Jordan Cornell
Lantern Staff
Vice President of Information Technology Bill Young is running for mayor of El Dorado unopposed.
“My daughter just graduated from high school and is off at college,” Young said. “…It freed up some time and felt like it would be another really great opportunity to be involved in the community and hopefully be a part of continuing to build El Dorado into a great place to live.”
Young moved to El Dorado his junior year of high school and has lived here for the past 27 years. He since had served El Dorado in a number of positions, serving on the Recreation Advisory Board, Planning Commission and was a city commissioner for a couple terms.
Young has worked in technology ever since he graduated from high school. From there he attended Butler and then attended Wichita State University.
“Technology was something that always interested me,” Young said.
Young had worked in the private sector for a couple of years, did consulting work and traveled internationally and worked for a healthcare company for a while building hospitals.
Then about eight years ago, Tom Erwin, Butler’s former CIO, contacted Young regarding a position open at the college as a chief information security officer.
Erwin retired in 2017, allowing Young to receive a promotion to become CIO. Young had focused on digital transformation for Butler Community College, working to get the whole campus interconnected, students and teachers alike.
“El Dorado is a great community, (and) it’s a very giving community,” Young said. “I have gotten nothing but support so far from everyone I’ve had a chance to talk to during this campaign cycle. Everyone’s been super supportive… I’ve been involved in the community in one way or another for 20 years now, so I’ve built a lot of good relationships. It’s a very supportive community, so I’m hopeful.”
Young plans to include El Dorado residents in decision making processes as well as improving the quality of life, especially in economic development as getting new businesses to come to the community. Unless there’s a strong write-off, Young is hopeful to become the next mayor of El Dorado.
El Dorado citizens can cast their ballot on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5. If elected, Young would be sworn in on Monday, Dec. 2.