Grand Island: West reflects on his role after election loss

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing writer

Wayne West lost the race for Grand Island Town Board on Election Day, but says he still wants to have a role in helping the community.

West, who was ill on election night, spoke to the Dispatch about his goals for Grand Island and his reactions to the outcome of the vote.

“I do think I ran a good campaign and I think my cross-party support continues to grow across the Island,” he said.

“I think that that’s one of the major things that I’ve been trying to get people on the Island to look at, is go a little bit beyond the party, per se. You want their values and thoughts … but literally look at what the candidate is saying and what they represent and do.”

Republican Jose Garcia defeated West, a Democrat, by 57% to 43% of the votes cast.

West’s background includes military, nonprofit and community service, as well as real estate and corporate management.

He made a previous unsuccessful run for a Town Board seat in 2023.

West said there were some misperceptions or assumptions about his views this year that he said were incorrect and potentially damaging.

“One of the pieces that was kind of frustrating for me was … I heard some young – I guess a high schooler – said something to one of their parents about wanting to support me, and the parent said something along the lines of, ‘Oh, he’s the guy that wants to let all the immigrants in.’ ”

West said that was untrue.

“I actually was one of the first people – we actually started a drug interdiction and immigration wall between the border of Calexico, California, and Mexico, that I worked on in 1993, as part of one of my National Guard assignments.

“That’s exactly what my campaign was trying to focus on – to get people to say, ‘Let’s look at what really needs to be done.’ ”

During this year’s campaign for Town Board, West offered forums in which people could voice their concerns and talk about solutions.

West said one of his top priorities has been to help Grand Island achieve “responsible economic development.”

“I can’t think of too many people that would say that they don’t want investment in their community,” he said. “The idea of professional, responsible development doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to turn Grand Island into a concrete jungle. … Success, in most cases, is not an accident. You need somebody who knows how to achieve those successes. I think that’s been the focus of my campaign this year, as well as last.”

Going forward, West said, “I will continue to work in the way that I do work. But I look at the community as a series of stakeholders, whether I’m on the council or not on the council – being able to work with the council, being able to work with a community activity group, being able to work with homeowners, renters, employers. There are all of these various pieces that come together that make us a viable community.”

He said he will seek input from residents and stakeholders on how best to use his time and energy for the good of Grand Island. West said he appreciated that people came out to vote for him: “They put their faith and trust in what they thought I could bring to the table.”

West said dialogues between people with differing views “is the only way we grow – by getting out of that warm comfort zone and having our thoughts and ideas challenged.”

West added that he would like to bring the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce into a more active role in terms of encouraging economic development on the Island, and emphasizing the town’s environmental resources.