Meet the Ward 4 Candidates: Amy Nolan, Bob Nation and Paul Dillender

In a week, Chesterfield’s Ward 4 residents will elect a representative to city council.

Residents will chose from three candidates: Amy Nolan, who currently serves on the planning commission and wants to see Chesterfield’s downtown and arts scene flourish, incumbent Bob Nation, who would like to continue his record of conservative spending, or Paul Dillender, a retired police officer who has been involved in the city since its beginning.

Ward 4 covers the city’s western half. It stretches from roughly from Baxter Road in the east to the city’s borders at Eatherton Road to the west. In the north, it is bordered by the Missouri River and in the south it reaches past Wild Horse Creek Road to the city’s borders with Wildwood and Clarkson Valley. (Click through photos to see a map of the city's wards.)

Candidates are running for a two-year term. The election is April 5.

Amy Nolan

• Has lived in Chesterfield for 34 years, from 1967-1989 and again from 2000-2011. She currently lives at 16025 Wilson Manor Dr.
• 43 years old
• Self-employed. She’s the owner of Designs of Today and Tomorrow. The business is located in Chesterfield and offers design and construction remodeling services.
• Graduated from , Villa Duchesne High School and Maryville University
• Married to Rob. They have three children, Bob, 21; Ally, 19; and Ryan, 15.
• Nolan was appointed by former mayor John Nations to the Chesterfield Planning Commission and currently serves as vice-chair. She’s been an advocate for Wilson Road homes at city council and has been active in her subdivision. She’s devoted time to charities, including Our Little Haven and United Services. She’s also been a Girl Scout leader, fundraiser and coach at Linda Vista Catholic School. She has been involved at Ascension Catholic School, , and Chaminade College Preparatory School.

Nolan moved to Chesterfield as a little girl and remembers having cows and chickens on the land around her family’s house. She recalls riding her bike to a grocery store, but that’s about all the shopping you could do in the area at the time.

“For just getting clothing and that kind of stuff, we had to go to Clayton. We had to go to Northwest Plaza or Crestwood. So we had to drive a big distance to get many of the amenities that we needed,” she said.

Not so anymore. Now, Nolan says, there’s hardly any reason to leave Chesterfield.

“We have everything we could possibly need to survive,” she said.

But it’s retained the feel of the area she grew up in. It’s not a concrete jungle; there are still farm areas, trees and wildlife. The city boasts numerous activities for families between the parks, trail systems and historical areas, she said.

“It still has the hometown feel and values,” she said.

It’s that feel she wants to maintain by serving on city council.

Nolan said both current Ward 4 Councilwoman Connie Fults and former Mayor John Nations encouraged her to run. Since she filed for office, she’s been making phone calls and walking mile after mile to go door-to-door to meet people to talk about their concerns. Most residents don’t have many concerns, she said. Maybe there are some things the city could add or address, she said, such as leaf and yard waste removal or connecting some sidewalks.

When and if they do have concerns though, Nolan said she’s ready to listen. Nolan said council members should be respectful and always be sure to follow up on residents’ concerns.

“I’m the type of person that when I start a task, I finish it,” she said, pointing to her career in interior design as an example. Nolan owns and operates a full-service interior design business that does remodeling construction, too. She said she loves the work because it allows her to connect with people. Plus, it appeals to her love of the arts.

When it comes to the arts, she thinks Chesterfield is doing great. is working hard to get more and more people involved in the art scene here, she said.

The classes offered there, coupled with the public art in the city and other city landmarks, such as the soon-to-be completed , are social avenues to bring the community together, Nolan said.

That’s exactly what she’d like to see . She said she thinks the downtown area will bring in people from the cities around Chesterfield and be a great gathering place.

“It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take time, but I want to make sure it gets done and keep the ball rolling,” she said.

She also said she’d make sure the City only spends within its means. Plus, she’s interested in ensuring that any new development meets high standards so that it fits in with the look and feel of the rest of the city.

“We have very nice neighborhoods,” she said. “People want to make sure that their house values stay where they are or go up, so we have to make sure that we have the top quality.”

Overall, she said she would work to maintain Chesterfield as a premier city, with both a city and country feel.

“I’ve always wanted to be here,” she said. “It’s not an area I want to leave.”

Bob Nation

• Has lived in Chesterfield for 31 years. Currently lives at 17669 Bridgeway Circle
• 60 years old
• Real estate broker/salesperson
• Bachelor’s of arts from the University of Arizona. Nation majored in government and minored in psychology and economics. He’s taken some graduate level classes in public administration and quantitative analysis at the University of Colorado.
• Married to Louise. They have three grown sons: Rob, Andy and Chris.
• After college, Nation served on active duty as a dual rated army aviator and aviation manager. He moved to St. Louis in early 1979 to work for Ozark Air Lines as a pilot. He also worked for TWA and ultimately retired as a captain with American Airlines. He’s retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He’s been a subdivision trustee and a supporter of Rockwood School District bond issues. He’s a past member of the American Legion and a current active member of Chesterfield Kiwanis and the . He’s served on Chesterfield City Council since 2007 and has been a member of all four council committees (Planning and Public Works, Finance and Administration, Public Health and Safety and Parks and Recreation. 

As the incumbent, Nation said he thinks he’s got the experience necessary to do the job.

“Having served for the last four years, I think I’ve learned and gained a lot insight as to how our municipal government works,” he said. “I think I have a lot to offer in the way of my qualifications. I recognize that there are differences of opinion and different perspectives.”

Nation said he believes he is the most fiscally conservative member on the current city council.

“I am most concerned with how we spend our tax dollars on behalf of the taxpayer,” he said. “And I think I more than most individuals have an analytical way of discerning spending decisions.” He said he doesn’t believe that the city should collect more taxes than what is needed to provide services.

One particular city expenditure stands out as wasteful. The medians on Chesterfield Parkway were maintained by St. Louis County, but Chesterfield re-landscaped them and put a sprinkler system in to bring them up to the standards the city wanted. It’s an issue he said he’s heard residents upset about in his time campaigning.

He’s been visiting the homes of frequent voters and leaving behind flyers. He said mainly he’s heard concerns about the amount of money the City has spent on things that weren’t traditionally the city’s responsibility.

He said he thinks the city has bitten off a lot in the last few years when it comes to parks. Between the development of Eberwein Park, the trails system and additional fields at the , it might be time to take a breath, he said.

That’s not to say that he’s against the parks. He just hopes they are used well. He said he knows the city had its eye on creating Eberwein Park for some time, and thinks the purchase of the land was a good deal if it benefits the community and is used by residents.

He also expressed some concern about how much the City is spending on the arts. For several years, the city has set aside thousands of dollars for and . He said he supports encouraging culture in Chesterfield and is OK with the level of monetary support that currently exists, but he wouldn’t want to beyond it. Large sums of public funds shouldn’t go to the arts when the City is cutting budgets and the economy is down, he said.

He said there’s several Ward 4-specific issues he hopes to address if re-elected. He’d like to revisit the comprehensive plan for an area around Wild Horse Creek Road commonly referred to as “The Bowtie.” He also wants to make sure that construction in the Kehrs Mill, Wild Horse Creek and Long roads are is completed without a hitch. Plus, he said he’s interested in considering the idea of building more reasonably priced housing in Chesterfield.

“There’s a perception, if not a reality, that many people cannot afford to life here,” he said. More affordable housing may mean a higher density than other areas of Chesterfield, but that makes sense, as long as the zoning is compatible with the surrounding area, Nation said.

“No longer does everyone want to live on an acre and have to cut the grass,” he said. 

Nation said overall he wants to continue to maintain Chesterfield as a unique and vibrant city.

“It’s a great place,” he said. “If I had to do it all over again, I couldn’t have chosen a better location.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect Nation's stance on affordable housing. It was last updated March 30 at 1 p.m.

Paul Dillender

• Has lived in Chesterfield for 18 years. Currently lives at 312 Cheval Square Dr.
• 67 years old
• Retired captain with the Chesterfield Police Department
• Bachelor’s of science degree from Truman University and a graduate of the FBI National Academy
• Married to Patricia. They have two grown daughters, Krista and Jennifer.
• Dillender was instrumental in starting the Chesterfield Police Department after the city was incorporated and was assigned as acting chief of police in the chief’s absence. He served as the city’s emergency operations officer, coordinating and directing the preparation, response and mitigation of the flood of 1993. In 2000, he headed a police committee to advise on the construction of City Hall and the police department. As the chairman of Public Health and Safety for the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show, he coordinated police, fire, medical and military security for 12 years. He’s a member of the , the American Legion and Moolah Shriners.

Dillender sees running for the Ward 4 seat as an extension of his record of service to the community. He worked in the area as a St. Louis County police officer for 22 years before Chesterfield was a city. When it was incorporated, he became a captain in the Chesterfield Police Department.

Now, he said, he’s looking forward to learning the other side of government.

“I always served people in a different capacity,” he said. “Now I’d have to go and ask people for things, which is kind of foreign.” As a council member, he said he’d always be available to listen to residents’ concerns.

Dillender has been going door-to-door to campaign and leaving behind flyers. He talks to residents when they are home. Most, he said, have few complaints. He has heard from some, though, that are concerned about nearby homes falling into disrepair.

Dillender sees both sides of this problem. On the one hand, it can cause property values to fall. On the other hand, in the current economic climate, it might be hard for the homeowner to keep up their home. He said he’d work to establish a hotline for the management of this problem if elected.

He said he would also work with St. Louis County, the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Chesterfield Police Department to relieve some traffic congestion in Ward 4. Construction on Long Road has made it worse, he said, and real coordination is needed to correct the problems.

He also pointed to the re-landscaping and installation of a sprinkler system on the medians in Chesterfield Parkway as wasteful spending. Making the city look better is good, he said, but he’s not sure it was the right choice in bad economic times.

He said he supports the upcoming completion of several parks projects, including the trail systems, the Central Park amphitheater and the construction of Eberwein Park.

“People voted for those things. They wanted it,” he said, adding that the amphitheater will be great for summer events.

He also said he’d like to bring the police force back to earlier levels. Several police officers lost their jobs when the city laid off employees last fall. An economic downturn is not the time to cut police force, he said.

As a member of council, he said he would work to ensure Chesterfield continued to be “a city of choice in the Midwest.” It’s a safe, fun place to live and work he said, and he looks forward to a vibrant downtown area full of people at shops, restaurants or living in condominiums.

When he thinks about Chesterfield, he remembers the years of work that have made it what it is today. He helped build the city’s first computer network and was involved in the construction of City Hall.

“I was down on the ground floor, and I watched the city grow into the magnificent city it is now, with all kinds of wonderful things. And I was a part of that,” he said. “It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a work of joy and love. It’s a great place, and I feel like I had a big part in making it what it is today.”