Tenure on School Board helped steer Troup toward mayoral run

Before taking over Monday as mayor, Troup attends final School Board meeting

QUINCY — Mike Troup says becoming Quincy’s mayor was “never on his bucket list,” but he believes his six-year tenure as a member of the Quincy School Board helped prepare him for his next venture.

Troup attended his last School Board meeting on Wednesday night. He is resigning from that position on Friday, April 30 and will replace Kyle Moore as Quincy’s mayor on Monday.

“It wasn’t necessarily planned,” Troup said of his mayoral candidacy. “But having served on the School Board and really learning more about the overall community, and plus Kyle (choosing not to seek a third term) … that combination is what got me to do this.

“if Kyle was going to run again, I’m sure I would have supported him. But when he decided not to, it was like, wow, we’re going to have a void here.”

Troup, 63, is a 1975 graduate of Quincy High School and owns his own insurance company, which his son, Blaine, now will operate. He previously served on the Adams County Ambulance and EMS Board, the Great River Economic Development Foundation Board of Directors and the Adams County Board.

He became interested in the operations of the Quincy School Board when plans were discussed about putting a referendum on the ballot to pay for the construction of five elementary schools and an addition at Quincy High School, rather than continue pouring money into repairs of some of the city’s older school buildings. 

“I went, like most people, to some of the meetings to hear what they were talking about and what the plans were,” he said. “I studied it a little bit, and I told (the board) that you guys aren’t presenting that exactly in the best light to attempt to win voter approval.”

Troup eventually joined the Building and Grounds Committee, which chaired the $90 million project that voters approved in November 2014. People then asked him to consider running for a seat on the School Board.

“If you really want to understand your community, it’s worthwhile for people to get involved with their local school district,” Troup said.

However, he had an agreement with his wife, Sharon, that needed to be addressed.

“As long as she was a teacher, I could get involved with any other organization I wanted to, but I wasn’t allowed to get involved with the School Board,” Troup said. “I always thought that was fair. So she’s hearing people talking, and she finally one night told me, “You know, Mike, you’ve got all these people asking you to run. I know you are passionate about that. Go ahead and do it.’”

Troup was elected to the School Board in 2015 and was re-elected to another four-year term in 2019.

Troup said he was pleased with the School Board’s completion of the district’s construction project two years earlier than originally planned, and he’s equally happy with the School Board’s decision to hire Roy Webb to replace Steven Cobb as the district’s superintendent in 2015.

“He’s shown great leadership, not only for the school district but for the community,” Troup said. “I’m proud of bringing Roy on as our superintendent and having the privilege of working with him all these years. We haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything, but we take the time to listen to each other. He has clearly shown the type of leader he is.”

Troup also was part of a committee that raised more than $100,000 to support the district’s community health worker program, which helps families address issues that keep kids out of school. 

Sayeed Ali, president of the School Board, said he believes the qualities Troup displayed during his tenure with the School Board will make him an excellent mayor.

“I don’t think a lot of people in town realize how compassionate he is and how much he loves the community members and their families,” Ali said. “We were about to lose that (community health worker) program, and the district didn’t have any funds for it, so he went out to raise the money. That program went from helping maybe one or two families to, I think it’s like 36.

“When you see someone who loves and cares so much, but then also is very practical, is results based and is concerned how you spend every dollar, I think you’ll find he’s probably going to do a great job (as mayor).”

Webb said earlier this month he hopes Troup’s replacement on the School Board will be in place for the May meeting. That person will complete the two remaining years of Troup’s term.