St. Joseph resident and Lafayette High School alumni, Collin Clibon, runs for seat on City Council
By: Noel Hardin
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — As St. Joseph approaches its April 7, 2026, city council elections, candidate Colin Clibon is pitching himself as a voice for working families and a champion for smarter growth in the city he calls home.
Clibon, a Lafayette High School alumni and U.S. Army veteran currently serving in the Army Reserve, is running for an at-large council seat.
By profession, he is an attorney specializing in employee benefits and holds an endorsement from IBEW Local 545, credentials he says ground his focus on the needs of everyday residents.
“I care about working people, and I want to make sure that St. Joe is working for working people,” Clibon said.
A central theme of Clibon’s campaign is addressing St. Joseph’s housing shortage in a way that also strengthens the city’s long-term finances.
He advocates for constructing more single-family starter homes on vacant lots in established neighborhoods like the North End, Midtown, and South End.
He argues this “infill” development avoids the hidden costs of urban sprawl.
“When we expand outward, by building in brand new areas, you have to put in new infrastructure that then has to be maintained,” Clibon explained. “It means more pipes to fix later, more roads, longer patrols for our police force.”
Instead, building on existing empty lots, he says, brings in new sewer fee payers and increases property values without requiring costly new infrastructure.
This new revenue, he contends, can help fund city services and ease tax pressure on residents, many of whom are on fixed incomes.
“We focus on developing in areas where we can get the most return on investment,” he said.
Beyond housing, Clibon emphasized listening to service providers to address homelessness, suggesting practical solutions like secure storage for belongings could help more people transition into shelters.
On the topic of the St. Joseph School District, including the planned closure of his alma mater, Lafayette, Clibon urged cooperation over nostalgia.
“I would never want my nostalgia to get in the way of providing the very best we can have for our students,” he said.
To boost community engagement and entertainment, particularly for youth, Clibon pointed to existing assets like the Missouri Theatre, Civic Arena, and renovated parks like Krug.
He believes better communication from City Hall is key to increasing their use.
“I want to communicate regularly over a variety of different social media to update citizens on what’s going on,” he pledged, highlighting transparency as a major commitment.
Clibon, who is not an incumbent, says he is running a “people-led” campaign built on conversations at voters’ doors.
His military experience, he adds, taught him how to work on diverse teams to “get the mission done,” a skill he would bring to a council.
His overarching goal is to reverse population decline by making St. Joseph a place people don’t want to leave.
“The easiest customer to keep is the one that you already have,” he said. “If we just make St. Joe a great place to live for the people that are here… the people that are here are going to want to stay.”
Clibon’s campaign promises can be found on his website.
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CITY COUNCIL 2026
