By William Smith
Community Editor
Terry Schnack makes no bones about his primary platform. He wants to make Burlington a safer place to live.
“I’ve seen a change in the city of Burlington in the 14-year span I’ve lived here. I see a lot more violence,” said Schnack, who is seeking a seat on the Burlington City Council in the November primary.
“I think a lot of people just don’t feel safe anymore, and I think that’s pretty sad in a town of roughly 25,000. You can’t feel safe to go out at night.”
For Schnack, the decision to pursue a council seat arose from a personal dilemma. His wife of 10 years, Angela Schnack, recently found herself in the middle of a high-speed chase on Division Street while running errands.
Angela wasn’t hurt physically, but she was rattled. So the couple laid out three options for themselves. Move out of Burlington, go on about their lives as if it didn’t happen, or do something about it.
The answer seemed obvious. Neither Terry nor Angela wanted to run away.
Schnack grew up on a family farm out of Stockton, then worked his way south to Burlington. A business owner and mechanic, Schnack owned a car repair business in Wilton for 10 years, managed an auto repair shop in Mount Pleasant for two-and-half years, and opened his own automotive repair business in Burlington in 2009.
A religious man by nature and upbringing, Schnack wanted to glorify God rather than himself when naming his shop, so he called it CARS: Christian Automotive Repair Service.
It’s more than a car repair shop, though. It’s also a charity with a slight missionary bent.
“We encourage people to go to church. Whichever denomination, whichever church they go to. If they bring in a church bulletin for the previous week, we give back 10 percent of their repair bill,” Schnack said.
If the customer is struggling, he encourages them to keep the money. If they are financially comfortable, Schnack suggests they drop the discount into the collection plate of the church the customer attends.
“We’ve probably given back $25,000 a year to the community,” he said.
As for the TIGER grant-funded redevelopment project set to begin Oct. 18, Schnack believes the negative financial impact the construction will have on Jefferson Street businesses isn’t worth the end result.
“I think the city council’s pecking order of decision-making is off a little bit. It seems to me a lot of the grants that are available drive programs that come here,” he said.
He also worries about other side effects of the project, such as the loss of 10 to 15 on-street parking spots once the project is complete.
“People aren’t going to want to walk from a parking ramp,” he said.
He is concerned with how much it will cost to maintain the incoming splash pad and the damage the roots of newly planted trees might pose in a few years.
Schnack said he believes in spending to better the city. He just wants to see said money spent more effectively.
“Cascade Bridge was a beautiful, wonderful bridge. But the city didn’t have the funds to maintain it,” he said. “I don’t want to see another Cascade Bridge project.”
Editor’s note: This is part two of a six-part series profiling the city council candidates. There are six candidates vying for three open seats. In Burlington, all city council seats are at-large, meaning anyone from anywhere in the city may run for a seat on city council. The council election is Nov. 2.