Police Chief Ray addresses chamber; new executive director is announced

By Editor | March 14, 2014 |

An area journalist is the new executive director of the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce. At last Wednesday’s monthly meeting, President Brock Brannon announced that Seth Whitehead has been hired to handle the day-to-day operations of the organization.

A Fayette County native, Whitehead has worked for a variety of area newspapers, including The Leader-Union, The Effingham Daily News and, most recently, the VandaliaDaily.com online publication, which he closed down last month.
When contacted this week, Whitehead said: “I am very excited about joining the chamber. I have always felt that support of locally-owned businesses is paramount to a community’s success. I will work diligently to help promote and support our member’s businesses.
“I have worked in media since I was 19, and I believe that experience will prove valuable as I transition to my position at the chamber. I hope to use my writing, photography and graphic design skills to promote our members' businesses.”
Also at last week’s meeting, Tourism Commission Secretary June Mahon reported that the Tourist Information Center had 52 visitors in January and 40 visitors in February.
Brannon announced that chamber discount cards will be distributed to members before the end of March. Those cards allow members to get discounts from participating chamber businesses.
He also noted that this month’s Business After Hours event will be held next Thursday, March 20, at the new location of Fayette County Real Estate, 725 W. Fillmore St., from 5-7 p.m.
Sally Emerick announced that three ribbon-cutting ceremonies are planned in the next three weeks. All are at noon. The first is this Thursday at Fayette County Fairgrounds for improvements made there. The second is next Monday at the new offices of Illinois Real Estate Services at 2425 W. Veterans Ave. And the third is Thursday, April 3, at Apex Network Physical Therapy, located at 1611 Veterans Ave. Apex Network, which is affiliated with Greenville Regional Hospital, is holding an open house at their new facility from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Following those announcements, the program for the chamber meeting was presented by Jeff Ray, chief of the Vandalia Police Department.
Ray said that his department includes 11 officers (many with several years of experience), four dispatchers, two telecommunicators and one part-time secretary.
Last year, the department handled 100 battery cases, three thefts, two armed robberies, 125 criminal damage to property incidents and 105 vehicle stops.
In recent months, the department added three new vehicles to its fleet – a Dodge Ram pickup, a Dodge Durango and a Dodge Charger. Given the winter weather the area experienced in January and February, Ray said “It was good having a couple four-wheel-drive vehicles in our toolbox.”
Speaking to the business owners in the audience, he encouraged them to work with the police to protect their property from theft and vandalism by leaving a light on at night, keeping things picked up in the vicinity of the building, and keeping money and checks locked up in a secure safe. He also encouraged them to make sure that the police have the correct names and telephone numbers to call in case of an emergency.
Of the issues the department deals with, Ray said that the biggest problems are synthetic drugs and methamphetamine.
“We pride ourselves in doing the little things well,” he said, noting that the department attempts to respond to all calls. “Some of the things we respond to wouldn’t even get dealt with in a larger community.”
Though the area has a 911 system set up (and Enhanced 911 on the way), Ray said that citizens calling in an emergency using a cell phone are better off calling 283-2131 to contact the local police. When calling 911 from a cell phone, the call is routed to a dispatcher out of the area.