[0:05] which I find really exciting. Uh I've
been the mayor been the mayor here
[0:10] almost a year and this is our third
meeting. Um one of the things that
[0:14] excites me the most is that when we have
these we invite the county the county
[0:18] has been great to come and partner with
us and it just makes our whole area
[0:23] better when we can do things together.
So tonight we had had a request at the
[0:28] last town hall that we get together
again before election time. We had
[0:34] several really tricky ballot initiatives
going through this year and uh Miss K.
[0:40] McMerry is here and is going to help us
with some information on some of that.
[0:44] Um, we have school board candidates from
the Fair School District because we have
[0:49] several of them that will be running um,
next Tuesday, I guess, is election day.
[0:55] And so, you'll get to hear from them and
you'll get to hear from county. Uh,
[0:59] their election is not until November,
but I think the sooner that we can get
[1:02] to know who's running and who they are,
the better off we'll be. So, thank you
[1:07] for taking time to be here tonight and
become more informed about our community
[1:12] and about our county. Um, we were going
to start with candidates tonight, but
[1:16] Miss Kay has another engagement. So, I'm
going to ask Miss K Mc Merry if she'll
[1:21] come up and she's going to talk to you
about some of the ballot initiatives
[1:24] that we're going to be facing. Miss K.
[1:35] Some people say I don't. I'm Hale Bry. I
have I've lived here pretty much all my
[1:42] life here.
My dad was a ball teacher and I have
[1:47] been lobbying in Jefferson City now for
14 years. And I will tell you
[1:52] truthfully, this is the hardest year
I've ever worked. So, um, tonight I want
[2:00] to address
Senate Bill three.
[2:05] And if um Carol and Glenna did your job,
most of you will have copies of that. If
[2:13] not, um I'll give you my phone number or
my email, and you can certainly call me.
[2:19] I don't mind at all.
So, I'm going to start this this way.
[2:25] When you vote for something unknown,
[2:29] Senate Bill 3 is just that. And let me
tell you why.
[2:36] It is not out of the courts of Missouri
yet. It is in the Cole County courts.
[2:42] Three two rep as a representative, a
senator, and a citizen from Dixon,
[2:49] Missouri filed lawsuit
in June
[2:54] 2025
and said, "This bill is
[2:58] unconstitutional."
And part of the reason for that is it
[3:04] had two different sections in the bill.
Number one, it was funding and trying to
[3:09] keep the Kansas City Chiefs here in
Missouri. And number two, it was at the
[3:15] same time asking to give tax breaks and
what have you for other people such as
[3:22] ourselves or because I'm old. Um, and we
need to, you know, we need to all think
[3:29] about those things and look at those
things. I want to read the ballot.
[3:35] Shall the county Oregon exempt eligible
taxpayers from certain tax increases on
[3:43] eligible taxpayers primary residents
above the liability incurred during the
[3:49] initial credit year.
You all understand that?
[3:56] It's about as clear as mud to a lot of
people.
[3:59] And my objective
uh has been basically to contact
[4:05] everybody I know from north of Kansas
City to the Osho across to Cape Dorado.
[4:13] Uh all all the people I can contact here
in this area and say they, you know,
[4:18] they're opposing it. They're not
supporting this bill. It's your right as
[4:24] a taxpayer to do as you wish.
But when we are affecting
[4:30] school districts,
when we're affecting fire departments,
[4:35] the libraries,
county governments, city government,
[4:40] um, and we're asking them to forfeit
money. And then today, the
[4:46] developmentally disabled came out with a
great big uh post about how it will
[4:52] affect them.
So, there are a lot of unknowns about
[4:57] this bill, but I'll give you some
figures. And I tried to do my research
[5:02] and those of you that have been
privileged to get one of these um has
[5:07] all of the people that I have contacted
or the newspaper articles that I've read
[5:13] or the TV stations or whatever. So, it's
not like I really haven't gotten into
[5:19] this.
Tanya may know more about this than I
[5:23] do, but here here are the estimated
losses to the school
[5:29] should sit billf free pass
$359,000
[5:36] per
couch $157,000
[5:42] kosh
100,000
[5:45] Alton 340,000
and we're not talking about one time
[5:51] shot. Folks, we are talking about
multiple years.
[5:56] So, it continues.
That's a that's a real concern for
[6:01] anybody in this county because what it's
going to cause is that funding will go
[6:06] stagnant and nine times out of 10 people
are going to say, "Well, we've passed,
[6:11] you know, issues before and blah blah
blah blah." Somebody said to me today,
[6:15] "Well, we were supposed to get a lot of
money out of the lottery."
[6:20] I think maybe 2% is what education gets
out of the lottery fund in the state of
[6:26] Missouri that we voted on years ago.
That's pretty sad.
[6:31] At the last town hall meeting
Tanya gave us I'm sorry. Tanya gave us
[6:38] what would happen if Senate Bill 2780
should pass. And that's another property
[6:43] tax bill. This one, the concern is
you're taking the $2.75
[6:50] levy down to $220.
[6:56] That becomes about a 17- 19%
um sales tax if we expand. So, House
[7:06] Bill 2780
for the four school districts here in
[7:10] the county would give us 2,500
or 2557
[7:20] uh estimated loss and that would be
again per year.
[7:26] So, now if you can do the math, we're
getting on up to about a half a million
[7:30] dollars.
Another bill floating through uh the
[7:36] legislature and it is um it's on the
Senate side. It was discussed briefly
[7:42] today and laid over will be the
initiative to change uh from income tax
[7:49] to sales tax.
And we all think well that sounds pretty
[7:54] big.
Well, if you're paying 17 to 19% more
[7:58] for your haircut, for instance, as a
little example, I figured up today I'd
[8:04] be paying about $36 a haircut.
Some of you may say, "Oh, that won't be
[8:10] the case." There's facts and figures out
coming out of Dent County
[8:15] showing that if you spend $100 at a
grocery store, you're going to spend
[8:19] about $25 in taxes.
So, those things are concerning.
[8:26] The total loss for the Alton Couch and
Koskinon
[8:34] would be almost $3.6 million.
Now, if you think about that, how many
[8:42] can really afford that?
Not a school district in this county,
[8:47] nor anywhere else that I understand.
from talking to people from North Kansas
[8:52] City down to Joplin to do the show to
Wright County. Nobody could afford it
[8:58] and they know that.
So
[9:03] on Tuesday we vote
and you in your own hearts
[9:10] can determine how you want to vote.
I can't tell you how to do that,
[9:18] but I do know that it's so important not
just to this county, but to the state of
[9:23] Missouri. When a judge can demand that
we
[9:29] 97 counties in the state of Missouri
have to vote
[9:34] for this issue on Tuesday.
The rest of the counties are exempt
[9:42] pretty much. And if you, you know,
having read a lot of that, you're going
[9:47] to be looking at places like Kansas City
and Columbia where they're heavy
[9:51] Democrats.
Uh, so just be aware, you know, I hope
[9:56] that you will uh consider your votes
and I'll be anxious to to see the
[10:03] results next week. Um, I can briefly
take questions,
[10:09] but I do have another obligation. This
will be my fourth or fifth one today.
[10:16] [clears throat]
>> Go ahead.
[10:18] » Just to be clear,
>> yes.
[10:22] » I'm sorry.
>> SB3 passed last year.
[10:26] » It did pass in the legislature,
>> but now
[10:31] » the [clears throat] judge in Cole County
has
[10:34] mandated that we will go back and revote
Senate Bill three.
[10:41] because there's been so much controversy
in the court challenge
[10:47] » and it's like 190 bill 190. It's very
like Senate Bill 190.
[10:54] » Senate Bill 190. If you've not signed up
yet, I'm going to tell I'm going to put
[10:58] a little plug in. On April 30th, if you
were 62 years old and above, all right?
[11:06] and you own your own house, you have the
opportunity to go to the courthouse and
[11:12] sign up for your credit there to freeze
uh your taxes
[11:19] on your house and hopefully not do any
work on it because if you do it'll
[11:25] increase again. But I'm just, you know,
I'm trying to give you a little
[11:29] information here about that. Also, it's
important. April the 30th is the other
[11:33] deadline for that.
[11:42] just your house.
>> Sorry, Kathy.
[11:50] » I imagine they will be going after your
farmland.
[11:55] » Mr. Hoba,
>> what are the advantages? What are they?
[12:03] » Thank you. That is true.
[12:14] » Um, what David just said is true. It's
similar to to 190, you know, and that's
[12:22] their intent and purpose, and they want
you to believe that. And they also do
[12:26] not want you to think that um
they are going to, as you said, blow
[12:34] smoke. That's not their intention to do
that. And if you talk to any of the
[12:40] representatives or senators, that's
probably what they're going to tell you.
[12:44] But um I've researched about tw 12
different organization
[12:49] organizations and probably most of you
in this room have heard of the Missouri
[12:53] Schoolboard Association
uh which is the state organization for
[12:58] education and believe me they're saying
the same thing.
[13:06] Am I am I right understanding if you
sign up for this place will be
[13:10] reassessed for that and you have to sign
up every year you do have to sign up for
[13:17] 190 every year the assessment I'm not
sure David
[13:23] » automat
[13:32] $300
>> that could be very well true
[13:42] Anyway,
I'll be happy to take questions if you
[13:45] have pencils and you want to write down
my number, it's fine. I'm like a doctor.
[13:49] I'm on call all the time.
>> Okay, Joy.
[14:01] » Vote or no?
No means no in this in this instance. If
[14:07] you vote yes, you may be mad later on,
but that's your choice.
[14:14] » Any other questions?
[14:31] cuz they won't confuse you.
you know, you're fine. Having
[14:41] » I hope not.
Having having been there for 14 years, I
[14:46] can tell you right now, it just goes up
and down. Um, and if there are tax
[14:51] issues like we've got this year, we have
100 tax bills in the state of Missouri.
[14:56] Um, that could be heard at any point.
And this is also the time of the year
[15:02] that they say, "Well, we're just going
to put 270 and 1410 and and whatever
[15:08] together."
And they'll expect you to understand all
[15:12] of that if some of it comes to a vote,
which this is. They intentionally write
[15:17] ballots
to where not very many people are going
[15:22] to understand unless you really research
them. And I'm going out on land, but
[15:29] it's okay.
have to retire again.
[15:33] » How did our state representative, our
state senator?
[15:39] » Is he here? No. Um,
[clears throat] Representative Elliott
[15:45] actually voted yes.
He voted yes on uh Senate Bill 3. He
[15:50] voted yes on 278.
So, he would uh be glad to put his two
[16:00] cents in, I'm sure. Senator Bean out of
um the Southeast area.
[16:08] Oh, thank you. The Strawberry Barbecue
um voted for Senate Bill Three. They
[16:16] have not um of course
2780 is still being heard in the Senate
[16:23] so they've not voted on that yet but um
you know call them.
[16:31] You can look up their numbers pretty
quick
[16:35] and if they won't talk to you just tell
their legislative assistant exactly what
[16:39] you think and feel. My number 573
368
[16:47] 9889.
[16:51] If you can't hear me, call the radio
station.
[16:54] Just kidding. Thank you.
[16:58] Things we have going on with these
Senate bills and have interest and
[17:02] there's several people around you that
have done good research. So, if you have
[17:06] questions, I know Miss Debbie, will you
raise your hand? And Debbie Sanchez does
[17:11] a lot of research and she has stuff on
Facebook. Miss Tanya knows a lot also
[17:15] about these Senate bills. These not only
affect our cities and our towns and our
[17:20] county, they affect the future of our
people. And so please, please consider
[17:26] carefully when you vote. Um, moving
right along here, I'd like to ask that
[17:31] the candidates for their school board
come down, please.
[17:37] Sorry,
>> we're going to start with them because
[17:39] it's a smaller group.
[17:44] I'm so thankful for everyone who came
out tonight. It's great to see you.
[17:54] » I'm going to have Brent bring you the
microphone and I'm going to ask that you
[17:59] each one introduce yourself and tell why
you chose to run for third district
[18:03] school board.
[18:13] Hello everybody. My name is Don Edward.
I am u school board for a lot of
[18:19] different reasons. First off, I have
three kids in the school system. Um
[18:24] they're doing great overall, but as I've
been analyzing the situation, and you
[18:28] got to keep in mind where I'm coming
from. I come from a military background.
[18:33] Been in the army for 24 years. Had
positions from platoon leader to
[18:38] battalion S3, battalion S2, led trained
uh soldiers on battlefields in Iraq and
[18:47] Afghanistan like five times. Desert
Storm. Okay. I know what it takes to be
[18:53] a leader. I also know how to analyze
things properly. I also know how to
[18:59] dissect
what it is that you're trying to gather
[19:03] the come with sound conclusions
after you get all the facts of the
[19:08] situation
then when you get those facts then you
[19:11] can make a solid recommendation so
that's the kind of extra things I bring
[19:15] to play I've been in there for for eight
years now um my kids will continue
[19:22] through the school system the as we are
at the moment they sure liked it to be
[19:27] better than than what is what's going on
Now um there are some issues that need
[19:32] to be addressed,
things that need to be fixed but that's
[19:36] like that in every organization you know
as we try to do better you know
[19:41] hopefully you learn from mistakes of the
past hopefully you uh try to uh you know
[19:49] do better than what you did before um
and you try to not disenfranchise anyone
[19:55] so in the process and that's the
difficult thing the school board's got a
[20:00] very important job to help our students
be
[20:06] healthy in all areas not just physical
security which one of the things I was
[20:12] was a military policeman when I was in
the army okay I also was an intel
[20:16] analyst DI and I was an armor officer
through my 24 year span so so I
[20:21] understand what it takes
for physical security side and there's a
[20:27] lot of value added that I can provide on
that lane. The I also did a lot of
[20:31] training within the army so I could come
from an outsiders perspective in and
[20:37] provide those data points so that we can
make what we got going on here at there
[20:43] even better. So those are the kind of
things that I bring to the table and and
[20:48] then some that's just a taste if you
will. It's the first time I ever tried
[20:54] on any level of politics. politics was
normally not in my bag. When I retired
[20:59] 2014 and became a thing, I was like,
well, hey, I'm just going to be retired
[21:04] and hang out and enjoy, you know, with
my family and so forth and I'm dealing
[21:08] with that. But I also heard a calling
that that uh I felt that I needed to
[21:14] fill and so uh so now I'm out of
retirement.
[21:18] I was trying to get out of retirement a
little bit and I would love to get your
[21:22] vote. Thank you very much.
[21:27] » [applause]
[21:36] » Hello, my name is Bill Hank. Excuse
[clears throat] me, I'm a little dry. My
[21:40] allergies are acting up. I'm sure no one
else has that problem. [clears throat]
[21:45] Uh I grew up just well out the couch
community. went to cow school and uh I
[21:52] moved to the 30 years ago. I want to
work for the railroad I guess and uh
[21:57] I've had three kids go through the
school and some years ago I don't know I
[22:02] just decided that I might have a add my
perspective to to the school board. U we
[22:10] we've had a lot of good people on there
for years and I had no agenda or no uh
[22:17] big plan to make any changes. I just
thought it just try to help. Uh there's
[22:22] always had a a good reputation statewide
and not only not only locally people
[22:28] like to come here, they uh they like to
send their kids to school here and we've
[22:32] got a lot of people that to to help the
kids succeed. Uh we got a lot of good
[22:38] teachers. We've got very good
administration. We got probably one of
[22:41] the best superintendents that that I
would know of anywhere. Um, and uh, as
[22:48] far as I know,
we we've we've made a lot of decisions
[22:53] that I think have uh, helped the
community and helped the school grow and
[23:00] helped a lot of kids succeed. Uh,
we we at board meetings we we had a lot
[23:08] of discussion
probably I I talk too much. Most people
[23:12] will tell you that. Uh so we spend a lot
of maybe a lot of time that maybe
[23:18] wouldn't uh we wouldn't necessarily need
to to ask a lot of questions but uh we
[23:23] we we are very thoughtful in our
deliberations. Uh everybody has a voice
[23:28] or set of voice. Uh no one person makes
any decision on their own. So uh we may
[23:34] have differences opinion but generally
we can come to consensus and and make
[23:40] decisions and uh everything is taken uh
for the best of the district and for
[23:47] mainly for the kids in this district.
So, I just appreciate your vote and I'll
[23:54] do my dead level best and continue to to
make decisions with with every uh bit of
[24:02] information that that I can gather
provided to us and appreciate your vote
[24:09] on Tuesday.
>> ALL RIGHT. [applause]
[24:14] UH, MY NAME IS Mike Morris. Uh, been on
the school board for probably about 15
[24:20] years now. My wife and I moved back in
I think 1999 after living in the
[24:26] mountain home for about 20 years. I've
worked for the railroad. I know I was
[24:30] going to be traveling for a long time
and New York girls need to be in a
[24:33] smaller community. I graduated here in
80 and both my girls graduated here. My
[24:41] wife got on
this
[24:45] help grading papers back at old
elementary many years ago and she went
[24:50] back to college and ended up getting a
job as secretary at elementary. A lot of
[24:55] your kids probably she's probably seen
over her lifetime when she retired
[25:00] around the co time. Uh
by far
[25:06] I think we have probably one of the best
school districts around. I was fortunate
[25:10] enough for about 10 years to be on the
Missouri School Board Association in
[25:15] Colombia
and uh Mr. heard talk about that long
[25:20] ago. And I was a representative for the
southern part of the state when all
[25:26] toward around Cape
and uh
[25:33] a lot of people knew us there more or
less to do our sports and stuff.
[25:38] But uh here several years ago, we
started a farm and table program and I
[25:42] got a friend of mine to come up and uh
we videotaped this and pieced it all
[25:49] together and I took it to Columbia
and people were just amazed at what our
[25:55] students were doing down here. And we
hear that no matter where we go as
[26:00] vacation free time
or
[26:05] basketball football games, you know said
your kids are the best kids in the
[26:12] public
and uh you know we ought to be proud of
[26:16] that. We've had a lot of students
graduate here and said, "Gosh, I would
[26:20] had
Tony, what's Mrs.
[26:26] teacher that retired?"
>> Miss McInness.
[26:29] » Miss McInness. If we wouldn't had her, I
would never got through college.
[26:37] And we do spend a lot of time, like Bill
said,
[26:41] » every month going through equipment and
trying to get the best teacher. If we
[26:44] don't have it, we're going to some way
to get it. And
[26:52] on what Bill said, we've been through at
least
[26:56] four three or four superintendent and T
spends a lot of hours on the road, a lot
[27:00] of hours
on the phone and
[27:06] heard Mark and Mr. Morso went to the
elementary school. They bring us
[27:12] all these camps every month for new
teachers where we need where we're
[27:15] needed at. And it's it's a process and
they go through a lot and they bring it
[27:20] to us and we'll sit there for hours
trying to pick out whichever one of the
[27:23] things the best and it's I love every
bit of it. My girls enjoy going to
[27:29] school here.
My daughter has got into education.
[27:33] She's a fourth grade teacher at West
Plains. Not where I want her to go, but
[27:37] you know, it's close to home. So, um
I believe that uh we're on the right
[27:45] direction and we'll continue to get
better. And I know there's a lot of good
[27:50] things in the works right now that uh
we'll be putting out
[27:55] for the district and for our kids and
moving forward. And
[28:01] if you have students that's moving up
from junior high into high school,
[28:06] we offer a lot of classes online.
get you have a social degree before you
[28:11] ever graduate from high school. So,
that's something that's really big and
[28:14] it's really blossomed over the last
several years.
[28:18] But I appreciate your vote on Tuesday.
And if y'all ever have a question for
[28:24] the morning, welcome.
[applause]
[28:32] My name is Jason Baker. I I'm a lifelong
resident of there. I'm a 1997 graduate
[28:38] of there. I I currently have
two daughters in school, one in
[28:44] preschool, one in fourth grade. I
I work for the railroad for 27 years
[28:50] now. Been on volunteer fire department
here and there for 25 years.
[28:56] And uh I've had a had a lot of people
I've always had the a little bit of a
[29:02] idea of running for school board, but I
had a lot of people come to me and ask
[29:07] me if I'd be interested.
I this year I finally made the decision
[29:12] that I was going to do it. And the
reasons being are well first of all
[29:19] everybody after I signed up for it I had
a lot of people come to me and ask me
[29:23] well what's your agenda? You have an
agenda. if you have, you know, something
[29:27] you're going to do. I don't I the only
agenda I have is to help the best I can
[29:35] to continue their school being as good
as it is in faith. That's I have no
[29:42] opposition that or agenda that I'm going
after by running.
[29:49] I feel like we have a great school and
anybody that's from there or surrounding
[29:56] communities knows about Bobcat pride and
I have a lot of Bobcat pride.
[30:03] You can ask David over there. He knows
and he may be against it but he knows
[30:07] about Bobcat Pride. One of our biggest
rivals with him we have always had is
[30:12] all high school. [clears throat]
But the other thing I like is that if
[30:19] either community has a problem,
there's no podcast, comments, none of
[30:25] that. It we all come together. And
that's what's great about living in
[30:30] rural communities is everybody comes
together to help everybody out. And
[30:35] there's no place like we're accountable
for doing that. But I uh
[30:42] like I said, I don't have any opposition
that I'm running like agenda that I'm
[30:46] running for. I just want to be here to
offer whatever I can to make help make
[30:54] improvements to help
keep the best teachers to get the best
[30:59] teachers to draw people to want to be a
Bobcat.
[31:03] and
I'd really appreciate your vote next
[31:07] Tuesday. Thank you. [applause]
[31:14] Okay, I am still new and still learning.
I probably didn't do that in the right
[31:19] order, but these gentlemen, there are
there's three positions that are going
[31:23] to be filled. There's four gentlemen
voting for it. So, if there's anyone
[31:28] that has questions, I'm sure you all
would be glad to answer any questions
[31:32] directed. If you'd like to raise your
hand and say who you have question for,
[31:36] I'm sure we'd be glad to take your
questions.
[31:41] Anybody got any questions? Miss Jessica?
>> Yeah, I have a question for um for those
[31:50] that are running. Um, do any of you have
past situations where you have received
[31:56] any disciplinary action or been
restricted from being at the school
[31:59] district?
[32:03] » No, I haven't.
[32:06] » No, I have not either. And uh, we I'll
speak for Bill, too. I won't speak for
[32:13] Bill. I'll
just here. Uh we've all got we both I
[32:19] know have gotten phone calls over the
years
[32:24] and
nobody's ever said they hadn't been able
[32:30] to get to the school or anything. The
one the one thing that we have had in
[32:34] the past is
we first got on was proper channels
[32:42] and
a lot of people would call us.
[32:47] We redirected to Mark. I said if they
had a problem with their child and then
[32:54] could get satisfaction there
and that didn't satisfy
[33:01] but that's kind of that kind of got
stuck there but that's kind of the way
[33:04] it's always the process has been there's
been some situations that a lot of
[33:10] people were familiar with how to do this
[33:15] No,
[33:20] » I feel like this question is directed
directly to me. That way I can expound
[33:25] on things. Okay, great. The uh short
answer is yes.
[33:31] Okay. I had an opportunity
to have an engagement
[33:36] after an event with the teacher. teacher
wasn't doing anything wrong, but I had
[33:42] to go investigate cuz my daughter came
up to me and she said, "Hey, I should
[33:47] have been in this positioning over here
during this concert and uh that didn't
[33:52] happen." So, I was like, my wife Susan,
if you know her, Susan, he uh don't do
[33:58] it. Don't do it. I was like, all I'm
going to do is ask a question. So walk
[34:03] across, start engaging with the
conversation with the teacher. The uh
[34:09] started doing an assessment of the
situation, realized that the girl that
[34:14] had swapped spots was one that had been
bullying my daughter and she uh
[34:21] was the problem. So I was like, well,
I'm getting tired of these girls
[34:25] bullying my daughter. So needless to
say, the uh teacher was loud out there.
[34:32] Teacher was like, "I'm not bullying in
here." We're like, "Whoa, no, no, I
[34:35] didn't say that." The uh and then
another teacher from 20 ft away started
[34:39] yelling across the room and she's
yelling and my wife's yelling back
[34:44] yelling.
Two times over. I was like, "Okay, well,
[34:48] hey, it's time to go." So, we took a
walk. He uh tapped the old grade school
[34:53] principal on the shoulder. I said, "Hey,
I'd like to talk to you on on uh
[34:56] Monday." Brought a couple of your
teachers. He uh and he's like, "Okay,
[35:01] great." So, show up on Monday. Before I
know it, I'm getting like plans for
[35:06] everything. And I was like, "Whoa." I go
I go, "What are you talking about?" The
[35:10] uh I go, "All I was doing was trying to
figure out what was going on here with
[35:14] my daughter and and now I'm the
problem." Yeah. So, I found that when
[35:20] you ask questions, doesn't matter
whether it's a hard question to a
[35:25] teacher or anybody else, you know, it
comes back on me. He uh I'll take that
[35:31] hit all day long. He as far as that's
concerned. So, I was trying to stick up
[35:35] for my daughter. The teacher had nothing
to do with with the whole situation.
[35:41] Now, the other teacher misunderstood and
was being pretty loud. the uh if people
[35:48] had one apologized to me about the
situation
[35:52] or if took me serious on my dialogue on
what happened on there then maybe
[35:59] something in the future wouldn't happen
and I won't get into that I'll remind
[36:02] you the uh but you know there's a cause
and effect to everything and if
[36:06] something doesn't get fixed with an
individual then they get lost to
[36:12] something else and something else and
before you know it could do something
[36:16] really bad. He uh had been getting into
the physical security side and I said in
[36:21] my speech earlier, this is one of those
cases. He uh things get fixed early on
[36:29] and it doesn't snowball out of control.
So So yeah. Yeah, I got wrote up for 14
[36:35] months. Um went to go talk to the board.
He that didn't didn't work out. the um
[36:44] nothing changed for that one. I wanted
copy of the uh the video. They said that
[36:51] they had a copy of the video and when I
asked for it, uh they didn't have a copy
[36:56] of the video because apparently you they
determined that it wasn't on. So, we had
[37:04] a long conversation about that and other
things going, "Oh, well, that's got to
[37:08] be fixed." I go, you're supposed to have
video 24/7,
[37:12] 7 days a week.
Should be accessible. It should be
[37:16] working. The uh you should be able to
see what's on the screen. I just noticed
[37:21] recently that they upgraded that the uh
that's fantastic. That's, you know, if
[37:27] anything came out of all that very
minimum, it was that now we have better
[37:32] video cameras than what we had before
because that shouldn't be the case at
[37:37] all. That's kind of That's pretty
dangerous for all of our kids and we
[37:41] want to make sure that we have a safe
environment for all the kids here. We
[37:45] want to make sure that that all the
administrators, the teachers, people
[37:50] working in a school, they are all doing
what they should be doing is being
[37:55] strong mentors. They they are building
up the kids, never tearing them down.
[38:02] Okay? Positive mentors. The uh and you
don't have things in place as safety
[38:09] mechanisms, then that will never happen.
So, so yeah, that long story short,
[38:16] that's basically happened. There was a
couple other things that got tied in
[38:20] there. It got went in the wrong way and,
you know, before the buses wake cuz they
[38:26] closed parking lot out front for like 45
minutes before, you know, you know, 30
[38:32] plus minutes before the bus shows up.
So, like me and 10 other people, we went
[38:36] in the wrong way. I got busted. I
stopped doing that. That was another
[38:39] thing. I took full responsibility for
that. I'm just trying to get to my kids
[38:44] the time of man. Yeah. I didn't do that
after that. The um And then there was
[38:50] one other thing too. The uh you know,
you got little kids that are one and
[38:55] three years old. The uh and they forget
homework. You get kind of like flustered
[39:00] a little bit. I got three kids with me
and some of the kids come out. I go,
[39:03] "Hey, you got all your homework?" like
we forgot something. I was like, "Okay,
[39:07] well, let's go in and get it." The uh
So, I start walking in the door they
[39:11] came out of and pretty much everybody's
out of school and so forth. And walking
[39:16] in and I get two steps in the security
guard that's doing this job. I said,
[39:20] "Hey, you're not supposed to be in here
this way." And I was like, "Oh, okay.
[39:23] Sorry." Then you go back around. So, so,
uh, so I did that and then, you know, a
[39:28] few months down the line or maybe
longer. I can't remember what the
[39:31] timeline was. Got flustered again and
went back in with my kids. Like I said,
[39:38] they're talking about, you know, ones
that are fourth, fourth grade or below
[39:41] and so forth. Got roam again for that. I
wouldn't be going way in there. So, what
[39:47] I do, I just
went the right way. And so, that way we
[39:52] could, you know, both of those time
periods were after
[39:56] after pretty much everybody was out of
the building the uh as far as everybody
[40:01] but you know I still took responsibility
for that because I was wrong I shouldn't
[40:06] have walked in that particular door at
that particular time and so forth. So,
[40:10] you know, as a disabled veteran, you
know, one of the things that they gave
[40:14] me was 14 months not being able to
participate in any of my kids events.
[40:20] Um, as for recreat
with the time period, 14 months. Now,
[40:27] you guys can judge for yourself. Was
that appropriate for the situations or
[40:31] not? It is, you know, pretty lengthy
time. I miss two of my my kids award
[40:38] ceremonies. My to doing a payup job. Um,
and as a dad, I couldn't be there for
[40:44] them at that moment any time. I couldn't
even [clears throat] get access. And as
[40:48] a veteran in particular, disabled
veteran, corn state law, I'm supposed to
[40:53] have full access to all the kids. And
that that didn't that didn't happen. The
[40:58] uh but they stuck with, you know, that I
accepted it. I did I complied to that
[41:02] whole time period. And now I'm back on
the normal guy list, if you will. so I
[41:09] can do what everybody else does and so
forth. The uh
[41:14] I'm just trying to figure out what I can
do to better future person's situations.
[41:21] Um and I can give better by by learning
and growing from that particular moment
[41:27] in time. And then also asking the hard
questions to make sure that everything's
[41:34] being properly investigated on all
angles.
[41:38] multiple witnesses, whatever it takes
the uh to get an accurate picture and
[41:43] that accurate picture is presented to
the board. Not powerful picture, not not
[41:48] too clear of the picture
for your perspective or not, whatever,
[41:53] but but the full picture. The uh and so
if people need to really get pushed away
[41:59] from their kids in this particular case,
then so be it. Okay, for the time
[42:03] period. If it's a shorter time period,
okay, that's fine, too. The uh if they
[42:08] did something so horrendous that they
were banned for life, then you know,
[42:12] that's the way that it is. But at least
the investigation part is done properly
[42:18] and it's done impartially. So, thank
you.
[42:26] » Any more questions?
[42:33] your name for me. Slowly
[42:37] slowly
[42:43] » for him. B O T G T O R I F. I think I'm
the only D on the roster there.
[42:50] » Bill Honeyut
[42:54] » Mike Horse
Jason.
[43:01] Okay, any more questions?
[43:05] [clears throat]
>> Kind of twofold here. So, first of all,
[43:10] some of you guys said what your agenda
was. So, the ones that didn't, what are
[43:13] your agendas or do you have one? And
then the second question would be to
[43:17] Dawn for what you just said. Um, so if
you were involved in something with the
[43:23] other school board meeting members or
potentially some of these that were in
[43:27] there in the past, are you going to be
be able to if you get with them this
[43:31] time, are you going to be able to
cooperate with them or are there hard
[43:34] feelings because of that situation or
how is that going to work?
[43:40] » You just asked me if I'm a better man or
not. He uh what's their question and so
[43:45] forth.
You know, I was always taught right from
[43:51] wrong. You admit to your your mistakes
and then you learn and you grow and you
[43:56] move forward and you don't drag anybody
down along the way. The uh you know,
[44:01] although I felt that there's a lot of
folks on myself that didn't have a voice
[44:07] on there, I'm trying to have a voice for
the parents, for the kids, okay, for for
[44:13] everybody out there. The uh I don't have
any problem. I've worked with with all
[44:18] kinds of different leaders in the army.
The uh ones that I didn't agree with.
[44:23] The uh ones that I did um some harder
softer than others. Overall, women, men,
[44:30] you know, doesn't matter the uh um you
know, we're all green here. Just like
[44:35] when I was in the army, we're all green.
Okay. We're all got the best interest of
[44:40] the kids at heart. Okay. If they don't,
if no one has the best interest in the
[44:45] case 100%.
Then we'll have a discussion about that,
[44:49] okay? As I try to roll them back into
that those particular discussion points.
[44:54] But but I have no problem interacting
and working. Matter of fact, a couple
[45:00] days ago, had a chance to work with
superintendent
[45:05] Bill the uh on on a very important
initiative that came out with the
[45:09] school. the uh the Chennow survey. I
don't know if everybody saw that. At
[45:14] first I said I didn't see it, Tanya, but
I didn't see it because my wife did it
[45:18] for us. The uh that's why I didn't see
it. But but um you know, we had 700
[45:24] something families and 114 families
filled out this for these forms to come
[45:29] up with these statistics as they were
trying to figure out where we're at now
[45:34] and what we can do in the next two
years.
[45:38] We had we had great discussions and
there was like another board member with
[45:42] me and superintendent with me and and we
we stepped forward from that situation
[45:47] which you know ended uh almost a year
ago. So so you know it's been been a
[45:54] while. So and I didn't feel anything in
either direction from anybody you know
[46:01] regardless of of past situations or
whatever. They seem like folks that
[46:06] could say, "Oh yeah, this is that moment
in time. You're back in the mix.
[46:11] Let's let's talk. Let's interact. Let's
try to move forward. I'm getting
[46:16] whatever we need to get done for the
kids." And that's why I was there. I
[46:19] wasn't there for publicity or anything.
Matter of fact, I could have just curled
[46:23] up in a little ball for this whole
situation and said, "I'm done.
[46:28] You know, I got PTSD, which I do 90%
disabled, a few different categories.
[46:34] The uh this is why
I don't hang out with crowds and don't
[46:39] interact with people because one thing
or another is is a difficult situation
[46:45] for me. The uh but I'm finding myself
able to handle that. the uh as was a
[46:53] couple days ago and actually throughout
the whole school year I bumped into the
[46:58] superintendent and Donna through
multiple avenues regardless where it was
[47:04] at doing some kind of charity type of
work I say it like that the u um or
[47:12] within the school itself and so forth or
maybe it's just a passing dialogue you
[47:17] know in the hallway or whatever and And
I don't see, you know, I'm not I'm not
[47:24] feeling like I'm a victim or anything
like that. The uh and I and I'm not
[47:28] trying to make anybody else a victim. I
don't know to what I did. The uh and
[47:34] left the other stuff back behind. Uh,
one thing that I would never tolerate is
[47:39] is anybody, I don't care if they're an
adult or a child that bullies or
[47:46] harasses or talks down to at any of our
kids. The that is totally unnecessary at
[47:53] any angle. It doesn't matter whether
they get disciplinary actions or or just
[47:59] you know and it was it was a small case
and point where
[48:04] my daughter's name was being broadcasted
name was was wrong
[48:11] that individual
and nothing happened.
[48:16] Okay. Well, that's a different
discussion mind, but but once again, you
[48:20] know, we we we are the stewards for all
of our kids, all of us. It takes all of
[48:28] us to band together and work forward for
positive progress. And so hopefully I
[48:34] can do that. Well, I know I can do that
with with any of the board members and
[48:38] the superintendent and high school
principles and great school principles
[48:42] and anybody else. You know, It was a
blip in time. It gets discussed as
[48:48] adults and we move past that. Okay.
[48:56] » I don't really I [clears throat] don't
guess I have an agenda other than just
[48:59] continue to be as physically responsible
as we can and uh with maybe things
[49:06] coming down from the state, maybe an
unknown on the money. So, we're we're
[49:12] going to have to be fiscally responsible
and One thing that I've always said,
[49:17] it's not some big epiphany or anything,
but uh when a kid walks through that
[49:21] door, we all of us here, we've got
differences, whether it be economic,
[49:29] run different social circles, uh
different religious uh beliefs,
[49:35] different denominations, whatever, and
any other number of other things that
[49:40] make us different. But
I hope that at the school when a kid
[49:46] walks in the door that's all left on the
outside and everybody's treated the same
[49:51] because every kid that comes through
that door below deserves to be loved and
[49:55] deserves to have opportunities and we
just need to do our best find the
[50:00] opportunities and help them realize the
ones that maybe they need to take
[50:05] advantage of. So thanks.
>> I don't have no agenda.
[50:13] I just believe that you know every child
no matter what your
[50:18] ability is should have the best teachers
possible
[50:23] to benefit and help you move forward as
you're here. [snorts]
[50:31] There is a lot of unknowns coming down
that we already
[50:39] move forward
[50:44] good way and
we'll still be strong in the future.
[50:49] Thank you.
Like I said a while ago, I coming into
[50:54] this, I don't have an agenda towards
anything besides just doing the absolute
[51:00] best I can to continue with, in my
opinion, there being a great school,
[51:06] great faculty, great kids, uh do
everything in my ability to help
[51:12] continue with that. And like Mike and
Bill said, they I've heard that too.
[51:19] Budget cuts coming and
a lot of opposition and stuff to that'll
[51:26] have to be battled in the next 5 years
probably. And if I'm lucky enough to get
[51:31] elected, I I'll
face that with the best of my abilities
[51:36] and do what I can.
>> Thank you, Julen. Because of time, we're
[51:42] going to move on to county. Thank you so
much for being here. Thank you for
[51:45] talking. [applause]
[51:54] Good afternoon. Thank you. Uh for those
of you that don't know me, I thank I'm
[52:04] commissioner David Stfield for County. I
uh been at this job almost 5 years.
[52:12] I like to thank the city council, the
mayor for the things that have happened
[52:19] there in the last year or so. This is
pretty exciting.
[52:25] I know you all worked hard.
So, I'll not keep you any longer and not
[52:30] brag on you anymore.
You all have done a good job. These
[52:33] people have done a wonderful job. They
they deserve
[52:38] [applause]
[52:41] And
with that, I would like to have the uh
[52:45] candidates for the county positions to
come down. And uh we will uh give you a
[52:53] chance to uh say who you are. And by the
way, I am running again this year,
[53:01] presided commissioner.
I am going to hand this mic to the
[53:06] judge.
you can start it off.
[53:12] » My name is Harvey Allen. I'm an
associate circuit judge here in Oregon
[53:16] County. And many of you know me. I grew
up here. As a matter of fact, if you
[53:18] know the underwood property over here
that we just cleared off about 50 years
[53:22] ago, you can sit see me riding a pony up
on top of that hill. That's our family
[53:26] farm. Uh I grew up here, went to I and
my five siblings all graduated high
[53:33] school. My son graduated from the high
school. Uh went to college at Missouri
[53:38] State University in Springfield and law
school at Kansas City. Moved back to
[53:42] Springfield and practiced law with a law
firm there for 5 years. Had a chance to
[53:47] come back to the when Bill Hans got
elected as judge and I took over his
[53:51] office where I worked in that office for
20 years before I became judge. I've now
[53:55] been the judge for 15 years. This is my
starting my 16th year. I'm not that old,
[54:01] but I'm starting my 16th year as judge.
I just I just calculated a while ago. I
[54:05] think I think this month is my 40th year
as a lawyer. So I've been I've been
[54:10] doing that for a while. Um in my
position I was city attorney there for
[54:15] for 14 years and then also the the
suburb of Koskin for several years. Uh
[54:22] so did those things and even as my time
as a judge I I handle pretty much
[54:26] anything. I laugh once in a while that
I'll do a be doing a murder arignment
[54:30] and then I'll be doing an all dog run
please within 5 minutes of each other.
[54:35] So someone asked me what do I do? I said
I do just about everything. Uh we handle
[54:40] those. Um
some of the things I'm very proud of is
[54:45] that I deal with the I'm also the
juvenile judge here in Nor County. So I
[54:49] deal with juvenile issues. I'm just
telling you that that's that's tough.
[54:53] Justin having been prosecuted, he knows
that being judge along those cases is
[54:58] half the people think you're too easy
and the other half think you're too hard
[55:01] and that's just that's just how it goes
being judge or being prosecuted. Um I
[55:05] started the treatment court, drug
treatment court here in Oregon County.
[55:09] uh that was something that the state was
really wanting to encourage us to do and
[55:13] uh you know there's mixed mixed opinions
about it when it got started but let me
[55:17] tell you there's nothing to to make your
opinion very solid as when someone
[55:22] graduates from treatment court
and they come and tell you that if you
[55:27] had not put me in jail on the day you
put me in jail I would be dead
[55:33] that's moving to them and then when
their 50-year-old dad comes over and
[55:37] gives you a hug and say you what
that's
[55:42] why do that's why that's why I want to
do this why it because I've served for
[55:47] many years Bob Neckman doing community
events and uh improving our community is
[55:52] the biggest thing to me very important
to me uh I have a lot of things to
[55:56] consider people often I've heard
complaints about issues concerning
[56:00] things such as a bond bond that I issue
for someone I have a very limited amount
[56:06] of discretion about that but I do have
discussion
[56:09] Two things I have to consider is make
sure the bonds appropriate to make sure
[56:13] they show up show up in court and to
protect my community. I take that
[56:19] do everything I can to protect protect
our community. So I'm very proud of the
[56:23] commissioners this year. They have uh uh
been working to improve and increase the
[56:27] jail. Uh they have remodeled both the
primary courtroom and also have uh
[56:33] created a new secondary courtroom for us
that's been extremely [clears throat]
[56:36] useful. I had the honor of swearing in
Mayor Donna uh in our new secondary
[56:42] courtroom recently and uh it's been very
we've been using a lot. So that's been a
[56:48] great expenditure of money and to the
courthouse uh improvements to the
[56:52] courtrooms for the first time I think in
40 years. So very much in any event uh
[56:57] I'm running for one more term with this
and I will primary on that is August
[57:02] 4th. I would appreciate your vote.
[applause]
[57:12] » My name is Justin Nelson. I'm also
running for associate circuit judge of
[57:16] Oregon County. Um I've been a lawyer
now. This will be my 22nd year. I
[57:22] graduated 1997 with Jason Baker back
there. Uh my parents of course both
[57:28] graduates here and there. My sister was
a graduate there. So, long history
[57:33] there. I uh started out my first job out
of law school was working as public
[57:37] defender. Uh so I represented the
indigent folks, folks that did not uh
[57:41] have the funds to hire an attorney. So I
be appointed to represent them. Uh later
[57:46] on ended up serving as prosecutor here
in Oregon County and now in private
[57:51] practice principally doing a lot of
family law issues, divorces,
[57:55] guardianships, uh things of that nature.
What I would say originally attracted me
[58:00] to the practice of law was the idea of
accountability and equal protection
[58:06] under law. And those are the values I
would also bring to the bench to be sure
[58:11] that every case is fully heard, that
every individual uh is respected,
[58:17] treated fairly without bias, without any
type of favoritism. Uh to be sure that
[58:23] all all folks are afforded their equal
access to the law. treated equally under
[58:28] the law and uh that's what my goal would
be serving as your judge and uh I would
[58:35] appreciate your vote this August in the
August Republican primary. Thank you.
[58:40] [applause]
[58:43] » You have any question to hold on to them
just for a little bit. We'll go through
[58:47] these people and then we can act.
[58:53] » I'll go behind the podium but I'm not
sure you can see me. I am not the
[58:56] tallest person in the world or the best
speaker. Here we go. Good evening
[59:01] everyone and thank you for being here
tonight and thank you for supporting all
[59:05] of our candidates. You're very lucky
there's several here and they're all
[59:09] after your vote and want to work for
you. I simply want to start by asking
[59:15] for your vote. My name is Crystal Hal
and many of you may know me as a
[59:19] neighbor, a coworker, or just somebody
that you see in the community. Some of
[59:24] you may have heard me on the radio a few
years ago. If not, maybe Bob Beckman
[59:30] will give me a discount this year. I
grew up believing in hard work and
[59:35] responsibility and taking care of the
place that you call home.
[59:40] I studied contract law in college, but
like led me back home to take care of my
[59:46] children. Along the way, I built a
career centered on service and
[59:51] accountability, values that I hold here
today. I spent 10 years at Aravac
[59:58] working in maintenance on software
implementation
[1:00:02] and contract
negotiations.
[1:00:07] This is where I learned how critical
efficiency and accuracy are in the
[1:00:12] systems that we use today.
In 2016, I joined the How County Circuit
[1:00:18] Clerk's Office.
Over the last 10 years, I've worked in
[1:00:22] every aspect of the court system, and
I've just completed my 36th jury trial,
[1:00:30] being a part of that, and it's very
rewarding to be able to help justice
[1:00:36] move along.
I've served two years as a region 9
[1:00:40] officer for the Missouri
professional association of court
[1:00:45] clerks. This area of MOPAC is what we
call it serves nine or 11 counties in
[1:00:53] our area.
Through that work, I've helped train
[1:00:58] several other clerks in the 37th Circuit
by sharing best practices and improving
[1:01:04] consistency across the state.
Beyond the courthouse, I've also helped
[1:01:10] implement software improvements that
have helped statewide.
[1:01:16] I currently serve on three focus groups.
Those are for accounting, civil, and
[1:01:23] garnishments. These are new processes in
our software.
[1:01:28] Um, as a select group of clerks, we help
develop, implement, and process to
[1:01:35] strengthen those areas in our court
system across Missouri.
[1:01:40] Our circuit recently received
recognition for case processing. And
[1:01:44] while I'm proud of that work, I believe
there's a lot more that we can do. That
[1:01:50] belief is why my slogan is your clerk,
your neighbor, your voice. I'm not just
[1:01:55] someone who works in the court system. I
live here. I raise my family here. And I
[1:02:02] understand the people in the needs of
this community. My goal is simple. A
[1:02:07] court system that works efficiently,
serves the people well, and reflects
[1:02:12] those that it represents. So tonight,
I'll ask again for your vote. And I
[1:02:17] would be truly honored to earn your
support. Thank you. [applause]
[1:02:29] THANK YOU. HI, good evening.
My name is FA Reese and I'm from Alton,
[1:02:35] Missouri. And one of the things that I
picked up on with the school board
[1:02:42] candidate was um how much he enjoyed the
community and how the communities come
[1:02:49] together in such a big way. And that
really made an impact on me. I guess it
[1:02:54] was the St. Jude's fundraising and for
Alton it was like to me astronomical and
[1:03:00] then just any need they're there and
it's the same here and all the
[1:03:05] communities and I'm from a small town
too. I I recently moved up here about
[1:03:10] three years ago four and I think my
favorite thing is getting to experience
[1:03:16] every season in one week. I'm like
that's awesome. So it's like Missouri is
[1:03:22] telling you, hey, stick around if you
don't like this. I'll show you in a
[1:03:26] moment. Anyway, I have signed up to run
for the county clerk position. And I
[1:03:33] have a strong background in
administration management. Um I was an
[1:03:39] office manager supervisor and traveled
to seven states and covered 11 offices.
[1:03:44] So I am very acclimated to um handling
paperwork
[1:03:49] um
in public. I love to uh meet new people
[1:03:55] and help. I love to help. Um so that's
why I'm running for the county clerk
[1:04:02] [laughter]
background in all of that and would
[1:04:06] really appreciate your vote coming up.
[1:04:12] [applause]
I do not want to go after those leaves.
[1:04:15] I'm just going to introduce myself. I'm
Sandy Wheeler. I'm running for counter
[1:04:18] colle county collector. Um I currently
work for the city of B. Um
[1:04:26] I just think that the county deserves
someone that's respectful, someone
[1:04:31] that's dedicated,
and that's basically it. I'm not going
[1:04:35] to hold you guys here much longer.
Yeah.
[1:04:40] [applause]
[1:04:43] » Hello, my name's Wes Buckner. I've lived
in Orange County. my entire life. I'm
[1:04:49] most generally from the Alton area. Uh
grew up between Alton and there. My
[1:04:54] parents have had a place out there since
I was just a little kid. And uh I've
[1:04:58] been on the city council now at Alton
for 5 years. I've been on the Orton
[1:05:03] County recycling board for 3 years. Um,
I enjoy doing work that serves the
[1:05:11] public that uh to try and help make our
community better and stronger and I look
[1:05:18] forward to hoping to get to serve the
community in the future. I've signed up
[1:05:23] to run as Oregon County Treasurer
and I would appreciate your vote come
[1:05:29] August. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:05:36] Hi, I'm Terry Williams. For you all who
don't know me here, I'm from Bald. Um,
[1:05:41] I'm running for organics lecture. I'm
not a speaker at all, but they said we
[1:05:47] needed to talk tonight, so I'm more of a
work person. Get out there and get the
[1:05:51] job done. So, um, in August, I would
appreciate your vote. Um, some people
[1:05:58] was brought to my attention today that
said, "Is there anything that you would
[1:06:01] change? Is there anything you would do
if you got in? Yes. Like I said, this
[1:06:06] person asked about being able to work
through lunch hours. Yes, I agree.
[1:06:12] Personally, I own Southside Tire right
now and all. I know most of you that
[1:06:16] know me from there know my husband Tom
Williams. I've been there for 28 years.
[1:06:23] So, I've managed I've took care of all
the book work on it. Got everything
[1:06:28] financially going. I've even took care
of David a few times with some tickets
[1:06:33] through the years. Um, so yeah, that's
how I get paid. So anyway, with all that
[1:06:40] said, I've got 27 years background of
financial to be able to keep care of all
[1:06:45] that and everything. Um, managed it,
managed the farm. So financially I would
[1:06:53] try to do my best to do everything
that's capable to do for the county and
[1:06:59] I mean talking back about lunch hour.
Yes we take off for lunch but I would
[1:07:05] agree if we had the office if I did I
would rotate it to where somebody was
[1:07:10] there in the noon hour because a lot of
times even if you're in the office you
[1:07:15] don't have time to go do your business
and pay your taxes. So that is one thing
[1:07:19] that I would see if I was elected. So,
but I appreciate your vote. Again, my
[1:07:26] name is Terry Williams. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:07:32] » Hello, my name is Alana Hollis. I
currently work at the DMV. So, some of
[1:07:37] y'all see me in there. I am running for
county treasurer this year.
[1:07:45] don't really have an agenda. Just Linda
is done a wonderful job and she's
[1:07:50] retiring. So I would like your vote and
give me a chance to be the your
[1:07:56] treasurer instead of your DMV worker.
But I also would
[1:08:04] like to say that I rode up here my whole
life and this community means a lot and
[1:08:12] I would like to be able to help keep it
local with the families and help the
[1:08:20] ones coming in to learn what is so great
about our community. I'd appreciate your
[1:08:26] vote. [applause]
[1:08:30] » Hi, my name is Donna Morrison. I've
grown up in Nordan County my whole life.
[1:08:36] I have worked in the courthouse for 10
years. I've worked for the county
[1:08:41] clerk's office for five and even the
collector's office for five, which I in
[1:08:45] there right now. Um, I love doing the
job.
[1:08:51] I'm not good at speaking, but I am good
at taking your money. It's not a good
[1:08:56] thing, I know, but you kind of got to
know what you're doing. It's pretty
[1:08:59] important. The collector is more than
collecting money. You There's budget you
[1:09:04] keep up with. There's a report you have
to balance out. It's not taking your
[1:09:10] money and you're done, which some people
think that it's not. You got to balance
[1:09:14] out every month. But so, and as far as
lunch hour, I do like my lunch hour.
[1:09:20] I'll be honest. So, I'd appreciate your
vote. Thank you. [applause]
[1:09:28] » Hi, I'm Melissa Smith. I was raised here
in Oregon County. I have married been
[1:09:34] married 34 going on 35 years. I've got
three kids, one grandbaby.
[1:09:40] Um, I work at the courthouse. I'm in the
prosecuting attorney's office. I take
[1:09:45] care of the bad chips and rest
institution through office.
[1:09:49] So, what that means is just um when the
money comes in from a defendant, I pay
[1:09:53] that out as quickly as possible. We do
that once a month. It's at the end of
[1:09:56] the month. Um,
I don't know what else to say. So, come
[1:10:02] vote August.
>> [applause]
[1:10:06] » Thank you all. I believe there is 16
people running for uh seven offices this
[1:10:12] time. So there will be quite a few on
the ballot and it is in the August and
[1:10:18] some will go on into November then. So
right now if you have any questions for
[1:10:23] anybody.
Yes ma'am. I have a general question. So
[1:10:27] all these people that just
[1:10:33] » Yes, it is.
[1:10:41] » I'd say we'll be out and about.
>> What's that?
[1:10:44] » I'd say we'll be out and about fourth of
July here at Clair Alton, things like
[1:10:51] that before the August primary.
question.
[1:10:58] » Yes.
>> Thank you.
[1:11:04] » Anybody else?
>> I've got a question
[1:11:09] for the judge position.
My question is to Mr. Nelson.
[1:11:17] Mr. Nelson, you know,
this is a small county. Even being it's
[1:11:23] a small county.
The judge job is a big big job.
[1:11:29] Do you believe that you possess the
wherewithal and the knowhow to do that
[1:11:36] job?
>> Well, I'm not sure how you define
[1:11:40] wherewithal, but as far as if you're
talking about knowhow or experience,
[1:11:46] yes, [clears throat] I think I do.
>> You care to explain?
[1:11:52] » Do I care to explain what? that you've
got the knowhow
[1:11:55] » that I have the knowhow.
>> Yeah.
[1:11:58] » Well, I've been an attorney now. This is
going on year 22. Uh I've been
[1:12:04] essentially in every role that you can
be in uh in the courthouse from public
[1:12:10] defender to private counsel to
prosecutor. So, I I think I've been
[1:12:17] about everywhere in every county in
court in South Central Missouri. Uh,
[1:12:23] I've seen multiple judges run
courtrooms, so I I feel confident in my
[1:12:29] ability to do the job. Yes.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:12:34] » All right. Anybody else?
I'm going to give this back to the
[1:12:38] mayor. She's the lady that invited all
of us and I want to thank her and we'll
[1:12:43] do it again sometime.
>> Well, I want to thank all of you for
[1:12:47] coming and spending your time here with
us this evening. It's so nice to put
[1:12:51] faces with names ballot for people to be
able to speak and ask questions. It's
[1:12:56] great. And so, thank you again for
coming and uh I hope we'll get to have
[1:13:01] another get together between now and the
time August rolls around. And don't
[1:13:05] forget to go there folks and vote on
Tuesday
[1:13:09] uh for the board meeting. And I was
going to see is there anything I have my
[1:13:12] council here tonight. I'd like to thank
them. They've been very patient uh with
[1:13:17] the new meeting times that we have and
we're just always upset. [clears throat]
[1:13:22] Got Mark Bryant and Durk Schultz and
Stephen Clark here tonight. Miss Janice
[1:13:27] is ill and couldn't be with us, but I
truly appreciate them and all the work
[1:13:30] they're doing and the school for
allowing us to meet here. Did anybody
[1:13:34] else do you have another question? Sir,
>> I guess there's nobody here.
[1:13:40] » Do we have anyone here from special
[1:14:11] And you're you're asking about
[1:14:23] There he comes. Here he is.
>> You want to come talk?
[1:14:38] » You're in the spotlight.
[1:14:44] Wild women
[1:14:50] or down below
and hold up the mic. I've run for the
[1:14:56] I've run for county for about 15 years
running on the fair special. And the
[1:15:02] reason I quit was because I didn't think
since I was working on the railroad, I
[1:15:08] didn't have enough time to devote time
for RV.
[1:15:13] And the last few years, our road just
went downhill. We've had a lot of
[1:15:19] floods, a lot of rain, a lot of lot of
problems.
[1:15:26] So if you want to complain, you got to
get in and mix and complain. So that's
[1:15:33] where I'm at.
There's some things that uh can be
[1:15:38] changed.
I've not been in it long and it's been a
[1:15:41] long time. So I'm not really sure where
our budget's at. So,
[1:15:46] uh, with fuel at $4 a gallon, we're
probably going to see a lot of road
[1:15:51] crers and a lot of back and a lot of D
trucks going up down the road. But
[1:15:56] there's a lot of waste material out
there in the roads that can be used. Uh,
[1:16:02] one of my pet peeves is if you go down a
gravel road, you'll see a big amount of
[1:16:07] gravel on the side of the road.
Well, that is really good field to fix
[1:16:14] and crown our roads.
And
[1:16:18] I'm not, you know, don't know anything
about building roads. I spent 35 years
[1:16:24] running and doing maintenance on the
railroad.
[1:16:28] So
if it's an inch and a half out of
[1:16:32] deviation, you can ask Michael Wor and
Jason Baker this. They get to stop while
[1:16:37] we fix it because that's out of service.
And county roads don't matter if it's 2T
[1:16:43] deep. County roads are still in service.
You either slow down or
[1:16:49] take your chances. So,
I would like to try to help and
[1:16:57] might be able to, might not. No
promises, but I'm there.
[1:17:02] Questions
[1:17:06] » really.
[1:17:13] Any
[1:17:20] [applause]
[1:17:25] other questions?
[1:17:30] » You want to talk to me?
>> Sit down.
[1:17:35] » Have a commissioner talk to you.
[1:17:40] » Another room.
Well,
[1:17:42] » there you go.
>> You were commissioner
[1:17:46] » not too many years ago.
>> You don't tell me that you were the road
[1:17:50] commissioner.
[1:17:56] » All right, I'll talk a little bit about
the road tax. Uh, if anybody don't know
[1:18:00] me, I'm Jake Parker, Northern District
Commissioner.
[1:18:04] Um, so
>> we'll get into the road tax asset sales
[1:18:08] tax
and basically it's going to be split
[1:18:11] between 75% go to the county,
>> 25% go to all over there.
[1:18:20] » This will be split up between the
municipalities by um basically
[1:18:24] population. If voted in, this will give
fair road district somewhere around
[1:18:30] $91,000.
>> It'll provide all around 26 $27,000 and
[1:18:36] cost around $8,000.
>> So right now Fair Road special they get
[1:18:41] 16% of revenue come in from the county
plus they have a little bit of road tax.
[1:18:47] So what the county would do at that
point is we would take them their road
[1:18:50] special from 16% to 20%. That would give
their road special about 36 $37,000
[1:18:57] extra.
>> This road tax is for materials only. And
[1:19:02] um it can't go to fuel, it can't go to
trucks, labor, anything like that. This
[1:19:07] is for pores, concrete, asphalt, um
gravel, clay.
[1:19:12] Um basically what this is is a way to
rebuild infrastructure whose tax will go
[1:19:18] out in 5 years.
>> Um it can even sunset in 5 years. It can
[1:19:23] either be voted back in. Um personally,
I don't think that we'll be in a shape
[1:19:28] where we need it voted back in. We need
a chance to rebuild infrastructure as
[1:19:32] current, you know, budgets right now,
you you'll never be able to rebuild
[1:19:37] infrastructure. I mean, you're relying
on FEMA and um
[1:19:42] » they're difficult to work with, to say
the least,
[1:19:45] » but
did that cover your questions?
[1:19:51] » So, a couple years ago, our county
passed a internet sales tax called Tax.
[1:19:58] » Use tax, correct?
>> That was in effect
[1:20:01] and put on the ballot. That money was
intended to go into road
[1:20:07] » 40% going to road was all supposed to
go. Well, the first year that that
[1:20:13] generated about $260,000
[1:20:21] a failed infrastructure is the reason
why we need more money. I have 236
[1:20:25] corrid 46 low water crossings that are
bad gravel roads that have been flat top
[1:20:31] with material on the sides of the roads.
>> Wasn't building
[1:20:35] wasn't lost in a day either.
[1:20:46] » The sheriff's office. Correct.
>> You're right.
[1:20:50] » Sheriff's got a lot of expense, too.
[1:20:56] trying to make the sheriff stand on his
own.
[1:21:00] » It It's working now and you don't have
to put this tax in. I'll continue to
[1:21:04] make it work. You're just not going to
get your fixed
[1:21:13] when you got
[1:21:19] at the end of the year.
[1:21:27] Five years.
This year we had two7
[1:21:43] billion.
>> No.
[1:21:47] » True.
[1:22:03] We're going to pay for the jail.
>> That's what we're paying right now.
[1:22:10] » $500,000.
>> There was money in general to do that.
[1:22:18] » What are you going to do?
what I want to do.
[1:22:31] » What good is money in the bank if you
can't serve your people
[1:22:46] that
>> I slow that down? Uh
[1:22:52] if you will uh think about it, uh this
jail will uh generate between 160 and
[1:22:59] $200,000 a year because we won't be
transporting inmates to West Plains,
[1:23:06] Don, Salem,
>> right? That will add to
[1:23:16] » why because the sheriff will need the
>> money
[1:23:28] you cannot have money.
[1:23:34] » We're trying to put that back in June.
[1:23:39] Okay. So, you're going to use tax money.
[1:23:50] » Yes, sir.
[1:24:02] » Y'all are going to slow down.
[1:24:08] Don't budget while you're at
the time.
[1:24:17] I know exactly
[1:24:20] where my budget is right now.
[1:24:26] » So, so
>> back up just a little bit. As long as we
[1:24:30] don't get any more natural disasters, I
promise you the spending will slow down.
[1:24:37] Yeah.
>> Did y'all apply for FEMA?
[1:24:40] » I don't know.
>> I believe it was a FEMA project there.
[1:24:48] » This is an option to rebuild your That's
4 in of surface, 24T width, and 2 in of
[1:24:54] surface are paid for by FEMA. All the
money that has left the county has went
[1:24:59] to repairing holes in roads, repairing
wash outs in roads. We're not able to
[1:25:04] move water. We weren't able to move
water. All our water was moving down the
[1:25:08] roads. When you had the 14 inches of
rain, you have a natural disaster which
[1:25:12] was declared by FEMA. I personally
worked all year last year without a dime
[1:25:18] on my own income to make sure this money
comes back in for the county. You know,
[1:25:25] » money.
>> It's already approved. Once the
[1:25:29] government comes back open, I've already
got you remember a FEMA project called
[1:25:33] 4855 when you were in office
November of 2024 flood. You do remember
[1:25:40] that? Okay. So I I went back and
regained all the lost income that you
[1:25:44] had. I already got paid for back county
$333,000
[1:25:49] back to the county. FEMA project 4872
over $400,000 in tornado debris cleanup.
[1:25:56] That money has gone back to the county,
already been approved. 4872, which would
[1:26:01] be your April flood,
$1,700 something,000 has already been
[1:26:06] approved with an additional 200 or 101
miles of roads that are still up for
[1:26:11] approval. Estimated somewhere around
$4.6 million that will come back into
[1:26:16] the county. As this sits right now,
already approved through FEMA. All
[1:26:20] everything is done. The road department
will have more money than it has ever
[1:26:24] had. general CD that we leverage which
y'all are talking about the CD will be
[1:26:31] replaced and another one will be added.
It's already in a minute since the
[1:26:34] county.
>> Why do you need taxes?
[1:26:37] » Because we need to repair the
infrastructure that everybody let go.
[1:26:41] 236 corrid water crossings that were let
allowed to go fix them all.
[1:26:48] » I'm going to fix them over a 5year
sunset plan. Yes, sir.
[1:26:51] » So, what what happened to the money of
the
[1:26:55] brand new purchase built back.
>> The money went back into the tribe, but
[1:27:00] it was bought without purchase orders.
>> They were picking back from county.
[1:27:05] » Yep. And both of them currently broke
down right now.
[1:27:08] » So, what happened to the quart million
from the sell off
[1:27:15] » to go into leases? I traded in a grater
that was the um it was matter of fact,
[1:27:20] it was George's grater. Transmission was
bad on it. didn't have warranty anymore.
[1:27:26] I have not bought any more graders since
then and I'm not going to fix any. We're
[1:27:30] going to do with what we got right now.
But if the grader's back, it's going to
[1:27:34] be prepared.
>> Then the transition out
[1:27:42] you can talk.
I know I would the Uion
[1:27:52] » that's that's going to the northern
district 211 miles of rebuild
[1:27:58] all the money that the county had
>> do what now
[1:28:04] » because I have 236 corrs that are bad
that FEMA's not replacing
[1:28:09] you know they they wanted the
documentation about repair records and
[1:28:13] maintenance records North County has
zero. They do now. I can tell them
[1:28:17] whenever we replace, what date it was
placed, when it gets fixed, every road
[1:28:22] has documentation, whole spreadsheet
right now of every tube of grease is all
[1:28:28] come out there. You can more than
welcome into the office and I'll show
[1:28:32] you everything.
[1:28:36] your time book surf. But have you ever
went through a $4 million project
[1:28:39] looking at time books and somebody wrote
down no details? It ain't possible.
[1:28:47] » It's in bad shape. By no means.
>> So, so one thing I'd like to add to this
[1:28:54] and the reason why I kind of feel this
tax sunset tax is important. It allows
[1:29:00] us to rebuild the infrastructure not
only on the county level, fair special
[1:29:04] level, but in municipality levels, too.
You know, I'll give you an example of
[1:29:09] how we're working there. Around $91,000
will come in there. You got a lot of
[1:29:13] water lines that are bad there right
now. Well, this will allow you to come
[1:29:16] back and have asphalt and chat to fix
your water lines. This would free up
[1:29:21] money for the municipalities to be able
to come in and apply for grants. This
[1:29:25] tax money can hold
money.
[1:29:30] What?
>> I'm going to take entire county money
[1:29:34] and fix the entire county.
25%
[1:29:38] will be split to fair, kosh, and home
road departments only.
[1:29:51] So, I do want to add that uh this tax
probably wouldn't be so important if a
[1:29:57] 2% sales tax on new vehicle purchases
wasn't allowed to laps. You know, that
[1:30:02] brought in a good good amount of money
into the county. Um that's no longer in
[1:30:07] a good place anymore and that certainly
won't be voted back in. Um, I'm not a
[1:30:13] tax person myself, but I also say with
$240,000,
[1:30:16] $260,000 in the fix 440 mi of road, it's
not going to work. And it's clearly not
[1:30:23] going to work because y'all tried to
make it work. You know, the roads are in
[1:30:26] bad shape. Anybody that can't deny that.
The point moving forward is is how do we
[1:30:33] get past that?
It's a short fiveyear tax. It falls off.
[1:30:38] We have a fiveyear plan. I'll certainly
sit over here and show you to you down
[1:30:42] to the penny. Everything will be
replaced in that 5 years. I I I don't
[1:30:49] care to have a half cent sales tax, but
I know it's important.
[1:30:52] » Is it just north?
>> No, it's for north to south. I can't do
[1:30:56] their special. They already have a road
tax. That's why we're giving them the 4%
[1:31:01] of revenue that the county brings in.
It'll put their special somewhere around
[1:31:05] almost $200,000 to work with. And that's
a huge improvement from their
[1:31:10] especially.
You know, they're down a brush cutter
[1:31:13] right now. They're operating a greater.
Their roads are in just as bad a shape
[1:31:16] as ours are. You know, I can say that
fuel at $4 a gallon and two degrees at
[1:31:23] $7 a gallon. It's tough to make. People
want to see greater roads. I want to put
[1:31:28] greater roads, but then again, you got
to keep it within, you know, your
[1:31:33] budget. So
this year, my budget's exactly where it
[1:31:38] needs to be. Last year when I got in
office, March tornadoes, April floods,
[1:31:43] and I inherited a flood project from
you. It's a pre flood project, two flood
[1:31:48] projects, and a tornado project that
they're all done. Everything's turned
[1:31:53] in. Literally waiting on the government
to reopen so they can allocate money
[1:31:57] back into the county, which they've
already had on one project completely
[1:32:01] closed out. So when you say that the
county is going broke,
[1:32:06] you know, only thing has been spent out
of general is $62,000
[1:32:11] all year last year other than a jail
project. And we didn't vote for a jail
[1:32:17] project. That was previous
administration. I think it's a great
[1:32:20] deal and y'all should come up there and
look into jail. Instead of 27 26
[1:32:25] inmates, we bumped it up 34 inmates now.
>> It's It's a good thing. It's a good
[1:32:32] thing to see the county grow. Um, I will
tell you that you can't do it with
[1:32:38] pennies.
>> You try.
[1:32:43] » The other Yes, sir.
[1:32:50] And the other thing
[1:32:55] we're not
[1:33:06] » the uh half cent sales tax if you buy
$10,000 worth of taxable goods. That's a
[1:33:14] pretty tall order if you think about it.
It will cost you $50.
[1:33:22] Now, the state will mandate on this
Senate Bill three and whatever they're
[1:33:26] wanting to do that we've been fighting
so hard, they will mandate on your
[1:33:31] property
such significant more amount than that.
[1:33:37] And if you spend $5,000 on this, it will
cost you $25.
[1:33:43] So if you live on a county road, $25 is
not much. That's been an expense because
[1:33:50] I've lived on one for 43 years. So any
other questions? Jason,
[1:33:56] » is this on the August or is this
>> This is only April.
[1:34:00] » Tuesday. Tuesday.
>> So I just want to work at DMV. He
[1:34:08] mentioned a 2%
[1:34:12] tax that you're no longer getting for
the general fund. That is for the
[1:34:17] county.
So if you buy a vehicle, you used to be
[1:34:23] charged
8.225%
[1:34:28] if you live in the city limits of Alton.
pos has a little higher tax
[1:34:35] because something was not put on the
ballot like 12 years ago, maybe not
[1:34:42] quite that long, we no longer get to
collect the extra tax for the county or
[1:34:49] the city limit. So now if we buy a
vehicle from an individual or out of
[1:34:56] state dealer, we only collect 4.225%
and that goes to the state. That does
[1:35:03] not go to the county, the city or
nothing.
[1:35:07] If you buy from a Missouri dealer, then
we are allowed to collect the 4.225%
[1:35:14] for the state, 2% for the county and
their city tax is two. So then you get
[1:35:23] back to your 8.225 if they live in the
city limits. If they live in the county,
[1:35:28] it's just 6.225.
[1:35:32] That tax goes to the whole city and the
whole county for them to spend however
[1:35:39] they want. So they have to split that up
between fire department, sheriff's
[1:35:45] department, police department,
ambulance, all of that. Where this tax
[1:35:50] that they're asking for just goes to the
road
[1:35:57] » and sun,
>> right? So you've lost a lot of I work
[1:36:03] there daily.
So when we seen that this was not going
[1:36:08] to be we got an email three years ago,
four years ago that we were no longer
[1:36:14] going to be able to collect that sales
tax. We went over to the courthouse and
[1:36:21] asked them about it. They didn't realize
that they were not going to get that
[1:36:25] tax.
Alton did not realize that they weren't
[1:36:31] going to get it.
there somehow knew about it and put it
[1:36:36] on their ballot when they were supposed
to. The people voted to keep it. So if
[1:36:42] you live in fair city limits and you buy
from an individual or out of state, you
[1:36:48] are still being charged the 8.225
because you as a community
[1:36:54] voted to keep it. So the county has lost
a lot of money from that not being on
[1:37:01] the ballot. So the last three years that
has took a to maint.
[1:37:22] [sighs and clears throat]
[1:37:30] I think we're going to conclude now. Um,
[clears throat] I appreciate you coming
[1:37:34] out this evening. I appreciate you
talking and visiting and we've learned a
[1:37:38] lot here tonight and I think it's
valuable to everyone. So hopefully we'll
[1:37:43] see you again next time we have a town
hall meeting and I wish everyone luck on
[1:37:49] uh April the 7th and come out and vote.
Thank you.
[1:37:54] [applause]