Mayor Dylan Goldsmith

09/16/2026

Huge shout out the Newkomis beautification team for all their hard work making our city look nice!

09/01/2026

CEDC Elam and myself had the opportunity to attend DCEO’s central region roadshow today in Springfield. I’ve learned how critically important our presence at these events is if we want to tell our story at the state level.

Discussion on what is working and what isn’t for state and federal grants is crucial for better programs in the future. Today us and others shared our struggles with some of the DCEO programs and how their structure sometimes eliminates small communities from grant opportunities. We also learned about emerging programs and grants that we can pursue.

Thank you Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity for putting this seminar on!

Today, a handful of Montgomery County representatives attended the 2026 Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Roadshow for the Central Region at Innovate Springfield!

In the photo is Breann Vazquez, City Administrator with City of Litchfield, IL; Kaitlyn Fath, Executive Director for MCEDC; Dylan Goldsmwith, mayor of City of Nokomis; Audra Elam, Community and Economic Development Coordinator for the City of Nokomis; and Melissa Smith, Community and Economic Development Coordinator for the City of Hillsboro, Illinois. Also present, but not pictured, was Jamie Stokes from the SCI Regional Workforce Training & Innovation Center and Matt Jones from the West Central Development Council, Inc.

While we all make it a priority to keep up with the programs and resources available to our communities, today was a great refresher on the opportunities available to 1) support our communities, 2) help local businesses, and 3) drive economic development in our county and region.

Today we had the opportunity to hear from DCEO leaders including Aly Grady, Deputy Director at Illinois DCEO and Andrea Runge, Assistant Deputy Director at Illinois DCEO plus Callie Heidbreder, Business Programs Specialist with the USDA Rural Development team; Lingling Liu, Community Engagement Manager with the Illinois Office of Broadband; and several other state and regional partners.

A special thank you to DCEO for putting on this event, and an extra-big thank you to our always supportive Central Region Team RED reps, Belynda Allen and Faith Ritchie. We truly appreciate all that you do for the Central Region and Montgomery County!

08/14/2026

Great conference and training put on by the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. Nokomis’ new Community and Economic Development Coordinator Audra Elam and myself attended this training based around networking and sharpening our development skills. This is vital to meeting new people that can help further the goals of the city.

Montgomery County was well represented at the Midwest Community Development Institute this year with a group of five local leaders and community development professionals.

Pictured with me:
– Dylan Goldsmith, Mayor of the City of Nokomis
– Kaitlyn Fath, Executive Director of MCEDC
– Audra Elam, Economic Development & Community Planner for the City of Nokomis
– Mike Fleming, Community Banker with Litchfield National Bank

Not pictured is Melissa Smith, Economic Development & Community Planner for the City of Hillsboro, who was busy helping move her son into college. 📚📓

It was a great week of learning, networking, and bringing new ideas back home to Montgomery County!

08/12/2026

Please see the press release regarding the police presence in Nokomis.

Some people have commented about the lack of information in the initial press release.

1. It was an active investigation so little to no information could be relased
2. An area was not given because some people don’t follow directions and would then go to the place they were told to avoid.
3. If you came across the scene, you would know where to avoid.
4. There was no active threat because the situation was limited to one residence. Some people were asked to evacuate out of an abundance of caution.

The goal of press releases like the initial one is to let people know there is an incident and it is being handled. As more information becomes available, it is disseminated.

I want to thank NPD, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the Illinois State Police and FBI for their handling of this matter.

06/20/2026

Please see the press release for the officer involved incident at Casey's from the other night.

06/06/2026

Congratulations to our Nokomis baseball sectional champs! Go Redskins!

That's a WINNER! The IHSA 1A Sectional Champions! The team will play Monday at 4pm at Lincoln Land Community College. 🔴⚫️

03/19/2026

We have gotten a number of people needing assistance with getting their storm debris to the curb. If you are willing to volunteer or help, please reach out to city hall and give them your name, number and what you can help with. Lets help everyone get their properties cleaned up and be good neighbors.

03/19/2026

The dumpster is behind city hall. Please use it only for trash and other things related to the storm. Once it is full it will be removed. See the picture below for unacceptable items.

03/16/2026

Folks please stay home right now. Emergency and city crews are out assessing storm damage and there is too much traffic. There is also a tremendous amount of debris in the roads. Please give them room to work.