WES
BOYER by Mark Miller | photos courtesy of Wesley Boyer
M
ay was quite a month for Wes Boyer. On Day 1, he was elected as the sixth member of the Northlake Town Council after a special election to move the community to home rule charter was approved. Later that month, he and wife, Jessica, opened Northlake ATA Martial Arts on top of being parents to five children – two biological and three adopted.
“It was pretty crazy,” the 42-year-old said. “It’s been a whirlwind the past couple of months because of making the decision to represent the citizens of the town. I was part of the Home Rule Charter Commission that prepared the amendment as Northlake went from a general ruled town. “I hope to represent the citizens and their vision. We’re in such a growth phase right now because there’s such a large amount of land that’s just pastureland and has a lot of growth potential.” Until a year ago, Boyer didn’t know what home rule meant. The commission was his first involvement with a government entity. He’d also never run for public office. He and Jessica started their neighborhood Facebook page, and after Mayor David Rettig joined the group and learned of Boyer’s abilities, he asked him to join the commission late in 2020. “When a municipality is first formed, it is a general law town that looks to state law on everything to figure out what it can do. A home rule town looks to state law to learn what they can’t do,” Boyer said. “Home rule towns have more control over those things. If it’s not addressed, you can control it.” Boyer said home rule gives citizens more power on decisions, including whether to allow zoning, 10 | 35 WEST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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