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Longtime Dublin resident and Human Services Commissioner Shawn Costello will once again be looking to win a seat on the City Council come Nov. 5, only this time he is trying his luck for mayor.
Costello said he has been trying to get elected to the council or as the mayor for decades now and that even though he is not big on campaigning like his fellow candidates, if he gets elected he will make sure to take care of the city that he has called home for four decades.
“I have given the last 40 years of my life to this city and I will keep on going and going until I don’t have anymore to give,” he told the Weekly. “If you vote for me, you got that promise that I am not going to just leave people out to dry.”
Costello is no stranger to Dublin’s city government. He has sought various public office positions before like in 2018 when he campaigned for City Council and in 2008 when he first made a play for mayor. Since then, he was appointed to the city’s Human Services Commission in 2020 with his term set to end this December.
As a person with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair, Costello said his top priorities include being a representative of the disabled community. However, he also clarified that his disability does not define him and that he is just as capable of being Dublin’s mayor as any other candidate.
“My legs may not be working, I may be in a wheelchair, I might have cerebral palsy, but my brain still works,” Costello said. “I can still help the city.”
One of his priorities is affordable housing in Dublin. Costello pointed out that he has a limited income, which means he cannot afford some of the new expensive units that are being built throughout the city.
He said as Dublin continues to grow, the city needs to stop allowing contractors to pay housing fees in order to get out of building low-income units so that others can afford to live in Dublin.
“I am for the little guy,” Costello said. “I want to help out everyone in the city.”
He said with all of the new developments popping up in Dublin, he has also been worried about water supply and the increase of traffic.
High speeding cars are particularly an issue to him. He said he was almost run over by a car while in his wheelchair, which is why he wants to focus on making streets safer and addressing the traffic concerns that come with more development as mayor.
“I want to make sure that everybody … in Dublin is safe,” Costello said. “I want to make this a safe city.”
With the recent opening of Dublin’s newest school, Emerald High School, Costello also said he would want to focus on making sure students with disabilities have access to the appropriate amount of help and resources, which he did not have growing up.
“We all have to band together and help each other out,” Costello said.
And even though he doesn’t put up signs, ask for money or get too involved in the campaigning aspects of the election, he said he would have so much to offer as mayor.
“I have so much energy, so much knowledge that I want to share with the whole city,” Costello said.
