few bucks on yard signs and a few trinkets.
This time, though, Coogan opted to join a crowded race that includes four other candidates, including incumbent Councilman Ken Imer.
“I decided not to run for mayor again because I didn’t want to become a figurehead,” Coogan explained. “I’d rather be equipped to vote for Ward 2 after working with the people of the ward to make sure that vote represents them. If the voters selected me and a few of the other very good candidates, we’ll be able to change the direction of this city so we can finally improve it.”
“I thought I was going to the State of the City (last week), but then after that food truck disaster, I decided not to go because I can’t stand to be lied to by the saddest sacks who have ever tried to lead,” he continued. “I’ve tried to stay calm and be respectful, but that food truck issue is just ridiculous. I know they said they are going to revisit it, and that’s fine, but to me, the damage is done. Someone cried, and then they did what they did totally under the radar until someone noticed. That’s just wrong.”
So, if it took place outside his brick-and-mortar, Eden, on Wheeling Island?
“If I can’t sell a burger that people want to order and a food truck has a better one, come set up right outside our door, and I will welcome you. I don’t care about this stupid ordinance, and I’ll stand right next to you, too,” Coogan said. “The way that ordinance reads, the food truck folks really can’t set up anywhere, and that will just drive them away from this city.
“The mayor should have just set fire to their food trucks and called it even,” he said. “Oh, but now, they’ll be happy to revisit it? That’s only because they finally realized they screwed up in an election year, and it will just go with everything else they are now rushing through because it is an election year. You vote for me and just know that my votes will be for the good of the city and not because it’s an election year.”
Shhh, Alex?
Elliott became Wheeling’s mayor after defeating Fahey 53 percent to 38 percent, and Coogan collected 5 percent and Domenick 4 percent. It was a sound defeat, Coogan acknowledges, but his feelings were not hurt because he didn’t expect to win anyway.
It was more about having the voice as a candidate, but the same is not true this time around.
“This time, I can only be the person I am, and that’s a person who’s not going to participate with backroom deals, and I will never placate you,” he added. “I’m going to work with the others, whoever they may be, and do my best to improve Ward 2 and the rest of the city as well.”
“I’m not the guy who’s just going to keep filing candidacy papers just so I can pop off when I want to about whatever,” Coogan said. “That may have been the case the last time because I really feared the people running back then, but this time I think we have an opportunity to elect a good group of people who can bring positive change.”
