26government council elections by Nina Johnson

Sid Sullivan recruited to run against McDavid for mayor of Co...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Sid Sullivan recruited to run against McDavid for mayor of Columbia By John Farmer de la Torre January 7, 2013 | 4:06 p.m. CST COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sid Sullivan will challenge Mayor Bob McDavid for his job in the April 2 municipal election, according to a statement released Monday morning. Sullivan has run for elected office before. He ran for the 24th District State House seat in 2006, the Southern District Boone County Commissioner seat in 2008 and for mayor of Columbia in 2010. McDavid won the six-person mayoral election with 9,935 votes, or 54 percent. Sullivan was third with 2,222. "I want open government and to encourage the involvement of Columbians in careful planning and implementation so we preserve and improve all Columbia neighborhoods,â&#x20AC;? Sullivan said in the news release. Carrie Burdette, a source close to the campaign said, "Win or lose, we are opposing McDavid so he is forced to debate and explain what he wants to do the next three years." Sullivan moved to Columbia with his wife, Joan, from Oak Park, Ill., in 2002 after he retired. He spent most of his career working in adult corrections and the court system. Sullivan previously worked at Roche Diagnostics. Sullivan earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago, a master's degree in sociology from the New School of Research in New York City and a master of business administration degree from DePaul University in Chicago. Here is a profile and more complete bio of Sullivan from 2010.

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3/31/14 11:57 AM

Allison becomes Columbia resident, files for mayor on same day

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Allison becomes Columbia resident, files for mayor on same day By John Farmer de la Torre January 12, 2013 | 5:35 p.m. CST COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sam Allison didn't become a resident of Columbia until a few hours before he filed his candidacy for mayor on Tuesday. Allison was a Jefferson City resident until Tuesday morning, when he signed a sublease on an apartment on Old 63 South. At 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, he submitted a petition to City Clerk Sheela Amin to run for mayor. The deadline to file his candidacy was 5 p.m. that day. Allison joins former mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan and incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid in the race, which will be decided in the April 2 municipal election. Amin said on Friday that neither city ordinances nor the city charter establish any minimum length of residency for those who want to seek elected office in the city. Nor do they address whether a candidate can collect signatures on a nominating petition before he or she establishes residency. Allison said Friday that he did collect signatures on his petition before becoming an official Columbia resident. The city charter requires that candidates for mayor collect signatures from at least 100 and no more than 150 registered voters in the city. "The wording on the residency requirement is very vague," Allison said. "I asked around if anyone was going to file against McDavid. It was a real scramble since no one else was going to get involved." Sullivan said he was surprised by his competitor's move. "I think it takes a lot of chutzpah if you come to town and establish residency and file all in the same day," he said. Sullivan has lived in Columbia since 2002. Allison said he's made audacious political moves before. In 2006, for example, he defeated a six-term incumbent to become the Monroe County recorder in Indiana.

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3/31/14 12:02 PM

Allison becomes Columbia resident, files for mayor on same day

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"I ran a very uphill campaign in 2006, so this is something I have done before," he said. Allison served as the county recorder until 2010, when he won a seat on the Monroe County Council, according to a dossier he provided. Allison left the county council when his wife took a job in Jefferson City. He said he became involved and interested in Columbia public affairs during weekly visits to the city after his election to the board of directors of the Columbia chapter of Democracy for Missouri. Allison's wife still lives in Jefferson City. In an email to the Missourian on Saturday, he said they will address that situation after the election. "In the event that I do pull off an improbable victory, then at that point my wife and I will address the personal issue about living arrangements," he wrote. "As have many families who live and/or work in Columbia and/or Jefferson City. I, of course, will remain a Columbia resident." Sullivan said Columbia voters are serious about their candidates for public office. "I think this is an anomaly," Sullivan said. "It is amazing that somebody would come to town and say 'I can run because the charter will allow me to run,' but whether they can run a campaign and establish credibility with Columbia voters is doubtful." Allison holds a masters degree from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, according to his dossier. "I think it's time for some new ideas in the mayor's office," Allison said. McDavid could not be reached for comment. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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3/31/14 12:02 PM

Sam Allison leaves mayor's race voluntarily

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Sam Allison leaves mayor's race voluntarily By John Farmer de la Torre January 18, 2013 | 4:30 p.m. CST COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sam Allison dropped out of the mayoral race Friday, leaving Sid Sullivan as the only candidate to compete against incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid on the April 2 ballot. Allison said in a news release that his name will not appear on the ballot. He also endorsed Sullivan's bid to defeat McDavid and offered his campaign experience to help him do so. MoreStory

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

"Especially with Sid and I sounding like each other," Allison said. "We were going to have a repeat of 2012, and that is history we do not want to repeat."

VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues

McDavid in 2010 emerged from a field of six candidates to win his first term as mayor.

What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

Allison surprised some people ten days ago when he established his Columbia residency and filed his candidacy for mayor on the same day, even before he had bothered to establish a Wi-Fi Internet connection at his new apartment.

Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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Allison said neither Sullivan nor his own supporters had asked him to leave the race. Instead, he and McDavid's opponents feared splitting the opposition's votes against McDavid.

"I know that it was a very decisive action that I took," Allison said. Allison worked as quickly today to end his run. "Right now, closing out my campaign is front and center, and I will have to deal with my residency issues later on," he said.

3/31/14 12:03 PM

Sam Allison leaves mayor's race voluntarily

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Allison will file the appropriate documents to close out his campaign with the Missouri Ethics Commission filings in the next few days. Allison has been involved with several Columbia community groups since his arrival from Monroe County, Ind., about a year ago. He was elected to public office twice as county recorder and as a county councilman. Allison said he intends to remain politically active in Columbia with Democracy for Missouri, where he serves on the Columbia chapter's board of directors, and with a group that is forming a Columbia chapter, Move to Amend, which he said is dedicated to overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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3/31/14 12:03 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports By MISSOURIAN STAFF March 1, 2013 | 12:01 a.m. CST COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Candidates for three seats on the Columbia City Council have filed their first round of reports on campaign contributions and spending in advance of the April 2 election. The reports were filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission as required 40 days before the election. The candidates include incumbent Bob McDavid and Sid Sullivan for mayor; incumbent Gary Kespohl and Karl Skala for the Third Ward council seat; and incumbent Daryl Dudley, Ian Thomas and Bill Weitkemper for the Fourth Ward seat. MoreStory Related Media

Disparity in mayoral race Demographically, donors to the campaigns of Sullivan and McDavid, who seeks a second term, represent different groups in Columbia. Of Sullivan's 28 listed donors, 15 are retirees.

Here is a PDF of the finance report Mayor Bob McDavid's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Many of McDavid's 32 listed donors run or work for businesses that are members of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Bank presidents, attorneys, real estate agents and doctors make up the majority of his contributor list. Altogether, McDavid reported raising $12,580 thus far. Sullivan reported raising $2,570. He also took out a $3,000 loan from his wife, Joan Sullivan. The total difference between the two candidates' campaign receipts was $6,810. Sullivan and McDavid were among five candidates for mayor when McDavid won in 2010. Although Sullivan trails McDavid by a wide margin in

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3/31/14 12:04 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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fundraising, supporter Ken Midkiff, a conservation activist who donated $150 to Sullivan's campaign, said he believes Sullivan can win the race. "I don't downplay the extent of the influence that money plays in political campaigns," he said. But "I would think that Sullivan's views are more in keeping with the majority of Columbians." Here is a PDF of the finance report that mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Midkiff said he supports Sullivan because he thinks he would do a better job at creating legislation than McDavid has during his nearly three years in the seat. "The current mayor reacts to propositions," Midkiff said. "Sid Sullivan says that he would be proactive in planning. I think the current mayor does not represent the citizens of Columbia but represents only moneyed interest."

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Third Ward City Council candidate Karl Skala's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that incumbent Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Scott Orr, counsel at the law offices of Edwin W. Orr, LLC, supported McDavid's campaign with a $100 contribution. He believes McDavid, given more time in the position, could become the greatest mayor Columbia has seen in 75 years. "I think we're extremely lucky to have a man of his talent willing to dedicate so much of his time without compensation just for the good of the community," he said. Orr said three key accomplishments have cemented McDavid's status as a great leader: his help in selecting Mike Matthes as city manager, his work to put the city's pension program on solid financial footing and his efforts to improve service at Columbia Regional Airport. "Mr. McDavid addressed (these issues) forthright, boldly, and he did what had to be done," Orr said. Despite the large financial gap between the two candidates, Sullivan said he does not believe his run will go unnoticed.

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3/31/14 12:04 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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"We're still making money and we'll raise money right up until the election," Sullivan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will have enough to get my message out.â&#x20AC;? Kespohl's tenure attracts support

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Fourth Ward City Council candidate Ian Thomas's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Kespohl reported receiving seven itemized donations from Feb. 6 to Feb. 16. Those donations totaled about $1,720. That's almost 82 percent less than the sum that Skala, the challenger, collected. This marks the third time Kespohl and Skala have competed for the Third Ward seat. Skala defeated Kespohl in 2007, but Kespohl took the seat in 2010. Kespohl has spent none of his money yet, according to his report.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Fourth Ward City Council candidate Bill Weitkemper's campaign filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

"We're just getting started. I'm bringing out the signs from my previous campaign," Kespohl said, adding that he is still putting together his campaign committee and that he recently deposited a few more donations. "There's going to be a fundraiser next week," he said.

The largest donation of $500 came from Larry Potterfield, founder and CEO of MidwayUSA, a Boone County company that sells guns, ammunition, gun accessories and hunting equipment. Potterfield could not be reached for comment regarding his support for Kespohl. Five of the seven itemized donations equaled or exceeded $100. The remaining two contributors, Don Rupp and Ray Noll, donated $25 and $50, respectively. Noll said he has known Kespohl for 30 years. He donated to the incumbent during his run for the Third Ward seat in 2010, too. "He's the most honest, pragmatic individual I've ever met," Noll said. "I'm very impressed with the work he's done for the city thus far."

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3/31/14 12:04 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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Noll was particularly pleased with Kespohl's work on the city employee pension plan that the City Council approved unanimously in July 2012. It offered a solution to the $117.8 million unfunded pension liability and is projected to save the city $50 million over 20 years. Noll also found Kespohl's work on refinancing the city's bond issue debt impressive. That effort will save the city millions of dollars in interest payments over the life of the bonds. "He listens to all sides of an issue, and he has no preconceived notions about what should be done to fix a problem," Noll said. "He hears the facts, evaluates them and does what is best for the city." Rupp, who had not donated to Kespohl previously, said he appreciated Kespohl's business-like approach to spending money as well as his sense of knowledge when forming policy. "He looks into all the angles, and as a result, he is a very efficient money manager," Rupp said. "That is extremely important." Kespohl "needs to be re-elected," Rupp said. Skala and Thomas share supporters Skala's campaign reported raising $9,471 from roughly 100 donors. That includes two donations of $500, one from Kurt and Patrice Albert, the other from Elizabeth Peters. Thomas reported raising $16,270, the most of any candidate in this round. Although he has donors from as far as Nashville and Denver, the vast majority are from Columbia and include retirees, Shakespeare's Pizza, radiologists and Gov. Jay Nixon's policy director, Jeff Harris. Between advertisements and mailings, Skala has spent $575 of that total. Skala's campaign also has hired consultants from Progressive Political Partners, at a cost of $500. Progressive Political Partners also is working for Thomas' campaign in the Fourth Ward. Skala and Thomas also drew from similar networks of support. More than 28 donors contributed to both Skala's and Thomas' campaigns. Included in that list are First Ward Councilman Fred Schmidt and Susan "Tootie" Burns, who ran unsuccessfully for the vacant Fifth Ward seat in February. Thomas' campaign has also received support from Second Ward Councilman Michael Trapp and Sixth Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe.

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3/31/14 12:04 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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David Sapp, a retiree, donated $100 to Skala's campaign in addition to a $50 donation to Thomas. Sapp, who has supported Skala in the past, said he appreciates the candidate’s balanced approach to city issues. Sapp said Skala is extremely knowledgeable about city government because of his work on the City Council and with the Planning and Zoning Commission. “Even though he lost a few years back, he stayed active in city government, and I just think he has an amazing dedication to the community," Sapp said. David Leuthold, who donated $150 to each campaign, said both candidates are progressive, capable and intelligent. Leuthold has known Skala for about six years and Thomas for more than 10. He said they have good judgment and are willing to work hard on the council. Skala, he said, proved his work ethic during his time as a councilman. In particular, Leuthold appreciates Thomas' efforts to increase accessibility for pedestrians to downtown as head of the PedNet Coalition. “I was very fortunate that all my life I was able to walk to work, and I think it’s appropriate to try to make that available for all people,” Leuthold said. In addition to the similarities in outside support, Thomas received a $100 donation from Skala's wife, Mahree Skala. Thomas and his wife, Ellen, gave $100 to Skala's campaign. Skala said the candidates attended each other's kickoff events, as well. "It’s safe to say that our views are more consistent with each other’s than they are with our opponents',' Skala said. Thomas also received $750 in contributions from his father-in-law, former Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman. Application Software Inc. President John Riddick has worked with Thomas on the board of PedNet and knew him through Hindman. He felt Thomas would be a better person for the position than Dudley. "I really like the way he thinks," he said. "He'll be good for Columbia." With nearly 200 donors, Thomas has pulled far ahead of Weitkemper. "I'm going to have to do more with less," Weitkemper said. "That's what the city ought to be 5 of 6

3/31/14 12:04 PM

Columbia City Council candidates file first round of finance reports

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doing anyway." A former city sewer superintendent who retired on the same day he announced he would run for the Fourth Ward council seat, Weitkemper reported raising a total of $3,885. Of that total, $1,700 came from four of his family members: his wife, son, brother and father. Incumbent Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley's report had not been made available to the public. Dudley said his campaign was late getting his report to the commission because of the snowstorm Feb. 21. He filed it last Friday. Missourian reporters Elizabeth Pearl, Madeline O'Leary, Tony Puricelli and Chris Jasper contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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3/31/14 12:04 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at forum By Nuria Mathog March 7, 2013 | 8:20 p.m. CST

Sid Sullivan, candidate for Columbia mayor, speaks Thursday during a candidate's forum. The forum was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Sullivan is challenging incumbent mayor Bob McDavid in the April 2 election. | Greg Kendall-Ball

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3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid, left, speaks Thursday during a candidate's forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce as Sid Sullivan, candidate for Columbia mayor, listens. | Greg Kendall-Ball

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3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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Third Ward council member Gary Kespohl speaks as Karl Skala awaits his turn to address the crowd Thursday afternoon at the candidate's forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. | Greg Kendall-Ball

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3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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Bill Weitkemper, candidate for Fourth Ward council member, listens as current Fourth Ward council member Daryl Dudley speaks Thursday at a candidate's forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. | Greg Kendall-Ball Candidates for mayor and the Fourth and Third Ward City Council seats attend a candidate's forum Thursday afternoon. The forum was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. ÂŚ Greg Kendall-Ball

COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Candidates for the mayoral, Third Ward and Fourth Ward seats discussed city improvement Thursday afternoon at a forum held by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. About 50 people listened to the candidates' perspectives on the viability of the Columbia Regional Airport, job creation and the role of economic incentives in attracting businesses. Present were Mayor Bob McDavid and challenger Sid Sullivan, incumbent Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl and challenger Karl Skala, and Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley and challenger Bill Weitkemper. MoreStory

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward

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Fourth Ward candidate Ian Thomas did not attend because of a prior engagement at a conference in Kentucky. His opening remarks were read by forum moderator Kellie Ann Coats, the chamber's chair of MU Health Care, and emphasized the importance of education, traffic demand management and investment in the city's roads.

3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

Columbia City Council seat Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat Boone County voters approve 911 sales tax Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

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Columbia Regional Airport McDavid said infrastructure was the "number one priority for the citizens of Columbia," and highlighted the airport and transit system as examples of projects worthy of investment. "Make Columbia a fly-into area, not a flyover area," he said. Sullivan, who ran against McDavid in 2010, said he does not support spending money on the airport until the number of passengers rises. Currently, 100 people pass through the airport each day, Sullivan said. Until that number reaches 500, he would not increase the airport's funding. He said he would focus on roads and sewers rather than air transportation. "We need to move carefully on the airport," he said.

The Fourth Ward candidates had opposing views on the airport's long-term benefits. Dudley said the difficulty of traveling to Columbia â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially for SEC sports fans â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was problematic. He said a superior airport could help the city's economic future. "Columbia is a growing and viable city, and it needs to have an airport," he said. But Weitkemper said he was skeptical of spending too many tax dollars on sustaining the structure, adding that an airport of that size had a 90 percent chance of failing. "There has to be a price on it," he said. "$17 million is unreasonable." Job creation McDavid said it was essential to bring a wide variety of jobs to the city, from high-skill positions at MU's nuclear reactor to production jobs requiring a GED. Sullivan said he would seek new strategies for employment through the creation of a job creation advisory committee. The kinds of jobs that Columbia brings to the community tend to be higher-level, white-collar ones, he said. He would work as mayor to bring more lower-level and entry-level jobs. This kind of creation would also lower poverty in the city, he said. 5 of 8

3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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Kespohl said the way to get people out of poverty is to train them in trade fields so that they are qualified for jobs that require technical skills. He said he has met with various city officials and a representative from Linn State Technical College to establish a campus in Columbia. Skala said these efforts must expand beyond post-secondary level positions to include entry-level jobs. Skala referred to a 2009 report detailing plans to promote technical education in Columbia. Concerning the homeless population, he said the city should be able to provide beds and food to those in need in exchange for community service. Demolition request moratorium Candidates were asked to defend their vote â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or to explain how they would have voted â&#x20AC;&#x201D; on a defeated City Council bill that would have placed a moratorium on issuing demolition permits to downtown property owners. The three incumbent members of the City Council present at the forum all voted against the bill Jan. 22. At the forum, each candidate cited concerns regarding a potential lawsuit as reason for voting against the measure. "I left medicine, a great job, because I don't like getting sued," McDavid said. "As mayor of Columbia, I still don't like getting sued." Kespohl said he also feared a lawsuit. Letters from the attorneys involved in the Niedermeyer property transaction, he said, confirmed those suspicions. Dudley said he voted against the moratorium "for the simple reason that (the city) did not need to get sued." Sullivan did not say how he would have voted on the moratorium. Skala said the Niedermeyer and the abeyance on demolition proposed by Barbara Hoppe are two separate issues. He said he would have voted for the moratorium, and doesn't agree that the moratorium would have resulted in a lawsuit. Weitkemper said he would not support the moratorium. He said the measure would not have had any effect on the Niedermeyer building. Economic incentives

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3/31/14 12:06 PM

Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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McDavid said the incentives that compelled IBM to move to Columbia had paid off, generating $700,000 in tax revenue for the city as well as an additional $400,000 for Boone County and the Columbia School Board, respectively. He cited the city's 1831 acquisition of MU â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a venture he said cost $25,000 per citizen at the time â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as a solid investment and, in contrast, described Moberly's failed Mamtek venture as one that was "terribly done." "We need to (use incentives) prudently," he said. "We need to do it smartly, and we need to do it to improve the economy of mid-Missouri." But Sullivan said the the IBM incentives have not yet proven to be worth the money. IBM does not pay property taxes to the city. And although the company promised to create 600 jobs by the end of 2012, they created closer to 250, he said. "Columbia needs those resources," he said. "When companies get a tax benefit, residents end up supporting the industry." Sullivan said that he would work as mayor with the council to create a way to eliminate those incentives over time if the company does not meet the expectations of job creation. Kespohl said he does not like the idea of incentives, but that Columbia must keep up with other cities that utilize them. Skala said he voted for the IBM incentives package when he was on the council. He said the deal was a case of a successful incentive proposal, which he would like to see more of in the future. Dudley said it was necessary to match incentives from other cities to attract business. "When I ran three years ago, I ran on a platform of jobs and safety," he said. "Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still about jobs and safety, and incentives are something to use to bring jobs." He added that the city needed to consider companies already located in Columbia. Weitkemper disagreed, arguing that the use of incentives to attract IBM was an unacceptable use of public money. "Was it successful?" he said. "Debatable. It obviously brought in more jobs. Appropriate? No." Missourian reporters, Elizabeth Pearl, Chris Jasper and Tony Puricelli contributed to this 7 of 8

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Candidates for City Council, mayor clash on economic issues at...

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report.

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3/31/14 12:06 PM

Fourth Ward candidates discuss Grasslands Project, zoning, safe...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Fourth Ward candidates discuss Grasslands Project, zoning, safety at forum By Nuria Mathog March 13, 2013 | 10:48 p.m. CDT This story has been modified to correct Bill Weitkemper's position on the Providence Road/Grasslands traffic project. COLUMBIA — Zoning issues, pedestrian safety and a project to address traffic problems on Providence Road and in the Grasslands neighborhood were just a few of the topics discussed by Fourth Ward candidates Wednesday evening at a forum hosted by the College Park Neighborhood Association. MoreStory

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

Providence Road project

VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

Candidates were asked how they would address a controversial proposal to reduce traffic congestion on Providence Road and to address traffic flow problems in the Grasslands neighborhood that would involve the demolition of eight residences.*

What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss

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Around 40 people showed up at Trinity Presbyterian Church to hear incumbent Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley, former PedNet Coalition director Ian Thomas and retired sewer superintendent Bill Weitkemper debate how they would handle infrastructure and zoning issues if elected — or re-elected — to the City Council.

Dudley said a primary factor in the controversy was that the four stakeholders in the Grasslands conflict — MU, the city, the Department of Transportation and Grasslands Neighborhood residents — had never been available to meet collectively. He suggested the interested parties meeting

3/31/14 12:13 PM

Fourth Ward candidates discuss Grasslands Project, zoning, safe...

increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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scheduled for March 20 would set a trend for the months to come.

"You cannot have a discussion and make a decision if you do not have all the parties in the room," he said. If property had to be taken, it would ideally be from the MU side and not from area residents, Dudley said. Thomas promised to support rescinding "the November ordinances" if elected to the City Council, citing pedestrian safety, automobile access and congestion as the three main problems that needed to be addressed. Weitkemper said he does not support the first or the second phase of the existing Grasslands plan. He said that both phases should be reconsidered and that he has reservations about the use of eminent domain to seize private property.* "I think something needs to be done, but I don't think I'd support tearing down eight houses," he said. Zoning and parking concerns Thomas said he would like to continue the existing conversation about form-based zoning. He expressed concerns that the current parking situation would not be sustainable indefinitely for Columbia's "vibrant downtown area." Dudley said parking was a problem because the city had initially been designed to accommodate one-automobile families. Today, he explained, the majority of families owned at least two vehicles. "We need to figure this stuff out at a rapid but thoughtful pace, and it will take a little time," he said. Weitkemper said many of the apartments downtown need to have off-street parking and height restrictions. He added that occupancy issues could be difficult for the city to enforce because of the logistic complications of determining which occupants were residents. Pedestrian safety Toward the end of the forum, candidates outlined what steps they would take to keep

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3/31/14 12:13 PM

Fourth Ward candidates discuss Grasslands Project, zoning, safe...

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pedestrians safe from speeding drivers. Dudley suggested that speed bumps were the most effective deterrents to speeding drivers and said he would consider implementing the devices in the College Park Neighborhood. Because speed limit signs alone were inefficient, he said, greater enforcement was necessary. Thomas disagreed, arguing that posted speed limits could be highly effective. He cited a 2009 study funded by the City Council that found that speed limit reductions decreased traffic speed by several miles per hour, leading to the establishment of a citywide residential speed limit of 25 mph. Weitkemper said both of his opponents had good suggestions, adding that an additional solution would be to encourage residents to report speeding drivers to the police. "I know if my son was going through there too fast and somebody called me and told me, he wouldn't do it again," he said. Reception from College Park residents Linda Wohleber, a College Park resident since 2003, said she appreciated the candidates' comments about improving pedestrian safety. "I felt like Mr. Dudley and Mr. Thomas had ideas that were useful," she said. Mary Jo Herde, whose husband, Al Tacker, heads the neighborhood association, said she was grateful for the time the candidates had taken to speak to College Park residents. "I think you have to appreciate anyone who runs for City Council because it's a relatively thankless job," she said. "It shows a commitment to your neighbors." Supervising editor is Zach Murdock.

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Incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid offers focus, economic devel...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid offers focus, economic development in second term By Hannah Cushman March 21, 2013 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

Incumbent mayoral candidate Bob McDavid answers questions at a forum on Tuesday at the Daniel Boone Regional Library. | Whitney Hayward

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Mayor Bob McDavid, left, speaks during a Chamber of Commerce candidate forum on March 7. He is running against Sid Sullivan, who also participated in the forum. | Greg Kendall-Ball

Incumbent mayoral candidate Bob McDavid speaks with an attendee of his Campaign Kick-Off on Feb. 7 at Shiloh Bar and Grill. | Elizabeth Cardwell

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Bob McDavid is running for a second term as mayor of Columbia. He plans to continue his work to create jobs. ¦

COLUMBIA — When posed a question, Bob McDavid tilts his head as if turning a better ear toward the person asking the question. New lines supplement the few already worn into his forehead as the incumbent mayor presses his lips together, eyes averted, and waits. McDavid’s expression isn't empty but manages to convey very little. It's a poker player's dream — or it would be if he could suppress the clever glimmer in his eyes. That’s what gives him away now: McDavid is thinking, measuring his words before he has even heard the full question. On the Web Campaign website Facebook Twitter

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

It’s easy to feel as though McDavid is not listening. He cracked a toothy smile as he mentioned that his peers have accused him of as much. When you operate as analytically as McDavid, though, it’s hard to keep a quiet mind, even during conversations about something as benign as his high school basketball career. Then again, it's a Monday morning in February, and news just broke of Frontier Airlines' exit from Columbia Regional Airport. If the state of his hair is any indication, McDavid has had a busy morning, and though he's silenced his buzzing cellphone more than once, his mind seems closer to Airport Drive than his city hall office. Two weeks later, as he lounges in one of the easy chairs that form a semi-circle across the room from his desk, McDavid referenced a different kind of distraction. Twenty-eight years and 5,000 deliveries as an obstetrician, McDavid said, couldn't prepare him for the birth of his first grandchild. When his daughter, Kim Schmidt, went into labor, McDavid's technical knowledge kept the rational concerns at bay. Instead, the notion of his eldest child becoming a first-time parent gave him pause. He recalled what it was like when he became a father. "They just put a kid in your arms and you go, 'Now what?'"

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Incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid offers focus, economic devel...

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McDavid said. That terrifying yet exciting moment is somewhat akin to McDavid's relationship with politics. Although he's become embedded in local government, McDavid has never considered himself a politician. In fact, the way Greg Steinhoff, president of strategic operations at Veterans United, told it three years ago, McDavid was surprised to be approached about running for mayor at all. McDavid found his footing, and in 2010 launched a mayoral campaign as a "salesman," a nod to his investment in shoring up Columbia's business community. The word this election cycle is "volunteer," but the mission remains by and large the same one he articulated in his first acceptance speech: To hold office is not an honor but a responsibility to take action. McDavid takes that responsibility seriously. He remembered taking his first look through the 600-page city budget three years ago. "Oh, dear," he thought. Unfazed by the enormity of the task, he identified the city's pension plan as a weak point and resolved to address it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; quickly. "Kicking the can down the road was not an option," McDavid said. In September 2010, five months after his election, he established the Pension Review Task Force to determine a more sustainable pension plan for city employees. The task force in its first year found that the city faced a $118 million shortfall for its existing plan and that the gap between earnings and liabilities would continue growing at an alarming rate. The new plan brokered during the following year by McDavid, City Manager Mike Matthes and city employee groups is projected to save $50 million over 20 years. It received no negative comments during its introduction to the council, according to a previous Missourian report. As a member of the Boone Hospital Center Board of Trustees, McDavid made similar strides toward efficiency in renegotiating the hospital's lease with BJC Healthcare. As with city pensions, he felt the hospital was overspending. The new lease included a smaller management fee and altered the division of annual surplus, ultimately saving the county-owned hospital $10 million. McDavid said there's a bit of a learning curve to navigating city government. Mastering the bureaucratic process of task forces, budgeting and public hearings was also a challenge after

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years of split-second decisions as an obstetrician. If there's one thing McDavid took to quickly, said Dave Griggs, chairman of Regional Economic Development Inc, it's recruiting. At the time McDavid was elected, REDI was in final talks with an Internet-based company, which Griggs declined to name. Griggs said McDavid seemed "surprised and inspired" by the extent of REDI's efforts to attract businesses to the area. Griggs called McDavid an "extremely quick study." The mayor threw his weight behind the development firm and has played a regular role in recruiting efforts ever since. McDavid has proven particularly adept at negotiating. Griggs said he can adapt to courting a variety of firms, from a foreign venture fund to a Fortune 100 company. His cool demeanor allows him to sit back and let everyone at the table make his or her point. When special arrangements such as incentives come into play, McDavid really shines in his supporting role.

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"Bob's a closer," Griggs said, and he often works behind the curtain to ensure a place in Columbia for out-of-towners as well as homegrown businesses.

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That's how, when MU researchers developed a chicken alternative from soy, McDavid had a hand in keeping that innovation here. Beyond Meat announced plans to open a 16,000-square-f0ot plant in Columbia last fall, which could create around 60 jobs by 2017. Griggs said the company is set to expand to weeklong production this spring. The son of a factory worker with a 10th-grade education, McDavid made jobs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "especially for 5 of 8

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those without a college education," he said — a primary focus of both his 2010 and 2013 campaigns. Yet, not all of McDavid's efforts to spur job growth have succeeded. When the City Council declared a swath of Columbia blighted in early 2012, public push back was hard and swift. Blight, as well as certain levels of unemployment and poverty, is required by Missouri statute to create an enhanced enterprise zone. Within the zone, qualifying businesses that hired two new employees and invested $100,000 would have paid half as much tax on real property and been eligible to receive further tax credits from the state. McDavid discounted the precursory finding of blight, saying at a March 2012 meeting that it "doesn't really have a definition." His focus was instead on manufacturing jobs, which on average pay two times the wages of positions in food and retail. And though fear of eminent domain, decreased property values and corporate welfare brought the city's EEZ effort to its knees in December, McDavid hasn't given up on the use of incentives. When accused of being stubborn, however, McDavid answers with an emphatic, "No." "I'm willing to change if the facts change," he said. McDavid displayed his persistence when he sat for 12 years on the Boone Hospital Center Board of Trustees. The management strategy known as "Six Sigma" was originally developed by Motorola as a way to minimize loss in business ventures. But its DMAIC methodology — define, measure, analyze, improve, control — has become an integral part of McDavid’s operational paradigm. Too often, McDavid said, government has a way of focusing on the process rather than the problem. "Sometimes you create a task force and forget what the task force is for," he said. He offered Providence Road as an example. What began as an effort to alleviate traffic congestion evolved into a plan that would have required knocking down eight houses and spending almost $7 million. That's a far cry from the original objective of better access for the Grasslands Neighborhood. McDavid said the city should return to the root of the problem in developing a new solution.

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Although outsourcing to experts remains an option, McDavid tries to interject when he can. Most recently, he was lauded by Brent Gardner of the Historic Preservation Commission as instrumental in putting the Niedermeyer Building back into nurturing hands. The city lacked any authority to insist that the 176-year-old boarding house, which was slated for demolition, be preserved. After a proposed moratorium on downtown demolition drew threats of litigation, McDavid switched gears and implored the would-be site developer, Collegiate Housing Partners, to find a new buyer. McDavid played coy on the Friday before news of the deal he'd brokered became public. "All I'll say is I remain hopeful that a private buyer will come in," he said. If he were a less subtle man, he might have waggled his eyebrows. Instead, he gave a tight-lipped smile. People thanked Bob McDavid the obstetrician, but Bob McDavid the mayor defers most recognition to other members of the team. Still, during small victories such as the Niedermeyer, McDavid can't help but enjoy himself — a quality that hasn't gone unnoticed. "That's just his personality," Griggs said. "He really seems to relish his role as mayor and as spokesperson." While the professional transition from trustee to public figure has gone smoothly, McDavid’s personal habits have adapted. As a physician, he acted quickly. Getting ready for work took at most 10 minutes: pull on scrubs, find the keys and iPhone and get out the door. The incumbent’s mornings take a little longer now, usually involving a shower and a shave. For McDavid, it’s not the routine that’s the problem; it’s the wardrobe. As a physician, McDavid said he was encouraged not to wear ties. Dangling clothing can spread germs from patient to patient. As a public figure, ties — and the suit and shiny shoes that go with them — come with the territory. McDavid hasn’t taken to the sartorial world as readily as he has the political. He owns four suits, all standard cut and neutral in color. “My family calls me fashionably challenged,” McDavid said, unembarrassed. For Bill Tillotson, that unapologetic nature is what makes McDavid "the same old guy" he's been since McDavid delivered one of Tillotson's children 24 years ago. "He's busier than most retired people," Tillotson joked.

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Despite his schedule, McDavid retains a dry sense of humor. When prompted for an example, Tillotson said he couldn't think of any specific instance. "At least not something he wouldn't mind being published," he added with a laugh. McDavid also knows when to be serious. Tillotson, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Sixth Ward council seat last year, likened Columbia to a corporation in that it hires, fires, buys and sells. Tillotson praised McDavid's role as CEO but wishes his old friend would take off the leadership hat more often. "We'll go out to dinner, and invariably he turns into the mayor," Tillotson said. "I have to reel him back and say, 'No, leave that in the office.'" McDavid estimates he works about 50 hours a week on city business. Over three years, including two weeks off annually, that's 7,500 hours, or about 313 days. He's not done yet. Three more years in office would mean fewer bike excursions on the Katy Trail with his wife of 42 years, Suzanne McDavid. It would mean fewer opportunities to peruse Twitter and delve into "trashy spy novels." But McDavid is in this for the long haul. According to his website, "I am seeking another term because I believe we must continue the momentum weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve established." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Sid Sullivan runs for mayor in a bid for change in a diverse community By Elizabeth Pearl March 22, 2013 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

Sid Sullivan, candidate for Columbia mayor, speaks during a candidate's forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce on March 7. Sullivan is challenging incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid in the April 2 election. | Greg Kendall-Ball

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Mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan waits to begin an election forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Columbia Public Library. Sid Sullivan and incumbent Bob McDavid answered questions from the League of Women Voters and the public about downtown student housing, the homeless in Columbia and the budget surplus. | Whitney Hayward

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Mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan speaks to his wife, Joan Sullivan, and Ann Edwards at his campaign kickoff event at Orr Street Studios. | Jessica Salmond After coming in third in 2007's mayoral race, Sid Sullivan is taking on his second mayoral bid in 2013. ÂŚ Missourian staff

COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sid Sullivan never shows up anywhere without a "Sid Sullivan for Mayor" sticker or button pinned to his jacket. At campaign events where everyone else is wearing "Hello my name is" tags, Sullivan wears one of the buttons. He doesn't have just a name, he has a race to run. The buttons aren't recycled from his last campaign for mayor. They're brand new. On the web Campaign website Facebook page

After coming in third with 12 percent of the vote in the 2007 Columbia mayoral race, Sullivan threw out all of the files, fliers and campaign paraphernalia he had. He was never going to run again.

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"I thought I had made my contributions," he says, and he intended to stay out of this year's race. People kept asking him to run again for mayor, though.

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Columbia City Council Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs

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"You can say no 20 times and then say yes once and you're in the thick of things." Sullivan and his wife, Joan Sullivan, have never been ones for lying down. Joan Sullivan has run for U.S. Congress and for Cook County commissioner in Illinois. Sid Sullivan has run for Boone County commissioner, Columbia mayor and a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. Between them, they've lost five different bids for political office. Now Sid Sullivan is running for mayor again, and Joan Sullivan is working as his campaign manager. ***

City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment

Sid Sullivan has worked in more fields than most people have time to dream about. He trained to become a Jesuit Candidates address infrastructure, priest, taught math in Ohio, led a civil rights movement in minority issues at NAACP forum Akron and worked in the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Cook County Circuit Court and pharmaceutical sales at Roche Diagnostics Corp. But he's never worked in Missouri politics. Four years after moving to Columbia in 2002, Sullivan ran for Missouri's 24th district as a state representative. He lost in the primary to former Columbia Public Schools superintendent Jim Ritter. Sullivan decided to run because the state had taken money away from disability services. He wanted to get it back. "It forced (people with disabilities) to choose between eating and getting medicine," he said. Before that race, he had never felt the call to run for public office. Joan Sullivan was the one with the political drive. She ran for Cook County commissioner in 1994 and for Congress in 1996. "I do have fire in my belly," Joan Sullivan said. "I can't see things that are wrong without trying to jump in and change them." Joan Sullivan has been a social worker, juvenile detention supervisor, civil rights activist and

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political candidate. She came in a close second for Cook County commissioner but lost favor with her party and knew she would never be able to win in Chicago. "When you run in Chicago, whew!" she said with a dismissive wave. "You don't run in Chicago if you're a reformer." The couple share a love for politics and change, Joan Sullivan said, but they take different approaches to that love. She is passionate; her husband is thoughtful. "He's more serious," Joan Sullivan said. She gets fired up when her doctor starts talking politics. Sid Sullivan, though, gives the impression of someone who has studied every detail of an issue before offering an opinion. Before they moved from Chicago, Joan Sullivan was always the one putting herself in the ring. "She was the one with the political passion," Sid Sullivan said. "She's stepped back from that." Sid Sullivan was the one who started running after the couple moved to Missouri. He lost his first race, for state representative but realized while speaking to residents during the campaign how many problems existed in the county. He waited another year and ran for Boone County Southern District commissioner against incumbent Karen Miller. He lost again in the primary. And when many of the issues he had wanted to fix still were not fixed, he ran for mayor of Columbia three years later. Khesha Duncan has known the Sullivans for three years and volunteers for his campaign. She believes this makes him a serious man and a viable political candidate. "He likes to weigh all the options," Duncan said. "When making a decision he gathers as much information as possible. He includes all those things equally before making a decision about something." *** Sullivan's bid to become mayor of Columbia reflects a remarkable evolution. After graduating from high school in suburban Detroit, he started training to become a Jesuit priest. While in training, he studied philosophy in Chicago while teaching high school math and working in the civil rights movement in Ohio. That's where he met Joan. They worked together in a coalition of civil rights groups and

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became friends. When he left for New York to pursue a master's degree in sociology, they lost touch. While there he quit the Jesuit order; he had completed 12 of the 15 years of required years training.

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"I increasingly felt it was not the right thing for me," he said. "I was dissatisfied with where my life was going." Sullivan had lost ties to friends and family â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and he had lost his mission in life. When he looked at men who had become priests before him, he didn't want their lives.

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"I didn't want to be what they were," he said. He moved back to the Midwest and called Joan, eight years after they had last spoken. She answered the phone and had no idea who he was. Submit

"When he called me again and said what his name was, I had forgotten," she said, recalling that she thought he was a different man named Tom Sullivan. "I talked to him for five minutes as the wrong guy."

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Joan Sullivan eventually remembered Sid. They rekindled their acquaintance and eventually became best friends. They married in 1975. "Marry a friend; it will always last," she said. "Sid was a darn good friend." Sid Sullivan went to work for the Illinois Department of Corrections in Springfield and then in Chicago, where he also took on a job with the Cook County Circuit Court. He spent 14 years in Chicago working on jail, probation and court improvements, then he left when he began to feel stagnant.

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"At some point you get passed over for promotions," he said. "I realized I'd be sitting forever in a mid-level position." So he quit and went back to school, earning a master's degree in business administration from DePaul University. Recruited there by a headhunter, he went to work for Roche Diagnostics Corp. In the sales department at Roche, Sullivan worked with a small team on a product called OnTrak, a urine testing product that brought back results much quicker than anything before it. He said that in 10 years he developed OnTrak into a $30 million product. He is proud of the accomplishment of launching and marketing a product. It was his first venture into the private sector. "It was hard work," he said. In 2001, Sullivan took a buy-out when the company was sold. Chinese competitors had driven up the price of OnTrak and wiped out Roche Diagnostics' profits. The Sullivans retired to Columbia and immediately began attending public meetings. Their first was a meeting of the Boone County Commission. Other than the commissioners, they were the only people there. "We have always, always, always been active," Joan Sullivan said. "We immediately go to any meeting that's open. It might be boring to other people but not to us. We talk about it over the breakfast table." Linda Green and her husband, Ken Green, met the Sullivans at a public meeting, and they became closer after Sid Sullivan decided to run for office. The Greens have mailed fliers and edited literature for Sullivan's campaign. "Any responsible citizen needs to become involved in what's going on in their town," Linda Green said. "I think Sid is very much attuned to the issues going on in this town for all citizens, including middle-class and lower-income people who tend to get left out." *** Button firmly pinned on his lapel at a campaign meet-and-greet at the home of former MU journalism professor Steve Weinberg, Sullivan told the story of how he came to live in Columbia as 15 people sipped hot apple cider and watched the Weinbergs' dog sniff around the

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kitchen floor. When he and Joan Sullivan looked to move away from Chicago, he said, they got a book that listed the 50 nicest places to live after retirement. Columbia was one of them. They visited 10 or 15 cities in the Midwest but kept coming back here. They wanted to live in a place with a dab of rural character but also a good cultural scene. More than that, he said, he loved the diversity of Columbia. "It's a very diverse, wonderful community," he said. "In minorities, religion, disabilities, generation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; wonderfully diverse." He is running for mayor, he said, because he wants these diverse groups to have a fair say in their city. "We travel in small circles," he said. As mayor, he hopes to get further out of his circle and give more attention to the people in the community who need it. "It's part of being human. You try to provide opportunities for people who have more to overcome than the rest of us." *** The first time you run and lose a bid for public office, Joan Sullivan said, it hurts. "You think, 'Oh my god! I've been rejected!' Then you think about it, what you were in there for. If you have issues, you should run. If you have people you can help, what the heck are you doing?" The Sullivans have developed a tradition: After each election defeat they travel somewhere. They're avid travelers in general, having visited more than 30 countries, including Indonesia, China, Turkey and Chile. "Every time we've lost an election, we give ourselves a reward after," Joan Sullivan said. "I wonder where we'll go after this." For Sid Sullivan, the disappointment he feels after a campaign loss doesn't stem from selfish motivations. He never wanted to be a politician. "It wasn't a boyhood ambition," he said. "I was on student council in high school, but I didn't aspire to this." 8 of 9

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Even now, he wants change more than he wants the office. He called himself the "pragmatic campaigner," a candidate who runs the race not for glory but for the people watching from the sidelines. "At this stage in my life it's not really a career," he said. He doesn't covet the office, but if the office is what he needs to create change, he'll certainly try to get it. As many times as it takes. "I'm Sid Sullivan," he says at the beginning of his speech to a crowd at a forum full of potential constituents. "And I'm again running for mayor of Columbia." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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City Council candidates discuss downtown zoning

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss downtown zoning By Missourian staff March 24, 2013 | 6:03 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about downtown zoning. What is your view of existing zoning and development regulations downtown and whether the city should embark on an effort to revise them? On The Watchword

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You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to Missourian questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues

Bob McDavid: "Well we should explore them. C-2 zoning is open zoning, and there’s always an opportunity to review it, to tweak, to see what’s good and what’s bad about it. We need to keep in mind that it has reasonably served us well in the past because we do have an active, vibrant downtown. We have enough activity downtown that there are hundreds of communities that would love to be talking about how we slow things down. Most communities are talking how to revive their downtown. So it’s, it’s in some ways a great problem to have. It’s useful to look at, you know, how tall buildings should be. It’s useful to look at parking requirements because that determines, you know, the infrastructure demands on the city. At the end of the day, I’d like to see a lot of activity downtown. I’d like to see students living adjacent to campus, and I just think that adds to the vitality of our great downtown."

VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

Sid Sullivan: "The downtown, as in all zoning, has a pyramid-type zoning. And when you look at the zoning,

VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City

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City Council candidates discuss downtown zoning

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Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

there are permitted uses and non-permitted uses, and then there are conditional uses. But the city really needs to decide What you need to know before you how they want the downtown to be used and how they want go the polls on Tuesday the downtown to look. And once we've done that I think we Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum really need to take a look at the zoning ordinances and take a look at the kinds of uses. They were put in in the '60s, and so there are uses in the downtown area that I don't think really belong in the downtown area. Things like gas stations, other permitted uses that we'd really like to exclude if we want a walkable environment where we have people that are lingering and enjoying the restaurants and entertainment of the downtown area." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "The city has already embarked on an effort to revise them in a couple of ways. One is several, several years ago, we started the process to contract for and produce a comprehensive plan, which was supposed to use growth management principles to eventually get to zoning revision and subdivision revision. Some of the zoning code ordinances have not been revised since 1964, so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re long overdue for that kind of thing. Additionally, we were asked by the City Council to take a look at the C-2 zoning in particular, triggered really by the potential for private development in high density residential downtown with the Niedermeyer property. And then there was a proposal for an abeyance, a six-month abeyance on demolition downtown. So, that kind of triggered an interest in C-2 zoning. Classically, Planning and Zoning has recommended that the city carefully consider when it grants C-2 zoning, particularly when it comes to high-density residential like student development because of the unique impacts it has. So, Planning and Zoning and several other groups are, in fact, looking at C-2 rezoning, and there are several suggestions on the horizon, one of which might be an overlay, another of which might be to go back to a system whereby it was a conditional use permit for high-density residential only." Gary Kespohl: "City Council has asked the stakeholders, the Community Improvement District, the Downtown Leadership Council and the surrounding neighborhoods to give their opinion on zoning downtown. I attended a CID meeting last Thursday, and they think zoning is OK the way that it is. I think it should be reviewed, and maybe some changes be made to certain areas of the zoning, certain zoning categories." Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley: "The city has to embark on revising them, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to take a large group

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City Council candidates discuss downtown zoning

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of people to do that. There has to be someone from the development committee, has to be someone from downtown, has to be a couple of people from interested (groups) around the city. It can't just be downtown; you can’t have a lopsided group. You have to have everybody there, because all of their opinions and thoughts have to be taken into consideration. So that means development, legal, planning and zoning, and environmental and citizens." Ian Thomas: "Well, I feel that the use zoning system is somewhat limited and doesn’t always achieve the objectives that it was set up for. And a great example of that is the fact that a lot of downtown is zoned C-2, which allows a very intensive use in terms of multi-unit housing, which is considered to be less intense than commercial, but in everybody’s opinion it is more intense. I would like to look at overlay zoning that would to some extent discourage student housing. I’m concerned that the student housing boom is going to overshoot if we’re not careful and would encourage housing suitable for other types of downtown residents such as professionals, senior citizens and even families." Bill Weitkemper: "Most of the downtown’s zoned C-2, which allows for residential construction and C-2 zoning, and I don’t think that’s appropriate if you don’t require parking. And when they do the residential construction, there’s no setback requirements, no parking requirements and no height requirements. So you need to rezone the property from C-2 to R-2 or R-3 to R-4, whatever you want to build there, or transfer the restrictions that are in R-2 to R-3 to R-4 to the location where you’re going to build something." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm com...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm committment to Columbia By Tony Puricelli March 25, 2013 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

Karl Skala, Third Ward candidate, speaks at candidate forum on Thursday. ¦ Roxana Pop

COLUMBIA — Four days after Karl Skala lost his Third Ward City Council seat to Gary Kespohl 1 of 7

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Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm com...

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in the 2010 election, he walked into The Coffee Ground on Broadway at 9 a.m. to hold his civic office hours, the same way he had on many Saturdays for the past three years. Today, the man in the black turtleneck can still be found every other Saturday morning, now at Coffee Zone, ready to talk to Columbia residents. People continue to stop by â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he says two or three each time â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to engage with him at length about Columbia issues. MoreStory Related Media

Karl Skala, a candidate for the Third Ward city council and chairman of the Columbia Boone County Environment and Energy Commission, talks to a supporter during a campaign event at Trey Bistro on Jan. 22.

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs

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On a Saturday in March, during his campaign, the coffee shop was buzzing with customers. Skala sat in the front, with his back to the window. On the table he had his laptop and a cup of coffee. A campaign button on his vest read "Re-elect Karl Skala." Skala isn't one to let go of traditions, whether in his political or private life. He has sung in the church choir for more than 25 years, he makes his grandmother's pastry recipes on Christmas, and he sticks with his office hours, even outside the council. "I've learned over a number of years that the only way to accomplish anything, outside of having good ideas, is to be persistent," Skala said. "You can't quit." In a way, Skala never really left the council. He regularly attends meetings and offers public commentary on issues such as those regarding roads. Just last week, he spoke as a representative of the Infrastructure Task Force, on which he has served for two years, to advocate for a user-based fee structure rather than an increase in sales tax to pay for streets and sidewalks. Skala has shown he isn't hesitant to speak his mind, even when presenting a minority opinion. With his public appearances, his time on the council, and his current work on the Planning and Zoning and the Environment and Energy commissions, Skala has certainly made a name for himself in city government. When he campaigns door-to-door, many people know who he is. At 3/31/14 12:23 PM

Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm com...

City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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one house, the resident was on the phone with Skala's wife, Mahree, when he came knocking. This time around, running for office hasn't been about Skala introducing himself to the public; it's about reaffirming his

commitment to Columbia. *** Skala got his start in city government in 1998, when a property owner near his home on the northeast side of town wanted land rezoned to commercial property. There was no neighborhood association at the time, so Skala began going door to door to speak with neighbors about the issue and, in doing so, helped establish the Hominy Branch Neighborhood Alliance. A compromise was reached that kept all parties happy, and Skala was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission the next year. He served there until 2005 and was re-appointed to the commission in 2012. In the 2007 Third Ward race, Skala defeated his current opponent, incumbent Third Ward councilman Gary Kespohl. He's been at City Hall ever since, in different capacities: as a citizen, councilman and commissioner. In 2010, he lost a close and combative race to Kespohl. The campaign still haunts Skala, who refers to it as the "nastiest campaign in Columbia history." An advertisement from Kespohl accused Skala of excessive travel expenses by eating luxury meals on the taxpayers' money. Skala notes that his food costs were always within his allotted budget for meals and says the meal Kespohl refers to was a one-time occurrence in a hotel restaurant. "Gary put that in one of his mailers as if I did that on a regular basis," Skala said. That accusation still affects Skala politically and personally. During door-to-door canvassing, one resident said bluntly that he wouldn’t vote for Skala even if he could “walk on water.” “What's the issue?” Skala asked. “Eighty-three-dollar lunches,” the man said, refusing to accept Skala's campaign flier. The rumor from 2010 had reared up again. Skala wanted to explain that the accusation was unfounded, but he didn't get the chance.

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Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm com...

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"You can deny things all you want, but some people just won't believe it. There's only so much you can do," Skala said before quickly returning to his clipboard of voter addresses. If Skala was upset by the exchange, he didn't show it. He doesn't raise his voice, and he doesn't let his emotions get in the way of his work. "You've got to have a pretty thick skin to be doing this stuff," Skala said. "You can't take some of this too personally." Despite the lingering effect of the last race, Skala doesn't want a grudge match with Kespohl on their third go-around. What he wants now is to fix what he sees as inadequate leadership for his ward. He believes his ward doesn’t receive as much attention or as many city resources as others, such as the Fifth Ward. Skala said it has been common in the last few years for road projects in his ward to take a back seat to projects in other areas, such as the Sixth Ward LeMone Industrial Boulevard bridge project.. “That’s not the kind of representation that a lot of people in the Third Ward appreciate,” he said. With that in mind, Skala didn't quit after the last election. He found his way back onto the Planning and Zoning Commission and decided pretty quickly that he would run again for City Council. Persistence and resiliency in rain or shine Mahree Skala said her husband is great at keeping his cool in crisis situations. She thinks maybe his military training — Karl Skala is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps — has something to do with it. He was even patient when, while packing for a trip, Mahree Skala accidentally ran over his laptop. Twice. “He was so patient about the whole thing," Mahree Skala said. "I don’t know what I would’ve done. I probably would have been screaming. But he just said, 'There’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s take what we can salvage from the hard drive and move on.’” Karl Skala was able to recover most of the data from the computer.

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Third Ward council candidate Karl Skala wants to reaffirm com...

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The laptop incident parallels the aftermath of his 2010 election defeat. “Karl is very resilient," Mahree Skala said. "He takes disappointments with a grain of salt. I was disappointed when he wasn’t elected last time, but I really admire his ability to bounce back and continue to contribute to the community.” This time around, Karl Skala, who retired from his medical research position at MU during his last council term, has completely devoted himself to campaigning, from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep. "If you have a full-time job and are working on City Council, it's almost impossible — I mean, if you're doing it right," he said. He's out door-to-door about four times a week, rain or shine. The weather doesn't hold him back, such as the time he spent a rainy Sunday afternoon on William Street. Dressed in a blue rain jacket, Karl Skala parked his Mercury sedan filled with campaign signs and set off in the rain to talk to potential voters. "Bless your heart for being out in this weather," one resident said after he'd introduced himself and handed over a flier. Others conveyed the same sentiment. "You gotta do what you gotta do," he'd respond. "I like that this neighborhood has porches to keep you dry." To him, it was just another day on the campaign trail. He never tires of getting out into the community. For example, Mahree Skala said that when a zoning issue comes before him, he will often travel to the site to see it firsthand rather than relying on diagrams that are included with meeting agendas and staff reports. That dedication is one reason why Kurt Albert, a campaign worker, calls Karl Skala “the hardest working man in Columbia.” The February snow storms didn't stop Skala's campaign efforts, either. He trudged from house to house to reach voters. "It took a very long time to get around then," he said. "The streets were clear, but the sidewalks were impossible. You just do what you can." After struggling with snowy sidewalks, he's been talking to potential voters about his ideas for

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restructuring the city's plowing system. "They could put plows on the garbage trucks and other city vehicles they have at Water and Light and Public Works," Karl Skala suggested to one resident who expressed concerns. "They also could contract with other folks who have four-wheel vehicles." Staying power Outside election season, Karl Skala and his wife prefer a different type of trail. They love to hike and enjoy the outdoors together. Mahree Skala reads under a tree while Karl Skala goes fly-fishing. When he's not poring over zoning proposals, Karl Skala loves to read biographies and political books. The couple travels frequently, and they always try to work in some time for their first love: music. Skala met his wife of 21 years when they were singing in the choir of Columbia's First Presbyterian Church. They still sing in choir together at their new church, the Columbia United Church of Christ. The Skalas also sing in the MU Choral Union, although Karl Skala has been unable to recently due to conflicts with Planning and Zoning Commission meetings. Mahree Skala said music brought them together. They love classical, jazz and blues. The couple now frequents the Roots 'N' Blues 'N' BBQ Festival, the jazz series at Murry's Restaurant and other concerts whenever they find the time. A city of memories Skala moved to Columbia in 1980 for graduate school at MU and has lived here, near the Ballenger Lane area, ever since. At one point while campaigning on William Street, he passed a familiar house. "My kids used to go to day care here," he casually observed. Now it was on his list of doors to knock on. The children are out of the house now â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his youngest son is 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the day care has since moved. But Skala is still in the neighborhood, and he's isn't going to stop working to represent it. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Related story: Gary Kespohl, incumbent candidate, looks to numbers to drive his campaign.

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign By Madeline O'Leary March 25, 2013 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl speaks at the candidate's forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce on March 7. Kespohl has lived in Columbia for six decades and sees his role as councilman as that of a problem solver. ÂŚ Greg Kendall-Ball

COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl reserved a spacious, dimly lit room near the back of Jack's Gourmet Restaurant for a campaign kickoff event March 14. Multiple tables were pulled together to form three long rows lined by empty wooden chairs. At the end of the middle row, a donation bowl held just three checks. A sign-in sheet displayed only two names. Largely untouched platters of cheeses and vegetables rested on a table near the entrance. Classical guitar music trickled through speakers. MoreStory

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Clad in a light tan suit and an orange paisley tie, Kespohl, 66, sat alone at the end of the row farthest from the 3/31/14 12:25 PM

Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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entrance, lightly picking at a small plate of carrots and sipping ice water. It was 5:46 p.m. The event began at 5:30. Just four other people were there. One stood facing the corner and asked into his cell phone, "Are you coming to Kespohl's fundraiser tonight?"

Gary Kesphol, Third Ward councilman, goes door to door campaigning for re-election on March 16 in Columbia. Kespohl says he wants to make the message clear that "Columbia is open for business."

Someone forgot to send out invitations. Soon, six supporters clustered around the end of the table with Kespohl. Fred Parry, publisher of Inside Columbia magazine, and former First Ward Councilman Larry Schuster were among them. They laughed about the invitation error, and the conversation warmly flowed into a business discussion. "Here you've got a successful small businessman who knows exactly what it's like to wake up in the morning worrying about making payroll," Parry said, gesturing toward Kespohl. "A lot of people don't know what that feels like. Because Gary has experienced that, he understands the value of job creation." Kespohl sat across from Parry, an easy smile and relaxed expression on his face. "Did he tell you that he saved the city $11 million?" Parry asked. "Sixteen million," Kespohl chimed in â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his soft mid-Missouri drawl lightly tinged with urgency.

Two years ago, Kespohl found himself researching the Fifth Street parking garage. "Garage-zilla," he calls it. The city used a bond issue to cover the cost of the 10-story structure and opted to put off paying principal on the bonds until 2014 and to pay the interest early. Kespohl stumbled upon seven more bond issues just like it. So he went to a banker for insight on the strategy. The banker told him that delayed principal 2 of 7

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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payments cause interest costs to increase. With the help of Finance Director John Blattel, Kespohl worked on reissuing the bonds so that the city could start paying principal. The move will save the city $16 million over the life of the bonds. *** Kespohl is a numbers man. His eyes glimmer like a child's at the mention of Columbia's trend manual. He uses his hands for emphasis when he talks about the manual's hundreds of pages of facts and figures. The untrained eye might see a labyrinth of rows and columns stuffed with six- to eight-digit numbers. Kespohl calls it "good late-night reading." After knee-replacement surgery in July 2011, Kespohl healed in bed for three weeks and passed the time scanning the budget line by line. "My wife thought I was crazy," he said. Columbia's trend manual details each enterprise â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether transit, water and light or sewer service â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as separate budgets. It shows the income and expense of each, and their profitability, for each of the past 10 years. "I've found all kinds of mistakes," he said, his eyebrows rising slightly above his thin-rimmed glasses. Each enterprise is required by council to maintain a 20 percent cash reserve. So if an department earns $50 million, $10 million should be put in savings. These numbers hold the city accountable for avoiding deficits and frivolous spending. For Kespohl, fiscal responsibility is about cutting the fat and breaking even. Discovering and trimming pockets of excess is just a matter of analysis, he said. "Around the time that the city was considering a 1.5 percent increase in water and light rates, I noticed that Water and Light had millions in excess reserves," he said. "There's no reason to raise rates when the reserves exceed that 20 percent benchmark." Kespohl earned his respect for numbers by being in business. Thirty-one years ago, he founded Central Missouri Computer Services. 3 of 7

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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In his office off Walnut Street, Kespohl builds and repairs computer systems amid organized chaos. Shelves lining the walls hold snake nests of colored cables. The skeletons of hard drives, memory boards, monitors and modems litter the floor. Kespohl has a map of the Third Ward tacked to the wall in one corner. Beneath it are a few campaign signs. When he first spearheaded the company with his wife, Patty Kespohl, he worked in the office eight hours a day. Then he went home and worked late into the night. Five years later, he was able to hire a computer repair specialist away from IBM. They started writing contracts together and competing with IBM to service equipment. Charging half of IBM's rates allowed them to "beat the pants off the competition," Kespohl said. "We were making all kinds of money," he added. "We got so busy that I had to buy a plane to fly us to jobs." On average, he's worked 14 hours a day ever since. *** When Kespohl goes to talk business, he does it face-to-face. "I hate email," he said. "I would much rather sit down with you to explain what it is I'm about." Kespohl isn't about political posturing. He insists he has no "political mind" and believes the council shouldn't involve political parties. The us-vs.-them mentality created by the divide between Democrats and Republicans is counterproductive, he said. "There's this impression that these conservative people have been elected and that we're in the back pocket of business, and I take offense to that," Kespohl said. "Now, I am a fiscal conservative because I watch dollars real close," he said. "But I will listen to anything, politically. I will consider anything." Last year's enhanced enterprise zone debate is an example, he said. "I wasn't happy with the first crack at the enhanced enterprise zone because it blighted 60 percent of Columbia," he said. "People thought I was for the idea. But the truth is, I just hadn't made up my mind yet." If city officials decide to propose something like an EEZ again, they "have to do it properly," Kespohl said. Part of that involves good information and good conversation with the public. 4 of 7

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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"There was so much misinformation out there," he said. "Once people have heard it, they're going to believe what they want to believe. It's so emotional when you say the word 'blight,' people will believe anything to reinforce their feelings about the word." In the meantime, he doesn't mind being called a conservative. He lets the political label roll off his shoulders. "I think the council now is a good mix of people. We always come up with a pretty good solution," he said. "Everybody works well together, even though we have different views." *** Kespohl has lived in Columbia for more than six decades. All his children and grandchildren are here. His son directs the choir at Trinity Lutheran Church, the church Kespohl has attended every Sunday for 45 years. The bricks of his 48-year-old house were made from one of the first batches of asphalt to pave Columbia's roads. He has watched Columbia grow, and he's never wanted to leave. "My wife and I have talked about it from time to time, but we can't move away," he said. "We enjoy our children too much." His vested interest in the city led him to run for office, but he can't call the job of a councilman "enjoyable." Then again, he doesn't call it a job, either. He views the position more as one of problem solver. Kespohl wants to see growth. For growth to happen, incentives need to be available for businesses and developers, he said. "A good friend of mine, who I've known for 30 years and who lives in Columbia, wanted to build a manufacturing plant here," Kespohl said. "So he went to (Regional Economic Development, Inc.) and he went to the city, but they couldn't offer him any incentives." Kespohl's friend wanted to employ up to 75 people. One of Columbia's neighboring communities caught word of his interest and offered him 15 acres free in an industrial park and 10 years of abated property taxes, Kespohl said. "He's still in negotiations with Columbia and with the other community, so I can't say anything too specific," Kespohl said. "But if you were him, what would you do?"

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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Parry believes there's a vocal minority in Columbia that thinks the city is fine as it is. "But what that really doesn't account for is attrition," Parry said. "Businesses die, people move away, things change. All of a sudden, the community fades. The community is no longer in the driver's seat." Kespohl wants to make his message clear that "Columbia is open for business." *** At 10 a.m. on a recent Saturday, Kespohl ventured into a Third Ward subdivision off Brown Station Road to knock on doors and hand out campaign literature. He didn't plan to head home until 4 p.m. He abandoned his work attire for blue jeans, New Balance tennis shoes and a Mizzou windbreaker over a light gray sweatshirt. When it comes to knocking on doors, Kespohl never gets nervous. "What's there to be nervous about?" he asked. One house had a campaign sign for his opponent, Karl Skala, in the front yard. "Well, I'll go knock, anyway," he said. He rang the bell and received a territorial greeting from a feisty dog. A few moments later, a woman hesitantly appeared behind the storm door and opened it, pushing back the pet. "Hi, I'm Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl, and I'm running for re-election April 2," Kespohl said. She mentioned she had guests. "I don't think it's going to work," she added. "I'll just hang this on your door," Kespohl replied. Kespohl is confident about facing Skala because he believes residents trust him to lend an ear and take action. He shows his passion for the city by what he does, he said. He'll field calls from Third Ward constituents or from residents outside the ward. "They know I'll listen," he said, adding that Mayor Bob McDavid teases him by calling him "councilman at large."

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Numbers drive Gary Kespohl's City Council re-election campaign

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"I always respond, 'Well, I was elected large,' " Kespohl said, gesturing toward his silhouette with a laugh. *** After knocking on about 600 doors that Saturday, Kespohl made the 8 a.m. service at Trinity Lutheran the following snowy morning. He sat just a few pews away from the pastor's podium. The preacher prefaced his sermon with a timeless statement. "What are the two things no one should ever talk about? Politics and religion," he said, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling of the sanctuary and over the heads of the congregation. But Kespohl is a religious man who's in politics, and he has goals that he still needs to accomplish, he said. "The job is far from finished, and we must do more." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. Related story: Karl Skala, who also is running for Columbia's Third Ward seat, shows resilience in his campaign.

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City Council candidates discuss development incentives

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss development incentives By Missourian staff March 25, 2013 | 6:15 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about incentives for development. What is your view of whether and how the city should use tax incentives in its attempts to lure new business and industry to town? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "Many new businesses unfortunately have the opportunity to shop from community to community, and often they, one of the factors that they use to determine where they’re gonna locate is cost. And the lower the cost, the more attractive their business opportunity is. We do have some incentives. We use them. They were useful in getting IBM to town. They were useful in getting Beyond Meat to town. Frankly, if you go back to 1839, the incentives were useful in getting this enterprise called the University of Missouri to town. That turned out pretty well. So it is a fact of life, you know. People use coupons at grocery stores — that’s an incentive. People use incentives on rebates when they buy cars. So it is the way a society works. You have to do them on a case-by-case basis. You can make foolish incentives and come up with a disaster like Moberly did with Mamtek, or you can be prudent and judicious with your incentives and come up with a success like you did with IBM."

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City

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City Council candidates discuss development incentives

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Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

Sid Sullivan: "Well, Columbia itself is a very inviting city itself with our trails and parks. There's a lot of money that What you need to know before you we've put together in terms of providing a city that would go the polls on Tuesday attract businesses. When it comes to tax incentives, I think Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum we have to be very careful about the kinds of industry that we're trying to recruit here. And the tax incentives have given industry the leverage where they're playing city against city. And so, although we need jobs, we really have to look at the payback in terms the city could get. I've worked with some of the areas in terms of tax incremental financing, in terms of use of industrial parks and business parks, that those are kind of incentives that target a particular area where essentially you pay for what you get and you get what you pay for in those areas that could be targeted to use. But the EEZ I didn't think was appropriate for Columbia, where you target an entire neighborhood and they don't receive the benefit of that tax break." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, I was on the City Council when we first took a look at tax incentives in the form of TIFs, tax increment financing. The TIF Commission was established. We always took a very case-by-case approach here to help carefully evaluate those kinds of incentive programs. I think that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth considering incentive programs. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also worth making sure that we evaluate them carefully and on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, there are other issues that intrude, like fairness to other businesses and so on. But I think incentives can play a role. However, I think they ought to be evaluated per project, not on a TIF district, for example. That was discussed. I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a place that we want to go, but we do want to consider incentives, but we want to consider them very carefully." Gary Kespohl: "It's become a way of the world to have to offer incentives to attract businesses to an area. At present time, Columbia doesn't have any established incentives. We need to come up with a list of incentives we can offer. If we don't offer incentives, we won't get any new development or businesses. They'll go elsewhere. So Columbia has got to get involved in that and be a player in that market." Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley: "Three years ago, when I campaigned, I said that I wanted to put people to work. I still want to put people to work. The people I want to put to work are lower-paying jobs and less-educated people. There are a lot more people in this community that do not have a college degree than there are that have a college degree. Those people need to work just as

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City Council candidates discuss development incentives

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much as do the people with the education. If it requires incentives of taxes or property taxes, some kind of a tax, I have no problem with that, but each one needs to be looked at individually. But we do have to get more jobs in here for those people. I realize that we're are losing more all the time. We need to consider why those jobs are leaving. And we need to keep them here and bring more in. Yes, I am in favor of incentives if that’s what it takes to keep people or bring people in." Ian Thomas: "I’m generally fairly skeptical of tax incentives, and it sounds as if you’re referring to the EEZ program here. That particular program, the evidence that it had been effective in other communities, bringing, you know, big employers to town, was somewhat scant. There’s going to be a negative impact on publicly funded institutions because of the tax abatement that’s offered to the businesses, and there was clearly a lot of community concern about the blight designation. So my thought about, you know, economic development is that while a certain amount of trying to lure businesses in is probably appropriate, I’d really like to explore providing incentives for our existing employers in Columbia to expand and hire new employees." Bill Weitkemper: "I’m not in favor of tax incentives for new businesses. That’s just, I think, that’s just not the thing to do. You know, existing businesses are just as important as new businesses, and the city shouldn’t be giving public money to private enterprise through incentives." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio interviews with the candidates, go to The Watchword, the Missourian's local government blog.

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Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward council seat By Allison Prang March 26, 2013 | 3:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Even in the evening of a gloomy day of off-and-on rain showers, Fourth Ward City Council candidate Ian Thomas managed to stick to his favorite form of transportation: His bicycle. MoreStory

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But this time, attached to the end of his bike was a trailer holding campaign signs. He was on his way to a campaign rally at The Main Squeeze in downtown Columbia. The event, complete with strawberry-orangebanana smoothies in small plastic cups and personal containers of Sparky’s ice cream, attracted about 50 people an hour. Among them were Sixth Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe PedNet co-founder Chip Cooper and former Mayor Darwin Hindman, who is Thomas’ father-in-law. Thomas has a cheerful grin, to say the least. His persona when talking to others epitomizes the definition of a "people person" and is demonstrated by his warm, upbeat demeanor. That, combined with the playful laugh he shares,

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Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward...

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gives off a vibe that's surprisingly conversational for someone who likes to talk about public policy. Thomasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s living room is quaint; thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sofa and a few upholstered chairs, but Thomas opts for a wooden chair that would more commonly belong in a kitchen. A tall glass of milk in his hand, he keeps his legs crossed while he talks, with the tick-tocking of the grandmother clock that sits on the mantle and the crackle and pop sounds emerging from the fire in the background. To the left of the fire, family photos line shelves over the slot for extra firewood and to the right are rows of CDs. Behind Thomas and to his right sits an old black piano he obtained for free when his two children were young and he hoped they would learn how to play. One of Thomas' most distinctive qualities is his British accent, which easily stands out in central Missouri. His accent isn't the only thing he holds onto from his London roots. After moving from London to the United States and back multiple times, the differences he saw in the accessibility to public transportation helped inspire his interest in public transit issues. In 2000, he co-founded the Pedestrian and Pedaling Network Coalition, more commonly known as PedNet. Thomas also went with city and MU officials last year on their trips to learn about the bus systems in Lawrence, Kan., and Champaign, Ill. Thomas doesn't like to drive and does so maybe 20 times a year. On a recent trip to Ashland, Ky., for his work with America Walks, a national organization promoting walkable places, he tried to avoid driving by looking for public transit routes that would get him to Ashland from the airport in Cincinnati. When he can, Thomas opts for either biking or walking most shorter distances. His family of four has only one car. Thomas, 51, isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too much of a long-term planner, but his life has taken him many places. He was born in London; his younger sister still lives there, and his parents live in Manchester. He visits annually and mostly misses the pubs and playing cricket. His time at University of London brought Thomas his first election experience. He now laughs at losing his bid to become president of the student union. The election also had run-off voting, which Thomas said he liked. 2 of 5

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Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward...

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He earned a total of three degrees in London and Scotland — two in physics and one in biomedical engineering — before moving in 1990 to do a post-doctoral program in physics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. That's where he met his wife, Ellen Thomas. He also discovered the fun of college sports and said he always wants to live in a college town or close to a college sports team. The newlyweds returned to London for three years, where they had their two children, Emily and Jack. Back in London, Thomas was a producer at the BBC for educational TV and radio programs. The couple later returned to Nashville, where Thomas became a substitute teacher for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. After less than a year there, the Thomas family had grown tired of living in the suburbs, where they had to rely so much on cars to get around. They moved to Columbia in 1998 so Ellen Thomas could take a job as a pediatrician and they could rely more on biking and walking. It also didn't hurt that Ellen grew up in Columbia and her father, then-Mayor Darwin Hindman, and mother, Axie Hindman, still lived there. Darwin Hindman said he was surprised but pleased that Thomas wanted to run for City Council, and the former mayor offered his son-in-law some advice. Hindman called his son-in-law an ideal candidate for the council. “(Thomas) has done everything from teaching physics to being executive director of the PedNet Coaltion, and through all of those different kinds of professional activities he has been exposed to a lot of Columbia,” Hindman said. “He listens to everybody and formulates his ideas and system through his very, very sharp mind and comes up with really good ideas.” Hindman said Thomas is very bright and an independent thinker who has been involved in city affairs. Thomas would work well with the other council members, he predicted. Hindman has had a peripheral role in Thomas's campaign, contributing money and attending fundraisers. But he doesn't know whether a lot of people know they're related, which he also pointed out in a letter to the editor that he and Axie Hindman wrote to the Missourian. After he moved to Columbia, Thomas took his experience from the BBC and started working at Graphic Education Corp., where he wrote scripts for online training materials for nurses. It was there that Thomas met one of the corporation’s board members, Chip Cooper, with whom he

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Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward...

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would form a partnership. They and others founded the PedNet Coalition on Earth Day, April 22, 2000. Thomas also taught at the Columbia Independent School from 1998-2002, according to his campaign website. Cooper, who sits on the PedNet board of directors and is a former board president, said he had no idea what Thomas' commitment to join PedNet would mean for him. He said Thomas has given his heart and soul to the organization for years. "He has a lot of faith in people and the future," Cooper said, adding that Thomas is one of the hardest-working people he knows. Working with him, Cooper said, is the equivalent of working with five full-time employees. Cooper called Hindman and Thomas two of the most remarkable community citizens he's been around. Before PedNet was formally launched, Thomas was earning his master's degree in educational technology at MU to complement his work with the Graphic Education Corp. and build on his personal skills. He created the original PedNet website as a project for his information technology class. While working for PedNet, Thomas started attending City Council meetings and became well-acquainted with some of its members, especially Hoppe. She and others encouraged him to run for a council seat. Thomas left his job as executive director for PedNet in January, saying he had grown weary of administration tasks and that it was in the organization's best interests to hire a new executive director. He is now an independent transportation consultant. His decision to leave PedNet had nothing to do with his campaign for City Council, he said. Thomas' campaign has identified 4,000 homes in the Fourth Ward whose residents have voted in at least one of the past three April elections. His goal is to knock on every one of those doors. A couple of weeks before the election, Thomas said he had reached about 2,000 homes. His three "guiding values" in life â&#x20AC;&#x201D; health, sustainability and social justice â&#x20AC;&#x201D; also could apply to the city, he said. Aside from having enjoyed the campaign experience and his conversations with residents as he goes door to door, Thomas said he is running for council because he has good ideas and good energy to put into city government. He has a vision, enjoys public policy and thinks he can help guide the city's growth, he said.

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Ian Thomas strives to bring his ideas and energy to Fourth Ward...

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Thomas said his plans for job creation have solidified after his door-to-door campaigning, and he’s learned residents are not very supportive of financial incentives to attract companies to Columbia. Strengthening existing businesses is a more popular idea, as well as investing in job training, he said. Thomas’ campaign is being run by Jeff Chinn and Vicki Hobbs of Progressive Political Partners. They also are working with Third Ward candidate Karl Skala. The group also has worked on campaigns for state Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, Hoppe, Fifth Ward candidate Susan "Tootie" Burns, Boone County Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson and Second Ward Councilman Michael Trappe. Chinn declined to comment for this story. When Chinn and Hobbs told Thomas that he’d need between $20,000 and $25,000 to run a successful campaign, Thomas worried. By the time the first round of campaign finance reports was due 40 days before the election, he reported that he had raised about $16,000, more than any of the other six candidates for council seats. Thomas said his campaign by now has raised about $23,000. He expects to reach the $25,000 benchmark. “It’s funny because I’ve never been a fundraiser at all,” he said. “I’ve never even had an interest in it.” More than 250 individuals or families have donated to the campaign, Thomas said, and the average donation is less than $100. Steve Spellman, president of PedNet's Board of Directors, also believes Thomas would serve the Fourth Ward and the council well. “He’s a high-energy individual,” said Spellman, who met Thomas in 2000 when he signed on in support of PedNet's mission. “He’s a very strong visionary.” Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Fourth Ward candidate Bill Weitkemper says he would be 'toug...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Fourth Ward candidate Bill Weitkemper says he would be 'tough but fair' leader By Nuria Mathog March 26, 2013 | 3:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Bill Weitkemper is a man of few words. He speaks in a slow and measured way, as if determining whether each sentence can be said more efficiently than the last. The style of speech suits him. As a staunch advocate of “spending wisely,” Weitkemper, 64, has made it his personal goal to eliminate waste and excess in every aspect of his life. His campaign is no exception. He declined to mail campaign literature, viewing their production as an expensive method of reaching potential voters. He balked at ordering flashy, full-size yard signs, opting instead for small black-and-white signs that would save him hundreds of dollars and allow him to stay within his limited campaign budget. The amount of money candidates regularly spend on City Council elections makes him uncomfortable, he said. “There should be campaign finance cutoffs,” he suggested. “A $10,000 cutoff for a council seat and a $20,000 cutoff for mayor.” Weitkemper, the self-described “wild card” of the Fourth Ward race, believes his many years of combined city and business experience make him the ideal candidate for the job — more so than his two competitors, incumbent Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley and former PedNet Coalition director Ian Thomas. He points out time and time again that there is a disconcerting lack of experience among city leaders. The average department head, he says, has held his or her current position for an average of 3 1/2 years, leading to reckless spending and decisions that are poorly thought through. That's something he hopes to change.

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Fourth Ward candidate Bill Weitkemper says he would be 'toug...

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••• Weitkemper has lived in Missouri his entire life: He was born in Mexico, Mo., and raised in Centralia. He moved to Columbia, worked in Kansas City, then returned here, where he has lived since 1972.

He grew up on a farm in Centralia owned by his grandparents and moved to Columbia when he was a junior in high school. To this day, he has fond memories of helping his grandfather, Albert W. Schindler, with the daily duties of the farm: planting crops and feeding the cattle, hogs and sheep. “My grandfather was a very good person and expected a lot of me,” he said. “I used to tell everyone I was his favorite grandson.” The son of an MU engineering draftsman and a Daniel Boone Regional Library worker, Weitkemper always has held a special fondness for the city of Columbia. He's seen the city grow and change over the years — and not always in the best way, he said. "Columbia's a good city to live in," he said. "But lately people have been disappointed in the management of the city." After graduating from Hickman High School in 1966, he attended Northeast Missouri State Teacher’s College, now Truman State University. He worked at the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. in Kansas City for four years and later became a draftsman for the Columbia-based firm Engineering Surveys and Services.

In June 1975, he accepted a job offer in the city's sewer division and stayed there for 37 years. He met his wife, Judy, at a country-western bar after a softball game and said it was love at first sight, "more or less." They married in 1982 and have six children — three each from

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previous marriages — and 14 grandchildren. At Weitkemper’s Feb. 12 campaign kickoff at Shakespeare’s West, he and Judy Weitkemper handed out business cards, slices of pepperoni pizza and name tags to Fourth Ward residents who had braved the evening chill to meet him at the West Broadway restaurant. Catherine Parke, an adjunct instructor at Moberly Area Community College, said she was impressed with Weitkemper’s commitment to enhancing government transparency and thinks he is well-qualified to serve on the City Council. “I’ve heard him speak at council meetings as a private citizen,” she said. “He gives good information.” Weitkemper says his family always has been the biggest inspiration in his life. He inherited his dedication to community involvement from his father, a former Scoutmaster, Little League coach and PTA president. He lost his mother last year and has missed her every day. “When I was little, I’d tell her she didn’t love me just so I could listen to her tell me how much she did,” he said. ••• In the basement of the Evangelical Free Church, the uniformed members of Boy Scout Troop 708 were laughing, swapping stories and chasing one another around the room. Six large wooden chuck boxes were scattered across the linoleum floor, full of remnants of the boys’ weekend trip to Hohn Scout Reservation. That Monday night, the Scouts were responsible for cleaning out the boxes’ contents. Weitkemper, too, was decked out in traditional Scouting regalia. A string weighed down by multicolored beads — blue, black, red, each color corresponding to different kinds of camping conditions — hung from a loop on his belt. His khaki shirt was emblazoned with a dozen different patches, a collection of awards and honors he has earned throughout his 50 years with the organization. He stood to the side of the room with the other troop leaders, maintaining a watchful but respectfully distant eye on the boys’ progress. His broad smile was at odds with his otherwise stoic composure.

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“It’s chaos — but organized chaos,” he said with a laugh. As the troop’s advancement chair, Weitkemper is responsible for keeping detailed records of each scout’s accomplishments and progress toward the ranks, from Tenderfoot through Eagle Scout. He serves as a liaison between the troop and the Great Rivers Council headquarters. Every few minutes, a different Scout would approach him shyly with a request for a quick conference or with a question about the requirements for a certain badge or rank. He listened carefully to each child’s concern, placing a friendly, reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder as he did so. “It’s nice to be associated with people with a commitment to youth,” he said. “It sets a good example for the youth to follow.” Inspired by his father, a former Scoutmaster, Weitkemper joined the organization when he was 11 and quickly moved through its ranks, becoming an Eagle Scout in 1963. In 1979, his son Aaron became a third-generation Scout, and today, his grandson Jacob Albin carries on the family legacy. The 13-year-old shares his grandfather’s pale blue eyes and slender build and is often the object of Weitkemper’s proud gaze. Assistant Scoutmaster Bryan Garton said Weitkemper is a detail-oriented leader, a quality that makes him perfect for his position within the troop. Garton has been a good friend of Weitkemper’s since the candidate and his grandson joined Troop 708 three years ago. “He’s one of the most organized advancement chairs we’ve ever had,” Garton said. Weitkemper said he would have only one regret if he is elected to the City Council: missing out on future Scouting events. The troop meets each Monday at 7 p.m., the same time the City Council holds its biweekly meetings. “I haven’t been to a camp out since I started my campaign,” Weitkemper said wistfully. ••• During candidate forums, Weitkemper usually begins his opening remarks the same way. As his audience waits expectantly, he adjusts his glasses, arranges the text of his prepared statement and speaks carefully into the microphone.

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Fourth Ward candidate Bill Weitkemper says he would be 'toug...

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“Sometimes I’ve got a problem with my speech and my coordination,” he says, and then, pausing for a second, adds: “Please don’t think I've been drinking.” The audience laughs at his jest. He gives them time for his words to sink in before getting to the heart of his message. “Having Parkinson’s has not affected my ability to serve the community, distinguish right from wrong or have good judgment,” he says. Living with his condition has been difficult, Weitkemper said, but it isn’t an insurmountable problem. At least, not yet. At the Hy-Vee on West Broadway, he explained why he felt obligated to share this information with voters between sips of coffee. “I’m not looking for any sympathy,” he said. “But I thought it was something that deserved an explanation.” Last April, Weitkemper underwent deep brain stimulation therapy, a surgery that left wires "two inches down in (his) brain" and a bright white scar across his chest. The procedure helped in some ways, he said. He stands a little straighter these days and doesn't need to take as much medicine as before. But he says the quality of his speech has only worsened with time. Weitkemper said he can fulfill the role of a Fourth Ward councilman, but the rigorous nature of campaigning has proved physically challenging. He has friends assisting him with canvassing and has turned to different forms of media to help spread his message. In addition to maintaining a campaign website, he is airing radio ads on KFRU. He's also made an appearance on a KOMU segment on master water meters. He has done some door-to-door campaigning, he said, but he finds the task physically demanding and needs time to recover afterward. "Hopefully people understand that that's something I can't do, not because I don't want to, but because it's difficult," he said. ••• Weitkemper has long held a reputation as a whistleblower, unafraid to make tough decisions, though he says he personally doesn't care much for the term. In March 2011, he spoke up at a City Council meeting to protest what he viewed as the city

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staff's "manipulation" of the Sewer Task Force. He said the task force had been pressured to take a draft sewer ordinance to the City Council for a vote before former City Manager Bill Watkins could retire. "None of the task force had seen the ordinance prior to approving it," he said. In particular, John Glascock, his supervisor and director of the Public Works Department, had been pushing for the vote, he said. Weitkemper said he met with Mayor Bob McDavid, Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl and Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley about the matter after the council adopted the task force recommendation. It was one of the defining moments in his decision to run for office. “That was pretty much when I decided I wasn’t going to put up with that,” he said. “If that’s called whistle-blowing, I’m going to blow the whistle.” Weitkemper said that type of leadership made him an effective superintendent in the sewer division. In 1976, he said, he was in charge of overseeing 221 miles of public sewer lines. Thirty-two years later, that number had increased to 664 miles, but the number of budgeted positions in the department had fallen from 13 to 12. Despite this, he said, the number of basement back-ups and sewer overflows underwent a 95 percent decrease from 152 in 1976 to 7 in 2012 during his time as superintendent. Glascock never asked him how he managed to do what he did, he said. He describes himself as a "tough but fair" leader and said his family members, including loved ones who have passed away, have been his guiding force to be an honest decision-maker. “What motivates me to do right is knowing how disappointed they’d be if I didn’t.” Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Optimism fuels Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley in cam...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Optimism fuels Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley in campaign By Chris Jasper March 26, 2013 | 3:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Daryl Dudley lives by a simple mantra: “If you wake up, it’s a perfect day.” Perhaps that kind of optimism is a circumstance of Dudley's 55 years. Nearly 36 years ago, an accident wiped away three months of his life. His wife, Rita, is undergoing treatment for her second bout with cancer in the past six years. During his first term as a councilman, some of his constituents circulated a petition to have him recalled. Hardly the stuff of perfect days. But Dudley lets none of that get him down. Whether he's battling ill health or public perception, Dudley has a universal response to every challenge: “Life is an adventure. Please keep your head and hands inside the vehicle at all times when the vehicle is moving.” ••• MoreStory

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

Dudley grew up on a cattle farm in the rural town of Iowa Falls, Iowa. He spent his days fishing for catfish and bass and hunting rabbits, squirrels and pheasants, until tragedy struck a week before his 12thbirthday. His father died unexpectedly because of complications from diabetes. “Good birthday present,” Dudley said. He can’t help but smile grimly about the timing. “But it worked out well for him because he was blind, he had diabetes, and he was in

VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City

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Optimism fuels Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley in cam...

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Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

very bad health. He is not in pain anymore.”

What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

Dudley graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1976 before enrolling at Ellsworth Community College, also in Iowa Falls. It was there, while standing in line to sign up for classes, that he met a woman named Rita.

“I thought she was cute, and she thought I was weird,” Dudley said. “We got married five years later.” Dudley spent a year and half studying zoology at Ellsworth before enrolling at Iowa State University to pursue a degree in his life's passion: herpetology, the study of snakes.

“I never understood why big people were afraid of snakes, because guess what?” Dudley said. “They’re just tiny little critters.” Dudley used to own snakes and said rattlesnakes are his specialty because they are the most interesting. At one point in college, he said that he had the largest rattlesnake collection — public or private — in the state of Iowa. In all, he had 32 snakes in his basement. He said that to this day, he has never been bitten by a poisonous snake, though the harmless ones have gotten a few nips in. His passion for rattlesnakes eventually sent him to Arizona, as most species of rattlers live in the American Southwest. While there, he worked for a company that sold reloading equipment for metallic cartridges for rifles and handguns. He moved to Columbia to work for Midway Arms as a ballistician and wrote reloading manuals. He left for Virginia in 1995 to work for a propellant manufacturing company. The company had some cutbacks, Dudley said, and he and Rita Dudley missed living in Columbia. She had already worked for Hy-Vee before leaving for Virginia, so they came back in 2002 and both began working for the company. Dudley has managed the gas station and convenience store at the Hy-Vee on West Broadway ever since, and he takes it upon himself to know every customer who comes through. "How are you today?" Dudley asked each one with a smile and a wave. He doesn't know all of them by name, but it isn't for a lack of effort.

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Optimism fuels Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley in cam...

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Most respond — "Hey, Daryl" — and they chat with him for a little bit. "If I don't know your name the first two times coming in here, I'll know you the third," he said. ••• Dudley can't remember the three months of his life that began the morning of July 31, 1977. That was the day he was riding his Kawasaki motorcycle when a woman in a station wagon hit him head-on. The crash broke “every bone left of center,” he said. “I was in a coma for 11 days,” he said. “They had to teach me how to walk and talk all over again. I don’t remember six hours before (the accident) or 11 weeks after.” Dudley doesn't ride motorcycles much these days, but not because of the crash. He simply doesn't own one, but he would ride again if the opportunity presented itself. Some might consider the prospect of losing a significant chunk of one's life scary. Not Dudley. “It’s actually pretty cool,” he said. “I met a whole lot of nice nurses." That’s Dudley’s way of looking at it. He also brushes off less threatening challenges. Like the fact that he's colorblind. That's why he usually wears blues, blacks and grays. He knows they won't clash. While he lived in Phoenix, allergies plagued him so badly that he needed daily injections of medicine in each arm simply to breath. Dudley is also helping his wife tackle health issues of her own. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006, but she fought it off. In recognition of her sickness — and in honor of her triumph — each day, Dudleyaffixes two pins to the tie he picks from his collection of 500. One pin reads “Cancer sucks.” The other pin features a green awareness ribbon bearing the name "Rita." Five years and two months after Rita Dudley's cancer was declared gone, it came back. “I’m a double cancer survivor,” she said. “We’ll know more in a few weeks, but I’m staying optimistic.” It’s a trait she said she learned from her husband.

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Optimism fuels Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley in cam...

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Dudley doesn’t complain about the situation at all. “My wife’s got cancer, I was nearly killed in an accident, and you know what?” Dudley said. “I’ve never had a bad day in my life.” ••• Dudley was the unknown council candidate in 2010. He filed the paperwork to run for the Fourth Ward seat on the last possible day because nobody knew who he was. He wanted to be the last candidate on the ballot. He entered the race against three other candidates because his customers at Hy-Vee often expressed their opinions and frustrations about city issues to him, he said. Eventually, they told him he should run. In the end, he won the election with 36.1 percent of the vote, just 59 votes ahead of second-place finisher Tracy Greever-Rice. This time around, Dudley needed no prompting. He filed for his re-election campaign as soon as possible. This time, he wanted voters to see his name first. After narrowly winning the four-way race in 2010, Dudley, who had never held public office before, was a councilman. He had to adjust quickly. “I had no idea it was going to take 30 to 40 hours a week,” he said. “I had no idea there was so much reading to be done. This is an extremely engaged community, and so there are people who come to talk on almost every item on the (City Council) agenda. That came as a surprise to me.” In addition to the time he puts in as a council member, Dudley also works more than 40 hours a week at the Hy-Vee gas station. “He doesn’t require much sleep,” Rita Dudley said, with a laugh. “He’s someone who can operate with only four hours a night.” Dudley recalls his first term fondly. Three times in three years, he walked into the dining area at Hy-Vee to find customers applauding him for a decision the council reached the night before, he said. The last time that happened, he said, was after a tie vote in January killed the idea of placing a moratorium on demolitions downtown.

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Still, not every decision he has made was met with applause. In late 2011, some Fourth Ward residents circulated a petition to remove Dudley from office after he proposed a controversial redistricting map. The petition accused him of ignoring the public and attempting to gerrymander the wards to cut out neighborhoods that didn’t vote for him. The petition ultimately failed. So did Dudley’s proposed plan. He cast the lone vote against the redistricting map that was approved. Despite the recall attempt, he said he isn't bitter about the ordeal. “The people that were trying to put the recall on me, while I think it was misplaced, I will defend their right to have a recall anytime they want,” Dudley said. “It is the right of the people to hold their governing people accountable. And while we did not agree, it does not mean we cannot be friends.” Besides, Dudley said, “If everyone agreed on everything, it wouldn’t be very much fun.” Although Dudley recently received an endorsement from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, his campaign is far from over. There are forums to attend, neighborhoods to canvas and interviews to conduct. Throughout the entire process, win or lose, Dudley will keep his head and hands inside the vehicle. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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City Council candidates discuss ideas for Columbia Regional A...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss ideas for Columbia Regional Airport By Missourian staff March 26, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about Columbia Regional Airport. What do you believe should be the city's next steps, if any, to improve service and facilities at Columbia Regional Airport? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "We're embarked in a very aggressive campaign we call '40 in 2020.' We want to have 40 percent of our flying public in this area flying out of Columbia Regional Airport by 2020, the year 2020. That would be 500 passengers a day. We’re off to a good start. It’s a challenging problem because air service is fragile. We all saw how quickly Delta left this market. Airlines leave markets all the time. We have a great relationship with American Airlines right now. We put together a broadly based, multijurisdictional, multi-party agreement to get them here. They’re here, we've got flights to Chicago and Dallas, the flights are full, the bookings are high, and we’re going to keep marketing this, keep pushing this. We want multiple flights to Chicago, multiple flights to Dallas, and then once we achieve that, we want to extend to other destinations, and then we need a new terminal."

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Sid Sullivan: "Probably the next step should be to try to increase the demand. Right now Columbia has an 8 percent

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Columbia issues

market share, which means we have a little over 100 VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City passengers a day that pass through there. And if we're going Council candidates' views on to survive the next cut of the airlines, we'll have to get to Columbia issues about 500 passengers a day. So before we start investing in What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday an airport and then find out we don't have an airline to Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing service that, we really need to work on increasing the at final public forum demand there and increasing the demand in terms of attracting more people from central Missouri to use that airport, other kinds of events here in Columbia that would bring people in. Unless we can increase that demand, it's very risky to make the $50 million investment that's required to upgrade the airport." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, I think that we ought to take a very measured and functional approach to air traffic. Obviously, we’re filling lots of seats with our service. I think we could probably attract more service and better service, but we actually do need to update our terminal. I’m not one of those who suggests that we go the Cadillac approach and spend a lot of money on that. There are estimates all the way from $17 million to $127 million. We simply don’t have that kind of money, but we ought to update the facility so that it’s an attractive place, very functional, and be very prudent with taxpayer dollars in terms of what our airport presents to the air traveler." Gary Kespohl: "My feeling is that we have three flights a day. So, a town our size, I'm comparing it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has 19 flights a day. But they have a better terminal than we have. I think the secret to getting planes to come in, of course, is ridership, and we're doing real well on ridership, but I think we've got to enhance our terminal so we can handle more than one flight at a time." Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley: "We need to get airlines coming in. We need, because of ADA and other rules and restrictions from TSA, we have to make changes to the terminal. Those changes are going to cost money. We have been talking about a $17 million upgrade to the terminal. Does it have to be $17 million? Absolutely not. But we do need to make it ADA-compliant, we need to make it so that it’s convenient for people to come in and (go) out on the airplanes, and we need to make it so when people fly in from out of town, they don’t see what we have now. It’s kind of run-down, it’s pushed together, and it’s very tight inside the airport, in the terminal. We need

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to fix that up. And then we need to get more airlines coming in, more flights going in and out every day. And the pricing needs to be such that people will want to come in and out of Columbia rather than driving to Kansas City or St. Louis." Ian Thomas: "I support the mayor’s efforts to bring in new airlines and expand our air traffic. It’s a great convenience to have the airport there. I’m actually going to be using it myself and flying up to Chicago just right after the election. And nobody likes that long car journey or bus journey from St. Louis or Kansas City when you’re arriving back to Columbia. Having said that, I’m a little concerned that with the incentives offered to American Airlines, Delta departed, Frontier’s also departed. There seem to be some kind of, you know, shifts going on in the national and international airline business, and I would be reluctant to invest a lot of public money in additional incentives or in the terminal. I think some improvements at the terminal are needed right now, but not a multi-, you know, many-tens-of-millions-of-dollars new terminal just yet." Bill Weitkemper: "Well, the airport terminal should obviously be made ADA accessible. That can be done for a lot less than $17 million. They ought to explore making it a rezone, ownership rezone, ownership…try to get the university involved in ownership, other communities, then make it a truly a regionally owned airport. I also think that we’d be a lot better off if the mayor would stay out of the picture and let the professional staff manage the airport. I was not in favor of the guarantees that he gave to first American and Delta. That shouldn’t have ever been done." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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City Council candidates discuss Columbia bus system

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss Columbia bus system By Missourian staff March 26, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about the Columbia bus system. City officials continue striving to find ways to improve Columbia Transit and to make the service more financially viable. What are your specific ideas for how to accomplish those goals? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "We’re in the middle of a restructuring that — you know, I've started the FastCat loop. We now have funding for that from the public. We have Brookside students engaged in it, we have Stephens College on board with it. We’re going to press the Green and the Black and Gold route, that one that goes out to Grindstone, the apartments. We want to get all those apartments on board. And my central premise is every bit of funding we get from those routes is funding that we can defer into the core legacy routes in the the city, the ones that serve those who are either in the low-income group or disability group, those who actually need the service, or it’s not an option. So it’s about new revenue sources, it’s about moving subsidies to core routes."

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Sid Sullivan: "I think that's a work in progress. We really need to do the market study in terms of how we're organizing our transit system and how we're paying for it.

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City Council candidates discuss Columbia bus system

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VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

The university has been reluctant to add additional student fees so that while we are providing transit services for many of the students, we're not able to pay for that. So we need to What you need to know before you really put together an entire package of how we're going to go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing market our current system and how we're going to attract at final public forum the riders. I don't have a definite position on that. The city did hire a marketing director to research that, look at the way other cities do it, and we need to put together that financial package as well as provide the transit for local citizens as well as students for our transit system." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, there are two ideas, actually, that I brought back from the New Partners for Smart Growth meeting a few weeks ago in Kansas City. There was a dedicated transit track to the conference, and several members of the city administration, department heads, in fact, (Public Works Director) John Glasscock and a few others attended that meeting. In all successful transit systems that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m aware of, and the ones that were presented, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a multi-sized fleet, diversity of size in terms of fleet. I think we can use that concept to increase the service with smaller buses on those routes that suggest that that kind of demand is necessary to accommodate that ridership and use the large buses for those routes that accommodate that kind of ridership. So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the issues, and it has to do with changing the fleet. The other is there ought to be an emphasis on increasing the service hours to longer in the day and perhaps on the weekends. Those two things would go a long way, I think, in helping to increase ridership. And then, of course, there is always the idea about paying for all of this, and I have a rather comprehensive approach to user-based fees to pay for infrastructure in general, and the bus system is that kind of transit infrastructure that could also be appropriate for that user-based fee rather than a geographic fee, which is what we do now." Gary Kespohl: "I've been studying transit, and I haven't reached any conclusions yet. I think I would like to expand transit, but at the same time I'd like to make it financially sustainable. And until I study the routes and study the ridership, which I'm getting ready to do, I can't even answer that question. But I think we have a $1.6 million transportation tax that subsidizes transit. (We've) got a $1.2 million federal subsidy that subsidizes transit. The city is putting in an additional $1.4 (million) in addition to the fees we charge for transit to the riders. So we have to somehow make up that $1.4 million. We cut it down to $800,000 last year by increasing fares and shortening a couple of routes. So we just have to figure out what routes we really need, what routes are not used and make adjustments."

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City Council candidates discuss Columbia bus system

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Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley: "Specific ideas is kind of constraining in my answer. The ideas that what we have to do, concise, is we need to get more people on the buses. How do you get more people on the buses is to have more buses. The buses have to be running on time; they have to go where people want to go. They have to be easy to get onto and easy to get off of. They have to easy access from wherever it is that you want to go. Some people are going to have to walk, but the distance shouldn’t be so great that people will not do it. The towns we compare ourselves to, Ames and Champaign, have buses everywhere. They’ve also been doing this a lot longer than we have. To get people on the buses the way that they need to be on the buses is not going to happen overnight, or in a year. It’s going to take some time, short strides, and we will eventually get there. It’s an uphill battle because we have to change an entire culture of the community, and that’s going to take a while, but we have to get there in time. It takes people off the streets in their cars, and it helps cut down on energy and pollution." Ian Thomas: "We need to bring in a consultant who has experience in similar college towns, such as Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Ames, Iowa, Lawrence, Kan., to assess our current bus system, assess public support for the bus system in a systematic way, which I know is extremely strong from my work with PedNet and the COMET campaign. It’s not just the people who currently ride the bus (who) want to see the bus system improved. There are a lot of people who currently drive for a lot of their journeys (who) want to see the bus system improved because they want to have that choice. And then the people who would never use the bus system would also benefit from an improved bus system because there’ll be less traffic congestion. So we need a plan not just to expand the bus system from the technical point of view but from the political point of view to build the funding for it. And there will be enormous savings in road construction and widening." Bill Weitkemper: "Well, one thing they can do is hire a professional manager. The manager’s position has been open since Dec. 1. And they need to hire a manager who’s got experience in running a transit system. And again, the mayor needs to stay out of that, too. It’s just not his position to run the airport or the transit system. I don’t know if it would be ever profitable. And I’m sure know it won’t ever be profitable. But it needs to be explored, running the buses where people with their only means of transportation is the bus have access to it. You know, low-income, disabled people need the buses more than students." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report.

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City Council candidates discuss Columbia bus system

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Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum By Hannah Cushman, Nuria Mathog March 27, 2013 | 6:25 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Candidates for the mayoral, Third Ward and Fourth wards races met at the Second Baptist Church Tuesday evening to address how they would resolve issues related to minorities and infrastructure problems in Columbia The forum, which was sponsored by the Columbia branch of the NAACP, attracted around a dozen attendees. Mayoral candidates Bob McDavid and Sid Sullivan, Third Ward candidates Gary Kespohl and Karl Skala and Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley, Ian Thomas and Bill Weitkemper were present. MoreStory

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Southern Boone County Commissioner Karen Miller and Grass Roots Organizing representative Mary Hussmann were also present to state their positions on Proposition 1, a ballot initiative that would create a three-eights-cent sales tax for 911 and emergency management systems. Miller argued in favor of the tax. She said it would correct a "broken system" that was outdated and often overwhelmed by phone calls during emergency situations. Conversely, Hussmann criticized the tax as a "regressive" measure that would place an unfair burden on low-income and middle-income families. "Everyone should pay a fair share," she said. "We want to stop hurting the families who are already having a hard time making ends meet." Questions came from the audience during the forum.

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum

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What is your position on infrastructure improvements?

Weitkemper pointed out that while there is a 57-year improvement plan for Columbia’s roads, there is no such plan for aging water and sewer lines. In opposition, Dudley cited Private Common Collector Elimination projects that connect private sewers to the public main line. Despite these efforts, Thomas observed that infrastructure has become “far-flung” as development continues at the city’s edges. Infill development in the center city, rather than sprawl would help rectify the strain on infrastructure, he said. Center-city infrastructure needs to be addressed before it “starts to crumble underneath us,” Sullivan said. Sequence is an important consideration, he continued, saying it makes no sense to repave a road only to tear it apart to get at the pipeline beneath. McDavid looked ahead to 2015, when the city’s capital improvement tax will go to a citizen vote. A decision against its re-implementation would be hugely detrimental to the city’s efforts to improve roads and sewers especially in the wake of a decade of decreasing revenue, he said. Kespohl and Skala sparred on trip fees, a system that would assess building costs based on estimated impact of a structure. Based on the proposed rubric for fees, Kespohl said a 24-hour convenience store would have to pay $750,000 “before a shovelful of dirt is turned,” compared to the current $70,000 fee. The ballooning cost would be a disincentive to development within city limits, Kespohl said. Skala called Kespohl’s example a gross misrepresentation of the system. The current fee structure is cost-neutral, he said, whereas trip fees would allow the city to recoup some money from major development that it could funnel back into infrastructural needs. What did you learn from the community’s discussion of blight? Visibly enthused, Kespohl volunteered to answer first. He maintained that the council established the board, not the blight, first by resolution and again by ordinance. Skala was quick to correct Kespohl. The council passed a resolution Feb. 6, 2012, “finding and certifying that a portion of the city and Boone County is blighted.”

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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Dudley pointed to blight itself, rather than the process behind it, as the main problem. “The definition of blight did not work out here,” he said. He said he remains in favor of incentives but would encourage the council to move more slowly and research more thoroughly in future endeavors. Thomas pointed to ambiguity as the greatest problem with blight, saying he would feel more confident implementing a program with “clear, objective measures” rather than an amorphous economic term. Regardless of its definition, “I don’t feel any percent of Columbia is blighted,” Weitkemper said. Furthermore, he would not support the use of incentives, except in the case of “something really unique,” he said. Sullivan said the community’s discussion of blight was evidence that citizens can make a difference — and that there is a lack of trust in the council. People weren’t happy to have their “neighborhoods blighted so someone else could benefit,” he observed. McDavid asserted that incentives are pivotal in recruiting businesses. “That’s the way the game is being played right now,” he said. Still, “If I never hear the letters ‘E-E-Z’ again, that’d be fine with me,” McDavid said. How would you improve public trust in the council? “Trust is earned” through interaction, engagement and making and keeping commitments, McDavid said. Once lost, trust is gone forever, he added. Sullivan disagreed, saying he aims to regain trust by opening channels of communication and keeping them inclusive. “We need to move as one community,” he said. “Trust is being able to look someone in the eye and answer their question,” Weitkemper said. A lack of response or an overly complicated one fosters distrust between the government and its constituents, he said. Dudley said trust is earned by communication, adding he wished more people would come to City Council meetings to voice their concerns. Thomas pointed to the incumbent’s request as naive. He said a council meeting is not the

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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natural environment for many people and that efforts should be made to knock on doors and revitalize neighborhood associations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just sit in the council chamber,â&#x20AC;? Thomas said. Skala echoed the need for more involvement on a neighborhood level. Collaboration should be happening outside the council chamber and in advance of council meetings, he said. Kespohl said trust stems from keeping promises and asking the tough questions, as well as visibility in the community and mentorship. Is Columbia doing all it can do to attract minority contractors? Skala said the city wasn't doing enough to help minority workers find employment. He said improving educational opportunities was vital and referenced a 2009 plan to provide post-secondary career and technical training as a possible solution. He later added that he would support a "set-aside" quota for hiring minority workers in order to even out the playing field. Kespohl shared his rival's views on the value of education. He said he planned to create a partnership between Linn State Technical College and the Columbia Career Center that would provide much-needed vocational training for area residents, particularly young people. "The youth are the ones that are really suffering," he said. McDavid noted that it was difficult to find qualified applicants for local manufacturing jobs and suggested a need for programs to develop skills in this area. He said he wasn't sure if a mandatory hiring quota was the answer to the problem but added that it was a possibility the city should examine. Sullivan said the city needed to take a more active role in forming partnerships with minority communities and suggested 10 percent of jobs be reserved for minority workers. "Some people have suffered more than others," he said. Thomas agreed with Skala's remark about leveling the playing field for people of all backgrounds. He stressed the need for a job training clearinghouse, explaining that programs such as Job Point often had vacancies for which they had trouble finding participants. Weitkemper referred to ordinance 19-176 in the Columbia city code, which establishes a city 4 of 6

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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policy of ensuring equal opportunities for all people seeking employment. He said he stood by those principles and would support city efforts to better comply with the ordinance. Dudley said it was necessary to instill within youth "the desire to work." He added that a mandate was a good idea in principle but it was important to consider that there may not be enough applicants qualified for the job and hiring untrained workers would put a burden on employers. Should the J.W. "Blind" Boone Home be renovated? McDavid said he intended to create a task force of stakeholders he could consult on the issue and indicated it was necessary to go back and reorganize. He said he didn't have a definite cost estimate for the project at this point in time. Sullivan agreed that a task force would be helpful, adding that the renovated home should be used for a specific purpose. Otherwise, he said, the city would spend half a million dollars to refurbish a building that residents would simply drive by on the street. How do you decide between people and brick and mortar? Kespohl cited the upcoming council vote on a request to build a Break Time convenience store at the Grindstone Parkway-Rock Quarry Road intersection as an example of a "tough decision" involving multiple stakeholders. "It's something you have to sit down and decide," he said. Skala, a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said he recommended against the Break Time proposal both times that it surfaced at commission hearings. He said the debate surrounding the project was more than just a conflict about business interests; it was a community issue. Thomas said he researches the issues and looks for similar situations in other communities before making a decision. He also said it was important to consult with stakeholders, both direct and "peripheral," as many brick and mortar issues affected the entire community. Dudley said there were three sides to consider â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the legal side, the emotional side and the business side. "Hopefully, they're all the same," he said. "They haven't been yet."

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Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum

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To help him make a decision, he said, he reads documents and speaks to people involved in the issue. For Weitkemper, the choice was clear. "People have feelings," he said. "Bricks and mortar don't have feelings." Sullivan said the City Council was very "data-driven" and stressed the importance of establishing a precedent for policy. McDavid said brick and mortar was a tool to help people, adding that the council generally agreed on most of the issues it encountered â&#x20AC;&#x201D; though, of course, there would always be contentions.

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City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss the Police Department By Missourian staff March 27, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about the Police Department. What changes, if any, do you believe are necessary within the Columbia Police Department, and how would you work to achieve them? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "(A) core function (of) local government is police protection and crime prevention. We, we – it is true that violent crime rates are falling, as documented by the FBI Uniform Crime Report. But the Columbia Police Department, although they have great, fully disciplined, brave, hard-working officers, have not – the customer satisfaction, citizen satisfaction surveys, rank our service below the norm regionally and nationally, and that is not acceptable. Employee engagement scores in the Police Department – morale – are unsatisfactorily low. We have a police chief that is new here, relatively – three, four years. We (are) in the middle of a 14-point road map to improve the culture within the Police Department based on the Anderson Report from two years ago. I think the changes are under way. It is going to be successful, and we’re going to have a Police Department that has the confidence of the citizens of Columbia at large."

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Sid Sullivan: "Well, we've expanded the area in which the

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City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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Columbia issues

police have to cover. Currently Columbia is 65 square miles. VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City The new chief has brought in a data-driven process where he Council candidates' views on is positioning his officers on their beats based on the Columbia issues higher-crime areas. But we probably need an additional What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday substation up in the northern part of the city so that officers Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing don't have to come all the way into the central office. And we at final public forum need to take a look at some of the capital needs of the Police Department. In terms of the number of police, I don't have that figure. The police say we don't need them, the police officers said we do need them, so there's an uncertainty there. But we need to look at crime prevention as well as just putting police on the street." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, the biggest thing in terms of public safety and crime that we face in this community is lack of public trust, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that we need to build. The best way to deal with crime, generally, is to get more people on the streets and to be safe in their own neighborhoods. Certainly Neighborhood Watch programs are a part of that but also community policing. And by community policing, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean just zero tolerance to arrest anyone who is doing something wrong. I mean getting out there and developing sources so that we know who the bad guys are, and people are willing to reveal the bad guys to help the police. You can never have enough police to really attack this problem from a reactive point of view. I have a little bit of background in this. My daughter is a police officer, and I am familiar with some of the procedures that go on in the Police Department. So community policing is key, but it has to be an approach that engenders public trust." Gary Kespohl: "I've said for about six years (that) Columbia's expanding, growing out. It's too far from downtown police station to get to Thornbrook, which is far southwest, or out in my area far northeast. We probably need, my opinion is we need to establish two precincts: one on the north side of Columbia and one on the south side of Columbia. So the Police Department, when they're in the station, they're closer to where they need to be when they get a call. But they have to come clear downtown to come down here and change shifts. If they're out in Thornbrook, it takes them 20 minutes just to drive downtown and change shifts. So if we go to more neighborhood policing and put those precincts out there, they'll also have faster response time." Fourth Ward candidates

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City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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Daryl Dudley: "The Police Department needs to be run different in that the police need to know they are a service to the community, and that the community that they're dealing with is their customer. We need better customer service from the officers, and that starts from the top. Everyone needs to be talking to the people when they see them. Nobody needs to be looking at a police officer as an adversary, even when you meet them on the street and say hi. We also need to have precinct patrols so that the officers that are in an area are well known by everybody in that area and not moving all around the city to where people don’t know them. And I think that’s the biggest thing that we need to do is make precinct patrols. Get people to know their officers in their area, and they get comfortable being around them. It’s worked extremely well in Douglass Park and in the downtown patrol with the bars and students and everybody in the businesses. So, again, customer contact. Keep it friendly, keep it light, and everyone gets along." Ian Thomas: "I met with Chief Burton a couple of weeks ago. He described the current situation in terms of staffing and beat officers. There’s no question that the number of beat officers that he has relative to the size of our population is a lot less than it was a decade or two ago, and it’s also a lot less than our normal standards in other communities, so increased staffing is certainly important. There have been a few violent crimes, drug-, gang-related crimes, in Columbia over recent years, and the Police Department has experimented with a community-policing approach, which has been quite successful. It is more resource intensive than regular policing, but I think the evidence is that it’s well worth it in the overall benefits of building the trust between community leaders and law enforcement officers and keeping a handle on crime that way." Bill Weitkemper: "Well, I think a better relationship needs to be established between the administration and the officers. That’s obviously not a very good relationship the way it is now. There seems to be a lot of distrust between the officers and administration. I’m not sure that can be corrected without some changes in personnel. I think the chief’s been here going on four years, so it’s about time they straighten things out if they’re going to be able to." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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City Council candidates discuss crime

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss crime By Missourian staff March 27, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about crime. Overall crime decreased in Columbia from 2011 to 2012. Please discuss your views of crime in the city and on what fronts police need to focus their efforts? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to Missourian questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "Our crime rate is a little over four per 1,000 population, which considering other cities like Jeff City, Kirksville, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Kansas City, St. Louis, it is low. It’s low. But it’s still four too many — that's four crimes too many. We need to have a police presence, we need to have police training, we need to have police interaction at the hot spots, and we need neighborhood policing, and we need everybody working together on the same page for this. We need a citizenry that is respectful and satisfied with the Police Department so they can openly interact and exchange. And we need a Police Department that treats itself as a customer service organization – that they are representatives of the city and their job is to help citizens in a very positive way. And I think we’re going to see that as we move ahead."

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Sid Sullivan: "Well, I think the police do a good job in terms of trying to promote Neighborhood Watch. There's always a problem when you have crime and when you have a perception of crime. Generally the perception of crime

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City Council candidates discuss crime

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VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

follows the crime itself, so even though crime is declining there are a lot of people that feel it's really rising. So we need to have the things in place with the Neighborhood Watch What you need to know before you that police are providing those kinds of avenues where the go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing neighborhood can call the police when they see something at final public forum suspicious in the neighborhood. In terms of police on the street, we try to get them into neighborhoods where they recognize people and people recognize them, and I think that's what we're doing now. In terms of providing additional police, that's really up to the city budget as we can find funds to increase the number of police officers." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, it is true that crime has decreased, although not for those who are victims. For them, crime is a very real issue, and we always have to look after the public safety. That’s one of the primary responsibilities of our government. I think that one of the ways to get towards effective community policing really has to do with changing the entire structure, even getting the command staff out to interact with the folks. It gets back to that issue that I was referring to before: the public trust. Without the public trust we really cannot get a good handle on crime, generally. There will always be crimes of opportunity. That will always exist. But the kinds of programs like the program that’s going on in Douglass Park, for example, is a good way for the police to interact with the community and gain that public trust. That way, the community will be more likely to get out and about and feel safe in their own neighborhoods." Gary Kespohl: "I'm told by the police chief that 99 percent of the violent crime — the shootings, the drive-by shootings and all those kinds of things — are drug related. Columbia has become a stop-off place between Kansas City and St. Louis to sell drugs. I've started Neighborhood Watch programs in six of my neighborhood associations in my ward, and in those (neighborhoods), if you check the numbers, crime's gone down because the word's out that those people are watching their streets. And they know the beat officer, the guy who drives through their neighborhoods, on a first-name basis. They have his cell phone number; they can call him any time they need to, day or night. Him or her. So, they become friends on a first-name speaking basis. So those people that are on Neighborhood Watch, block captains, aren't afraid to call the police when they see something going on. I think that's helped with crime. It has in the Third Ward, at least." Fourth Ward candidates

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City Council candidates discuss crime

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Daryl Dudley: "Right now I think they need to focus it on speeding. A common complaint from everybody that I hear every time I go anywhere for a forum or anything else is how to get people to slow down on the streets they're on, whether it's a residential street or Broadway, Stadium, a main street. People speed a lot in this town, and they need to be taught to slow down. ... Crime is coming down as far as the break-ins and shootings. We’ve had a lot more shootings of late. We know where the places are. Every time you see a report it's coming from the same area. We need to start looking at those areas. We know who is doing it. We need to start charging those people and getting them off the street. There’s a lot of shootings in the Gateway area right now, and some other areas ... but in certain areas where there's a lot of shootings right now, and we know who is doing it, we need to get those people off the streets and keep them off the streets." Ian Thomas: "Well, as I mentioned in the previous question, I think community policing is the way to go. It builds social capital for the police, the uniform police officers to be on first-name terms with the residents in the neighborhoods, particularly the community leaders who are the connectors to the rest of the residents. I would like to see further efforts to empower the neighborhood associations, especially in the First Ward where a lot of the gangand drug-related crime takes place. If we can empower law-abiding, responsible citizens, connect them with the law enforcement officers, build that trust, then I think we can really get ahead of that." Bill Weitkemper: "If overall crime decreased, that would come as a surprise, because the crime you hear about is the violent crime. I think it seems to have increased. The gunshots and things of that nature. I guess we could use more police officers, more enforcement, a better court system. It’s kind of disappointing when you read about how somebody’s arrested or has been arrested 40 times before. The court system seems to be letting them out of jail quicker than what they ought to. And jobs would help. If some of these kids had jobs, they wouldn’t be possibly out committing crimes." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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Council candidates, 911 tax committee file finance reports 8 day...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Council candidates, 911 tax committee file finance reports 8 days before election By Hannah Cushman March 28, 2013 | 5:49 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; In terms of fundraising, two candidates in Tuesday's municipal election have separated themselves from the rest, according to the latest round of campaign finance reports submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid has topped the total earnings list again, raising a total of $25,485 this election season. Fourth Ward candidate Ian Thomas isn't far behind, though; he's received $23,928 so far. MoreStory Related Media

Here is a PDF of the campaign finance report that Mayor Bob McDavid's re-election campaign filed on Monday.

Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl, however, has earned the most since the first finance reports were filed in late January. Those reports show his opponent, Karl Skala, took an early lead of several thousand dollars, but Kespohl's contributions have surged ahead in the past two months. He raised $19,000 to Skala's $2,500 during the most recent filing period. The second greatest fundraiser since February was not a candidate at all. Citizens for Effective Emergency Response, the committee formed in support of Boone County's proposed sales-tax-funded emergency dispatch improvements, has amassed $17,450 for its campaign. Boone County Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill contributed almost a third of that sum, while Southern District Commissioner Karen Miller gave $1,000. Mayoral race McDavid earned an additional $12,905 this collection cycle,

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Council candidates, 911 tax committee file finance reports 8 day...

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bringing his campaign coffer to a total of $25,485. That's less than half than the more than $50,000 he raised three years ago, but he remains the top fundraising candidate on Tuesday's ballot. Sullivan has focused less on fundraising, adding $3,630 to the money he reported having in January, for a total of $9,400. Here is a PDF of the finance report that mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan's campaign filed on Monday.

Here is a PDF of the finance report filed by Third Ward City Council candidate Karl Skala's campaign on Monday.

And while McDavid reported three times as many donations between $500 and $599 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; six versus Sullivan's two â&#x20AC;&#x201D; both mayoral candidates got more donations of $200 than any other amount. Of Sullivan's contributors, all but one were individuals; Citizens Involved and Invested in Columbia, a political action committee organized last spring in opposition to blight, gave $500. A quarter of McDavid's 29 donations came from companies, including: $500 from law firm Van Matre & Harrison PC. $500 from Con-Agg of MO, LLC. $200 from Old Hawthorne developer Lifestyle Homes, Inc. According to the report, McDavid has spent about as much on radio advertisement, his biggest expense, as Sullivan has spent in total this reporting period. The bulk of Sullivan's money has gone to Mail & More in Columbia for mailing services and postage.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl's re-election campaign filed on Monday.

At the close of the period, McDavid had about $17,000 remaining and no outstanding debt, while Sullivan had $2,000 on hand and $3,000 in bills yet to pay. Third Ward race Although he got off to a slow start, Kespohl has collected about twice as much as his opponent, drawing all but $1,700 of his $21,000 total during the most recent filing period.

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Council candidates, 911 tax committee file finance reports 8 day...

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Skala has reported the opposite trend. His first report in late January showed he had raised more than $9,000. The report filed Monday listed about $2,500 more in contributions, for a campaign total of just under $12,000.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley's re-election campaign filed on Monday.

In all, 122 supporters donated to Kespohl. About a fifth of those were companies, mostly real estate and construction firms. Kespohl's most generous single contribution, however, came from the political committee Friends of Caleb Jones. According the report, the 50th District Republican state representative's committee gave Kespohl $1,000 on March 19. Skala received funding from 22 individuals and from one committee, the Mid-Missouri Labor Club. The union advocacy group gave Skala two donations about a week apart for a total contribution of $800.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Fourth Ward City Council candidate Ian Thomas' campaign filed on Monday.

Kespohl has funneled more than $7,000 into production and advertisement fees; Skala had spent $1,000 on newspaper ads. Neither candidate had exhausted his funds: Kespohl has $13,000 yet to spend before Tuesday, while Skala had just less than $8,000. Fourth Ward race Dudley reported raising a total of $14,500 for his campaign, with an average per-supporter contribution of $250.

Here is a PDF of the finance report that Fourth Ward City Council candidate Bill Weitkemper's campaign filed on Monday.

Still, despite collecting only $7,658 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; about a third of his last cycle's total â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Thomas maintained a comfortable financial advantage. Second only to McDavid, Thomas had gathered about $24,000 by the time his campaign filed the report Monday. Weitkemper has received a modest $1,200 since January, with $500 of that coming from Citizens Involved and Invested in Columbia. To date, he has raised a little more than $5,700.

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Thomas is the only candidate this period to list himself among his contributors. According to the report, Thomas has put $3,233 into his own campaign. His father-in-law, former mayor Darwin Hindman, also donated $1,000. Four of Thomas's 57 contributions came from downtown businesses, with Main Squeeze's donation of $675 the greatest among them. Here is a PDF of the finance report filed Monday by Citizens for Effective Emergency Response, which is campaigning for approval of the three-eighths-cent 911 and emergency management tax on the April 2 ballot.

Dudley, like Kespohl, received $1,000 from Friends of Caleb Jones. His list of contributors also contained several $500 donations from firms in the construction and development businesses. One industry veteran, Bob Grove, contributed $500 to Weitkemper. Grove formerly co-owned Little Dixie Construction but retired in 2009. He now owns Grove Construction. As in fundraising, Thomas led the pack in campaign spending, dropping about $1,100 on a newspaper ad and more than $2,000 on printing. Dudley spent a similar amount on print advertising but had spent another $1,000 for radio time. Meanwhile, Weitkemper spent about $500 to partner with local ad agency Axiom Media. According the reports, Weitkemper had $2,500 on hand, compared to Thomas' $15,000 and Dudley's $10,000. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

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3/31/14 12:37 PM

City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs By Missourian staff March 28, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about streets, sidewalks and trails. What do you believe are the city's greatest street, sidewalk and trail needs? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "Well, we have a legacy of great trails, and the non-motorized transportation grant has been very helpful with that. And the previous mayor, Darwin Hindman, has a great legacy of advancing trails. It’s a wonderful part of the community. It’s our legacy. It, you know, it’s an all-star part of our parks system. Streets and sidewalks are ... always need repair, always need to grow with the population. You know, we’ve got $200 million of street and road improvements, and we get about $6 million a year, so you see that we’re challenged here. But we work with MoDOT, we work with the county, we work with the citizens to deal with these. We’re trying to catch up, but dealing with roads will always be a problem. It costs $160,000 to repave one mile of road, and our revenue from the capital improvement tax is about $6 million a year on top of the $10 million a year from the transportation tax, so it is a real challenge."

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Sid Sullivan: "Well, it's really probably the greatest need right now is that intersection of Stadium and Providence.

3/31/14 2:27 PM

City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs

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Columbia issues

Providence is one of the busiest streets in Columbia, along What you need to know before you with Stadium. And, just the way we route traffic, we're trying go the polls on Tuesday to keep it out of the neighborhoods, and we're keeping it in Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing the main streets now, and we find we're putting a lot of at final public forum pressure on that. So we really need to take a look at the entire traffic circulation system in the central area of the city. When you get out into the trails, the fitness trail, part of the Katy Trail, I think is a very attractive trail that many people use. We do have trails throughout the city that we have extended. Probably the sidewalk need that I see most is the one up by the Home Depot just north there on Clark Lane where you have a trailer park. And people actually have a destination where they can walk, and yet they have to walk in the street in 35- to 40-mile-an-hour traffic." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, we have lots of street, sidewalk and trail needs. I mean, the city repair cycle is on a 47-year cycle, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, according to surveys, is favored by about 70 percent of the citizens in terms of improving the roads. Now, during the time that I was on the City Council, between 2007 and 2010, was the last time in the Third Ward that we have had significant road and sidewalk improvements. We had the Mexico Gravel Road and roundabout improvement, and we had the east end Clark Lane improvement with the roundabout by The Links development. We also put in a new sidewalk, the East Walnut sidewalk, to connect it from Benton Stephens to Stephens Lake. So those are tangible improvements, and I think I have, again, a comprehensive idea as to how we can fund these road and sidewalk improvements in terms of the user-based approach that gets, that accomplishes what we want to accomplish based on the impact on the use structure of those roads and sidewalks." Gary Kespohl: "I could think of two in my ward. One of them was ranked 14th on the list of priorities, it got moved to second on the list. That's Clark Lane, from, really from Home Depot all the way out to Ballenger. The other one...there's two more. The other one is Brown Station Road from, actually from the beginning of Brown Station Road up to the city limits. That's an old two-lane blacktop road. It used to be Route B years ago. But it has no sidewalks, and there's a lot of neighborhoods in there. And the third one would be Ballenger Lane from Clark Lane out to Mexico Gravel. (Missourian: And you want sidewalks put there?) I do. They're public safety hazards by not having a sidewalk there. People are walking along the side of a road that people travel 50 miles an hour on in a car. That's dangerous." Fourth Ward candidates

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City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs

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Daryl Dudley: "The streets need to be such that people can drive on them. The sidewalks have to be where people can get to them and use them. Right now, we’re looking at Clark Lane, and getting that so that it’s safe for people and pedestrians in wheelchairs and on foot to walk up and down Clark Lane. That needs to be considered. We need to figure out how to keep the streets, and the infrastructure below it, in good shape and keep everything going as the city grows. We need to figure out where the money is going to come from. Every problem we’ve got, the biggest problem is money. I mean everything that we need to do takes money and time, so we need to figure out where we’re going to get the money from, and then a list of priorities, which we do in the CIP every year, to figure out how the priorities are and what needs to be done." Ian Thomas: "I don’t really have a specific list of individual projects. Clearly there are, there’s a lot of discussion about Providence and Stadium. There’s a very significant project just starting on Stadium on the west side of town in front of the mall, and a new intersection. These are all symptoms of too many cars on the road at certain times of the day that the road system cannot handle. My approach to that in the long term is to look at the traffic demand management tool kit, which includes a lot of more low-impact interventions such as promotion of carpooling, improving the bus system and staggering commute times to address these problems." Bill Weitkemper: "I read a citizen survey in 2011 that indicated that people were dissatisfied with roads, but I think they were misinformed in that survey because a single pothole can be noticed by many residents, whereas a single problem with a sewer line or water line or storm water lines, you don’t notice but the person who has the water back in their basement. So the first thing you need to do is fix the infrastructure under the road before you fix the roads. And I think there’d be money better spent doing that." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford. To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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3/31/14 2:27 PM

City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment By Missourian staff March 28, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for seats on the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about MU's increasing enrollment. Enrollment at MU has been steadily growing. What are the greatest impacts of that growth, and what can the city do to adapt to and capitalize on it? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to the Missourian's questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "Well, we’re a college town, we’ve been a college town since 1839, we’ll always be a college town. And the success – we’re a company town. The company is the University of Missouri and when they’re successful, the city of Columbia is successful, and when city of Columbia is successful, that helps the University of Missouri recruit. So it’s a very synergistic relationship. It, uh, if it’s in the best interest in the University of Missouri to grow their student population – and I believe it is, that’s up to them to decide – then it’s important for us to figure out how to deal with that from an infrastructure standpoint. How do we deal with parking? How do we deal with transit? You know, we’re trying to make it so that it’s much more convenient to ride buses than it is to drive cars. We have policies about where the private sector builds apartments. You know, the university has not kept up with housing. It’s been met by the private sector. I want to see the private sector put student housing adjacent to campus. I really don’t want it five miles out on the periphery. I don’t want students living on

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3/31/14 2:29 PM

City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment

Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

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Grindstone, driving down Rock Quarry Road. I want them near campus, and we’re going to do everything we can to encourage that."

What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

Sid Sullivan: "Well, I think we probably need to work with developers in that area as they're developing luxury student Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing housing they create a problem in two areas: One is they pick at final public forum sites that would be used for affordable housing for current residents, and yet when they build the luxury student housing they deprive students of affordable housing. So these are two areas that we need to really focus on is affordable housing not only for our own residents but for students as well. And we need to provide that, and we need to connect that in with a transportation system that would coordinate this so we can get students back and forth to the university." Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, it’s pretty obvious that one of the impacts of that growth is off-campus student housing, and the private sector has picked up, has taken that ball and run with it. Obviously, the university has not spent a lot of time with on-campus student housing. I think they’ve invested, perhaps, in parking garages quite a bit, and that was... So, we are feeling the impact of that, and that’s fine. And I think that we ought to accommodate that impact assuming that we have to accommodate the growth that has already occurred in the past few years, and it’s been substantial. On the other hand, maybe that bubble will burst. We cannot be sure that we’re going to continue that kind of torrid-pace growth in terms of student enrollment for the next 10 years. We ought to carefully evaluate that, and we ought to make plans accordingly in the downtown area and other places so that we accommodate the growth that has occurred but also evaluate what the future may hold." Gary Kespohl: "The greatest impact is housing. The university doesn't have the land area to put up housing for students on campus, so it's up to private developers to do that. And we're struggling a bit with downtown because some people think that we're over-building downtown. I disagree somewhat. I would rather put apartment buildings downtown and let students live near campus, and be able to ride the bus or walk to campus, than have them out, for instance, Grindstone Parkway and have to drive their cars into campus and not have a place to park. So parking and the housing (are) the two big issues." Fourth Ward candidates

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City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment

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Daryl Dudley: "The university is the largest employer in the city, it's also the largest money... We get more taxes and everything from the university, mostly through the students that come here. We need to tap into the students, make sure that they are buying things here, that they are living here and staying here as long as they can. And with the growth of the population and the number of students at the university, we need a place for them all to stay and to eat and to work. Many of the students work, and so we need more jobs. That takes us back to employing people without college education, or without the higher degrees of education. And we have to consider where we’re going to put all of those. And obviously, the best way to keep them from driving is to have them living close to the campus. Therein lies the student housing that is coming into the city and in the close areas around the university. Streets need to be taken care of, and parking has to be considered because everybody is coming here in a vehicle, even if we don’t want them using it here. So, parking and infrastructure." Ian Thomas: "I think it’s great that more and more young people want to come to Columbia and study at the University of Missouri and many of them end up staying and contributing to our economy, starting businesses. Clearly, when there’s a major shift in populations, where people live becomes very important, and to me it makes a tremendous amount of sense that a lot of these students, these additional students, would live downtown. There’s a lot of capacity to build more residential capacity downtown. We have to get ahead of the transportation thing. When we're gonna have, if we’re going to have five, ten thousand people living downtown, not every one of them can have a car. There just is not enough space to store the cars, or on the roads to bring them in and out. So we have to get ahead of that with improved bus service and a lot of the educational programs that I’ve talked about." Bill Weitkemper: "The greatest impact from the city’s standpoint, I believe, is probably where people are going to live, because the university’s not building any more dormitories, so they’ve got to find someplace to live, which they’ve been doing downtown. If they had better C-2 zoning requirements, I think that would probably be satisfactory, but with no off-street parking and no height requirements, there’s a lot of people that don’t think that’s appropriate. The other advantage to the university’s growth is an increase in sales tax. There ought to be increasing sales tax, ought to be increasing exponentially as the university grows. So the city could capitalize on the students selling things and also as providing good housing for them." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment

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To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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3/31/14 2:29 PM

City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities By Missourian staff March 29, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA — Missourian reporters asked candidates for the Columbia City Council nine standardized questions about city government issues. Here are their verbatim answers to a question about city and ward priorities beyond those that were addressed in previous questions. What other issues do you believe should be a priority for the City Council over the next three years? On The Watchword

Mayoral candidates

You can find audio files of the City Council candidates' answers to Missourian questions on our local government blog, The Watchword.

Bob McDavid: "Well, the priorities listed by the citizens in a recent survey are infrastructure, roads, right? And police and crime — police protection, fire and crime prevention. And the third is economic improvement. We spend a lot of time recruiting companies, meeting companies. I’m meeting with some Chinese — a Chinese delegation — next week. We’re working with existing companies. We may have some good news with an existing company in the near future. We’ve opened up, through a lot of work, a company called Beyond Meat. IBM obviously is a success. So this requires good old-fashioned recruitment and good old-fashioned sales. Fortunately, we have a great community to sell. We have a work force that’s young because of our university, college presence, so — and the electric atmosphere — the whole community helps make this sale. But this requires work, and it requires a sales drive, and that’s one of the important things that the mayor has to do. You know, I didn’t realize this when I got into it, but I guess now I’m in

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City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities

VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

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sales."

Sid Sullivan: "Well, two issues: One is just the creation of policies in terms of how we're making decisions in the City Council, so the policies essentially are explaining why we Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing passed this ordinance or what's behind this ordinance. So we at final public forum inform the city manager and all the department heads of how they should interpret the city ordinances. Secondly, in terms of local jobs, we have a lot of people that are Columbia residents that don't have work or adequate work. And we need, rather than looking at REDI to provide new businesses to come into Columbia, I would really look for an advisory committee to help with finding opportunities for our youth that are entering the job market, to get them ready and to find appropriate jobs for our youth that are entering the job market." What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

What ward-specific issues would you make a priority if you are elected to the council? Third Ward candidates Karl Skala: "Well, I’m running for Ward Three, and I see neglect generally in Ward Three as a huge issue, and that’s the feedback that I’ve been getting when I’ve been canvassing door to door. In particular, the most pressing need, I think, are two roads in particular. One is obviously Clark Lane, the Ballenger corridor, and the other is St. Charles Road. When you think about those roads, in 2005 those were both on the CIP plan, and they were scheduled to be funded, but there were other issues that intruded on that, and eventually they were removed from the CIP plan because the public did not support the extent of that plan. And those projects were removed to eventually wind up within some other areas, and it’s typical, I think, of the neglect that sometimes the Third Ward sees relative to some of the more affluent wards, like the Fourth or Fifth Ward, in particular. Stewart Road is a good example of that. So, I see those two road systems, in terms of road infrastructure, Ballenger Lane and Clark Lane corridor and the St. Charles Road corridor are very important, particularly since the new high school is out in this area. It really is going to be a growth driver in the northeast." Gary Kespohl: "Well in the Third Ward, I'd make it a priority ... we have some some infrastructure problems. It was inherited when the 1968 annexation took place. A lot of the streets in the very far northeast were in the county at the time, and there was no design standard for roads and highways. None of them have curb and gutter. None of them have sidewalks. They are all very narrow streets. You can barely pass two cars beside one another on

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City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities

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some of those streets. That needs to be taken on as a high priority and taken care of to bring them up to city standard. The infrastructure out there's old because the builders put it in, and a lot of it wasn't put in very well, the sewer system and the water lines and so forth. So all those things need attention in the Third Ward." Fourth Ward candidates Daryl Dudley: "In the Fourth Ward, I want to connect Scott Boulevard to I-70. I want to work on getting a school in the southwestern part of the city, Fourth Ward or Fifth Ward, and get Bonnie View park up and running. And basically that's about it. There's not a whole lot of big things in the Fourth Ward coming up. ... Just making sure that the citizens are happy and that they are getting what they want. Listen to them as I've listened to them over the last three years, and keep going forward. There isn't a lot in the Fourth Ward going on right now. ... West Boulevard, and also, fixing Broadway in the Old Southwest. Getting the infrastructure, the sewer systems and the private common collectors and all that up to date so that we've got current and new infrastructure. West Boulevard needs to be taken care of, and Broadway." Ian Thomas: "Well, one ward-specific issue that has come up frequently in my many hundreds of doorstep conversations recently is West Broadway. And even though there was a major report five or six years ago recommending that there’s no need to widen West Broadway, between Clinkscales and Aldeah, which is currently one lane each way, the discussion of widening it to two lanes each way has continued, and residents of the area feel that there’s still a great threat that the city will want to do this. I don’t believe it’s necessary. It ties into my thoughts of traffic demand management and vehicle-miles-traveled reductions. I want to bring those tools into the transportation, you know, planning tool kit, and I firmly believe that we can keep the traffic congestion under control to such a level that there’s no need to do that road widening." Bill Weitkemper: "Infrastructure improvements. We need to improve water lines, sewer lines, stormwater sewage lines. There’s erosion problems in the Fourth Ward. There’s a lot of private sewers in the older part of the Fourth Ward. And I think we’ve had a record number of water line breaks in the last two years, so infrastructure improvements would be probably a priority." Missourian reporters Hannah Cushman, Elizabeth Pearl, Tony Puricelli, Madeline O'Leary, Chris Jasper, Allison Prang and Nuria Mathog contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities

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To hear audio clips from the candidates, go to the Missourian's local government blog, The Watchword.

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Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum By Nuria Mathog March 29, 2013 | 2:06 p.m. CDT COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Candidates for the City Council debated the 911 tax initiative, policing methods and citizen surveillance Thursday evening at the last public forum before Tuesday's election. The forum, which was held in the Parkade Plaza public meeting room, was sponsored by the Missouri Civil Liberties Association, Missouri Association of Social Welfare and Keep Columbia Free. Mayor Bob McDavid and challenger Sid Sullivan, Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl and challenger Karl Skala and Fourth Ward candidates Ian Thomas and Bill Weitkemper were present. MoreStory

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat Boone County voters approve 911 sales tax Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues

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Fourth Ward candidate and incumbent councilman Daryl Dudley was unable to attend the forum because of a family emergency. Here are some of the issues the candidates discussed at the forum: 911 tax Candidates were asked if they would support Proposition 1, a proposed three-eighths cent sales tax that would be used to fund emergency operations. Kespohl said he was in favor of the tax but would feel more comfortable with the initiative if it had a sunset date. Skala shared his rival's concerns about the lack of a sunset date. He said a three-eighths cent sales tax was too large and indicated that the issue had driven a wedge between the city and the county.

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Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum

VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/160285/candidates-discu...

McDavid said he would support the tax but thought it was poorly funded. He added that one benefit of the initiative is that it would improve the accountability of the emergency response system, which he described as a "multiparty jurisdictional organization" not accountable to any elected

official at the moment. Sullivan disagreed. Although he acknowledged that emergency response services need improvement, he had too many reservations about the way the upgrades would be funded. The sales tax, he said, has the potential to hurt low-income residents. Thomas said he was undecided â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a switch from his earlier position at the Feb. 15 Muleskinners candidate forum, during which he expressed support for the proposition. He cited the lack of a sunset date and concerns from Fourth Ward residents as reasons for his current uncertainty. Weitkemper said the proposition was not the answer to improving 911 operations. He referred to the tax as a "taxpayer bailout of government mismanagement" and suggested the city allocate funds from its budget surplus to emergency response services as an alternative. Satisfaction with the Columbia Police Department Thomas said the police department is understaffed in comparison to other communities. While he recognized the difficulty of police work, he said, he had heard a lot of dissatisfaction with the force from area residents. Weitkemper said the department has to be supported by the entire community to "get the job done." Skala suggested ending a "zero-tolerance" style of policing and said the city needed a more proactive public safety policy. He also indicated that neighborhood watch programs can have the undesirable effect of encouraging reclusive behavior. Kespohl said City Manager Mike Matthes has been making good progress toward addressing the problems found in last year's departmental review, which determined that the environment in the police department was "approaching toxicity." McDavid said he had high expectations for police officers and that the city was "within sight" of having a task force in which it could have great confidence. Sullivan said Police Chief Ken Burton had been hired to bring modern policing techniques to 2 of 3

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Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum

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the city. While he, too, had heard considerable dissatisfaction from residents, he said he believed Burton was dedicated to crime prevention. Citizen surveillance Skala said he had initially voted against the installation of red-light cameras during his time as a City Council representative. He expressed skepticism toward technology that came into conflict with the Fourth Amendment, later adding that he "absolutely opposed" installing cameras downtown. In contrast, Kespohl said he supported the cameras, which he described as a "good deterrent" against irresponsible drivers. McDavid said the cameras were a part of the culture in Columbia and indicated that trying to change the situation would be equivalent to "swimming upstream." Sullivan said cameras were acceptable in areas such as parking lots, where there was a need for them, but installing them in public areas was a disservice to residents. He described using public money for this purpose as "abusive." Thomas disagreed with the use of public surveillance unless it had a clearly defined and justifiable purpose. He noted that red-light tickets could be effective at discouraging reckless drivers from breaking the law. Weitkemper said he did not have an issue with the installation of cameras on public streets to prevent crimes. Supervising editor is Zach Murdock.

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MUNICIPAL ELECTION

VOTERS GUIDE MAYORAL CANDIDATES

BOB MCDAVID Personal: Age 63. He is married to Suzanne McDavid. They have two children and three grandchildren. Occupation: Mayor, retired obstetrician. Website: mcdavidforcolumbia.com Facebook: facebook.com/ McDavidForColumbia Twitter: @bobmcdavid

SID SULLIVAN

SUNDAY & MONDAY, March 31-April 1, 2013 — Page 5A

Trying to get up to speed on the races and issues on Tuesday’s ballot? The Missourian can help. Find more information online at bit.ly/ZOmoMj

THIRD WARD CANDIDATES

FOURTH WARD CANDIDATES

KARL SKALA

GARY KESPOHL

IAN THOMAS

DARYL DUDLEY

BILL WEITKEMPER

Personal: Age 66. He is married to Mahree Skala. He has three children from a previous marriage. Occupation: Retired biomedical research coordinator at MU. Website: skalaforcouncil. org Facebook: facebook.com/ karl.skala

Personal: Age 66. Married to Patty Kespohl. They have two sons and six grandchildren. Occupation: Owner and manager of Central Missouri Computer Center. Website: gary4council.com Facebook: facebook. com/pages/Gary-Kespohl4-Columbia-City-Council /267110453810 Twitter: @Gary4Council

Personal: Age 51. He is married to Ellen Thomas. They have a daughter, Emily, and a son, Jack. Occupation: Transportation consultant Website: ianfor4th.com Facebook: facebook.com/ IanThomasfor4thWard

Personal: Age 54. Married to Rita Dudley. Occupation: Manager of Hy-Vee convenience store at 3120 W. Broadway. Website: daryldudleyforcouncil.com Facebook: www.facebook. com/pages/Daryl-Dudleyfor-4th-Ward-City-Council/362465429152

Personal: Age 64. He is married to Judy Weitkemper. They have six children and 14 grandchildren. Occupation: Retired sewer maintenance supervisor for city of Columbia Website: voteweitkemper. com Facebook: facebook.com/ voteWeitkemper Twitter: @VoteWeitkemper

Notes that Planning and Zoning Commission and others are reviewing C-2 zoning and that there have been similar efforts in the past. Says “overlay” zoning or conditional use permits for high-density residential might work.

Says stakeholders are already reviewing this but some think C-2 zoning is OK the way it is. Favors the review and is open to changes.

Would consider overlay zoning to discourage overbuilding student housing. Wants to encourage housing downtown for professionals, seniors and families.

Says that the city must embark on revising downtown zoning and that all stakeholders must be included so development, legal, planning, zoning, environmental and resident input are considered.

Says residential construction in C-2 zones is inappropriate without height restrictions and parking and setback requirements.

Says the enhanced enterprise zone was inappropriate. The city should be careful about ceding leverage to industry and about which industries it recruits. Industrial and business parks target more specific areas.

Says incentives are worth carefully considering, case by case. Fairness to existing business is important. Says tax increment financing should be reserved for specific projects rather than districts.

Says that incentives have “become a way of the world” and that the city needs a list of incentives it can offer to become a player in the market.

Skeptical of enhanced enterprise zones and other incentives to lure new business. Would prefer to provide incentives to existing employers to expand and hire more workers.

Favors incentives, if necessary, as a means of putting people with less education to work. Would consider incentives on an individual basis.

Opposes incentives for new businesses. Says the city shouldn’t give public money to private enterprises.

Says the city needs to get to 500 passengers per day. Increasing demand, in part by attracting more people to Columbia, is important before the city invests millions in airport upgrades.

Says the city could probably attract more and better flight service. Says there is a need to update the airport terminal but doesn’t want to take a “Cadillac approach.”

Says terminal enhancements are key to being able to handle more flights and attract more passengers.

Says terminal upgrades are necessary but shouldn’t cost many millions of dollars. Supports expanding air traffic and bringing in new airlines but reluctant to provide incentives such as revenue guarantees.

Favors making the terminal ADA compliant and fixing it up, but not spending $17 million to do so. Wants more airlines flying in and out at prices that will make the airport competitive.

Says that the terminal should be ADA accessible, that the city should explore regional ownership of the airport and that the mayor should cede management to professionals. Opposes revenue guarantees to airlines.

Calls for a market study of the bus system to determine organization and strategies for attracting riders. Says it’s important to serve not only students but also other local residents.

Says the city should have a multi-size fleet to meet varying ridership demand in different parts of the city. Supports longer service hours and perhaps weekend service. Advocates “user-based” fees to finance the system.

Wants to expand transit but find a way to make it financially sustainable. Advocates reviewing and adjusting routes but says he needs to study the system more before reaching firm conclusions.

Says the city should bring in a consultant to assess public support for bus service and recommend how to expand it, from both technical and political points of view.

Says the key to more riders is to have more buses that are easier to use, run on time and get people where they want to go. That will take time, but it’s important to get cars off the street and to cut down on energy use and pollution.

Wants the city to hire a professional manager. Says the mayor should not try to manage the system. Says low-income people and those with disabilities need buses more than students.

Says the intersection of Stadium and Providence is the most important need. Wants to evaluate traffic circulation in central Columbia. Clark Lane is the most important sidewalk need.

Says the Third Ward has been neglected since he left the council in 2010. Wants to make road and sidewalk projects possible with a user-based approach that assesses development impact.

Wants street and sidewalk projects on Clark Lane from Route PP to Ballenger Lane, Ballenger from Clark to Mexico Gravel Road and Brown Station Road northeast to the city limits.

Wants to address street needs using a “traffic demand management tool kit” that would promote carpooling, a better bus system and staggered commute times.

Wants to make Clark Lane safe for pedestrians and people in wheelchairs. Figuring out how to keep streets and infrastructure below them in shape is a priority, but money is a challenge.

Says the first thing to do is to fix sewer and stormwater infrastructure below the streets. Those problems, he notes, are more serious but not as noticeable as potholes.

Says luxury student apartments deprive students and others of affordable housing. New student housing, he says, should be connected with public transportation.

Says the city must accommodate enrollment growth but warns that the pace of MU enrollment might slow. The city, he says, must carefully evaluate that possibility.

Says housing and parking are the greatest impacts. Would rather have student apartments downtown and near campus so they can ride the bus rather than driving from far areas of town.

Says rising enrollment is good for the economy. Believes that it makes sense to have students living downtown but that the city has to get ahead of transportation needs.

Says it’s important to ensure students contribute to the local economy and to provide jobs for them. Students should live close to campus, and the city must ensure adequate parking and infrastructure.

Says the city should benefit from increased sales tax revenue that comes with higher enrollment and that C-2 zoning needs to ensure adequate parking and height restrictions on student apartments downtown.

Notes that the area police must patrol has expanded. Wants a northern substation and says the council should examine other capital needs of the Police Department.

Says it’s imperative that the Police Department build public trust. Advocates community policing to develop sources who will identify “bad guys” and help people arrest them.

Says it would be a good idea to have two precincts, north and south, to speed up response times and shift changes through the downtown headquarters.

Says that increased staffing is important and that community policing has proved successful in helping build trust between community leaders and law enforcement.

Calls for better customer service from the department. Wants precinct patrols so that residents know the police serving their area.

Believes personnel changes might be necessary to build trust between officers and police administration.

Says neighborhood policing is important so that residents recognize officers in their areas. Says the ability to add police officers is a function of budgeting.

Says crime prevention is a primary responsibility of government. Police command staff should interact more with the public. Cites community policing in Douglass Park as a success.

Says Neighborhood Watch and community policing have proved effective. Residents should know officers by their first names and be able to call them any time they need.

Says community policing helps officers build social capital. Wants to empower neighborhood associations, particularly in the First Ward.

Says police should focus on speeding. Regarding violent crime, he says police should focus on hot spots and get the people they know are responsible for break-ins and shootings off the streets.

Says that a better court system would help keep violent criminals off the streets and that creating more jobs for young people would reduce crime.

Says road and sidewalk improvements in the Ballenger Lane and Clark Lane corridors is important, particularly given that Battle High School will open in that area soon.

Infrastructure would be his priority. Streets in northeast parts of the Third Ward, as well as sewer and water systems, need attention because they were installed by builders before city standards applied.

Says Fourth Ward residents continue to worry that the city will widen West Broadway between Clinkscales Road and Aldeah Avenue. Believes that is unnecessary if the city controls traffic congestion.

Wants to connect Scott Boulevard to I-70 and establish a school in southwest Columbia. Wants to improve West Boulevard and Broadway in the Old Southwest and address aging sewer systems.

Wants to focus on infrastructure, particularly water, sewer and stormwater lines.

Personal: Age 69. He is married to Joan Sullivan. Occupation: Retired. Website: sidsullivan.com Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/ Sid-Sullivan-for-Mayor/347039202072191 Twitter: @sidsullivan

DOWNTOWN ZONING Says it’s useful to explore C-2 zoning in terms of building height, parking requirements, etc., but notes that downtown is vibrant and that C-2 zoning has served well thus far.

Says the city must determine appropriate uses downtown. Wants zoning that promotes a walkable environment that allows people to linger and enjoy downtown.

DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES Notes that incentives helped bring IBM and Beyond Meat to Columbia and that they’re a fact of life. They should be considered carefully, case by case.

AIRPORT Pursuing “40 in 2020,” or 40 percent of area customers flying from Columbia by 2020. That would be 500 passengers per day. Wants more flights to Chicago and other destinations, then a new terminal.

BUS SYSTEM Started FastCat loop downtown and around MU. Wants student apartments in south Columbia to support routes and to use that revenue to fund core routes serving people with disabilities and/or low incomes.

STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND TRAILS Praises the existing trail system. The main challenge with streets is funding. Cites $200 million in street needs but notes the city has only about $6 million per year to work with.

MU ENROLLMENT Housing, parking and transportation are primary challenges. Private sector is trying to meet housing demand. Wants students living close to campus so that buses are more convenient than cars.

POLICE DEPARTMENT Calls low customer satisfaction and low morale within the department unacceptable but says changes suggested in a consultant’s report are under way and will work.

CRIME Says crime rate is relatively low. Cites a need for more training, more policing in crime hot spots and more neighborhood policing. Wants a citizenry that is respectful and satisfied with Police Department.

OTHER PRIORITIES Improving roads and other infrastructure, along with police and fire protection, crime prevention and economic improvement. Wants to continue “selling” the community to business and industry.

Says the council should develop policies to guide its decisions in passing ordinances. Jobs are important, but he would look beyond REDI and toward an advisory committee to create jobs for young people.

COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

Page 6A — SUNDAY & MONDAY, March 31-April 1, 2013

VOTERS GUIDE continued THE ISSUES PROPOSITION #1 SEEKS SALES TAX FOR 911 AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Proposition #1 on Tuesday’s ballot seeks a three-eighths-cent sales tax to finance an overhaul of Boone County’s 911 and emergency management centers. The sales tax, which would add 3.75 cents to the cost of a $10 purchase, would generate an estimated $9.3 million per year for Public Safety Joint Communications and the Office of Emergency Management. A breakdown on for how the money would be spent calls for a total of $20 million in capital projects, including: $11.35 million to design and build a new center for 911 and emergency management operations. The center would be partially underground and would be built on the county’s law enforcement campus off Roger I. Memorial Drive, near the Boone County Jail and Sheriff’s Department building.

$2.83 million for new radio equipment.

$5.82 million for new information technology hardware and software and other equipment.

25 additional call-takers for the 911 center.

of Columbia, Boone County, fire districts, ambulance services and others.

$655,000 for maintenance, support and licensing of information technology equipment.

Opponents of the tax, including representatives of Grass Roots Organizing and Keep Columbia Free, have criticized the proposal as exorbitant and as lacking in detail. They also argue that the sales tax would be unfair to people with low incomes.

$260,000 for radio system support and maintenance.

$930,000 for other operational expenses.

Annual projected spending for the Office of Emergency Management totals $515,000 for personnel, equipment maintenance and other costs. Debt retirement on bonds issued to finance capital projects would cost an estimated $2.2 million per year. Boone County commissioners, Sheriff Dwayne Carey and other officials have said improvements to the 911 and emergency management operations, as well as additional staff, are essential to keep pace with the rising number of calls to the 911 center and to improve aging and crowded facilities. If the tax is approved, the county would oversee management of all 911 and emergency management services.

Annual projected spending for 911 The existing budget for these services operations would break down as follows: is about $3 million per year. Those Q $4.1 million for personnel. County costs are covered by contributions from user agencies, including the city officials have said they would hire

Here is the actual language that will appear on Tuesday's ballot: County of Boone Proposition #1 Shall Boone County, Missouri, impose a new county-wide sales tax not to exceed three-eighths of one percent for the limited purposes of providing funding for a county-wide joint communications and dispatch center (911 Center), and for the funding of emergency management services, including the acquisition, improvement, construction, and equipping of facilities for said purposes and operating the same? Q Q

Yes No

COLUMBIA CHARTER AMENDMENT WOULD RESTRICT THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN A city charter amendment on the April 2 ballot is intended to reduce the threat of eminent domain and blight associated with enhanced enterprise zones and other state or federal economic development programs.

have said they don’t believe voter approval of the amendment would prompt them to propose an EEZ again.

The Columbia City Council at its Nov. 19 meeting unanimously voted to place Proposition 1 on the ballot. It would prevent the city from using eminent domain to acquire property for economic development with the intention of transferring seized property to private entities. The proposed charter amendment arose from a controversy last year over whether to establish one or more EEZs in Columbia. Residents became wary of the EEZ blight designation that targeted a large area of the city, saying that would render areas within an EEZ easy prey for the use of eminent domain. The amendment would declare that the designation of property as “blighted” to qualify for incentive programs cannot be used to justify the use of eminent domain. Representatives of Regional Economic Development, Inc.,

Here is the actual language that will appear on Tuesday’s ballot: CITY OF COLUMBIA PROPOSITION 1 Shall the Columbia Home Rule Charter be amended to add a section that would prohibit the City from using eminent domain to acquire property for economic development with the intent that the property will ultimately be transferred to another person or entity to be used for private purposes? The designation of property as “blighted” for purposes of qualifying for any state or federal economic development program shall not be used as a step toward the use of eminent domain. Q Q

Yes No

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO THE POLLS ON TUESDAY Columbia and Boone County voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to elect representatives to city and town councils, to choose school board members and to decide the fate of ballot issues.

Who is eligible to vote? Anyone who is a U.S. citizen, a resident of Boone County, at least 18 years old and is not serving any felony sentences is eligible to vote. You must have registered by March 6, though.

In Columbia, voters will elect a mayor, fill the Third and Fourth ward seats on the Columbia City Council and cast ballots on a charter amendment that would prevent the city from using eminent domain to transfer property for private redevelopment.

Where do I vote? You can visit the website of Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren to either search for your polling place or find a complete list of all the county’s polling places. The clerk’s office also has mailed sample ballots and polling place notices to all registered voters in the county.

There will be no school board election in the Columbia Public Schools district because the three incumbents, Jan Mees, Jim Whitt and Darin Preis, are unopposed. Voters across the county will either approve or reject a threeeighths-cent sales tax for 911 and emergency management facilities and operations. Here’s what voters need to know before they go to the polls:

When do I vote? The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Will I need identification? Yes. You can use any of these forms: Q A voter ID card from Boone County Q A driver’s license (Missouri or other states) Q An ID issued by a state agency Q An ID issued by an institution of higher education (university,

college, vocational and technical school) located within Missouri Q A passport, Social Security card, Medicaid or Medicare card or other identification issued by the federal government Q A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that contains your name and address What if I’ve moved since the last election? You’ll need to notify the clerk’s office that you have changed your address. You can either do that on the clerk’s website or at the clerk’s office at the Roger B. Wilson Boone County Government Center, 801 E. Walnut St. Where do I go for more information? Call the Voter Registration Office at (573) 886-4375 or the Voter Information Hotline at (573) 875-8683. — Missourian staff

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

School districts make effort to use fund FUND from page 1A In fiscal year 2010, Missouri school districts collected reimbursements from the fund for 2,177 students but last fiscal year that number rose to more than 2,700 students. Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman Sarah Potter said the fund typically increases by about 10 percent every year. But between 2012 and 2013, the

fund’s cost jumped by 18 percent, which she described as “unusual.” The cost increase isn’t only because there are more kids with special needs. School districts have also been getting better at documenting high-cost students and collecting the reimbursement money. “Much of our increase in the last five years has been due to our efforts to maximize our reimbursement,”

said Dave Wilson, the administration supervisor of special services at Columbia Public Schools. Other school districts have gotten better at collecting reimbursements, too. In 2009 the state paid $26 million total to schools for special needs students, but in the current fiscal year Missouri districts are projected to get more than $40 million from the fund. Wilson attributes part of

his district’s increase to a change in state regulations about how schools are reimbursed for students requiring 24-hour nursing care. Missouri recently began requiring districts to bill the cost of nursing care for students while they are at school to Medicaid. “Unfortunately, it also means we had more costs overall and we never recoup them all since the High Needs fund only reimburses

for the costs beyond three times typical students,” Wilson said. From 2010 to 2011, Columbia’s reimbursement through the High Needs fund doubled from $600,000 to more than $1.2 million. Some of the fund increase approved by lawmakers will be used to pay off schools for bills left over from 2012. Some lawmakers have cited the growth in the fund as a reason not to spend every

dollar the state is projected to take in during a given fiscal year. Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget plan does not include any money for a supplemental budget like the one passed this week replenishing the needs fund. Luebbering said state departments have asked for enough money in next year’s budget to avoid a supplemental, but some lawmakers remain skeptical. “This didn’t work last year,” said Rep. Chris Kelly.

Politics fuel states’ resistance to health care act MEDICAID from page 1A the old Confederacy and Civil War border states — Florida’s Rick Scott is the only Republican governor to endorse expansion, and he faces opposition from his GOP colleagues in the legislature. Tennessee’s Bill Haslam, the Deep South’s last governor to take a side, added his name to the opposition Wednesday. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has endorsed Medicaid expansion, but the Republican-led House failed to include the expansion in its budget. Haley offers the common explanation, saying expansion will “bust our budgets.” But the policy reality is more complicated. The hospital industry and other advocacy groups continue to tell GOP governors that expansion would be a good arrangement, and there are signs that some Republicans are trying to find ways to expand insurance coverage. Haslam told Tennessee lawmakers that he’d rather use any new money to subsidize private insurance. That’s actually the approach of another anchor of Obama’s law: insurance exchanges where Americans can buy private policies with premium subsidies from taxpayers. Yet for now, governors’ rejec-

‘Many of the citizens who would benefit the most from this live in the reddest of states with the most intense opposition.’ DREW ALTMAN

President of the Kaiser Family Foundation

tion of Medicaid expansion will leave large swaths of Americans without coverage because they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid as it exists but not enough to get the subsidies to buy insurance in the exchanges. Many public health studies show that the same population suffers from higher-than-average rates of obesity, smoking and diabetes — variables that yield bad health outcomes and expensive hospital care. “Many of the citizens who would benefit the most from this live in the reddest of states with the most intense opposition,” said Drew Altman, president of the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation. So why are these states holding out? The short-term calculus seems heavily influenced by politics. Haley, Haslam, Nathan Deal of Georgia and Robert Bentley of Alabama face re-election next year. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is up for re-election in 2015. Louisiana Gov. Bobby

Jindal is term-limited at home but may seek the presidency in 2016. While they all govern GOP-leaning states, they still must safeguard their support among Republican voters. Florida’s Scott, the South’s GOP exception on expansion, faces a different dynamic. He won just 49 percent of the vote in 2010 and must face an electorate that twice supported Obama. South Carolina state Rep. Kris Crawford told a business journal that he supports expansion, but said electoral math is the trump card. “It is good politics to oppose the black guy in the White House right now, especially for the Republican Party,” he said. At the Tennessee Hospital Association, President Craig Becker has spent months trying to break through that barrier as he travels to civic and business groups across Tennessee. “It’s really hard for some of them to separate something that has the name ‘Obamacare’ on it from what’s going to be best for the state,” he

said, explaining that personality driven politics are easier to understand than the complicated way that the U.S. pays for health care. Medicaid is financed mostly by Congress, though states have to put in their own money to qualify for the cash from Washington. The federal amount is determined by a state’s per-capita income, with poorer states getting more help. On average in 2012, the feds paid 57 cents of every Medicaid dollar. It was 74 cents in Mississippi, 71 in Kentucky, 70 in Arkansas and South Carolina, 68 in Alabama. Those numbers would be even higher counting bonuses from Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill. Obama’s law mandated that states open Medicaid to everyone with household income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty rate — $15,420 a year for an individual or $31,812 for a family of four. The federal government would cover all costs of new Medicaid patients from 2014 to 2016 and pick up most of the price tag after that, requiring states to pay up to 10 percent. The existing Medicaid population would continue under the old formula. In its ruling on the law, the Supreme Court left the details alone, but declared that states could choose whether to expand.

Hospital and physician lobbying groups around the country have endorsed a bigger Medicaid program. Becker said he explains on his road show that the Obama law paired Medicaid growth with cuts to payments to hospitals for treating the uninsured. Just as they do with Medicaid insurance, states already contribute their own money to get federal help with those so-called “uncompensated care” payments. The idea was instead of paying hospitals directly, states and Congress could spend that money on Medicaid and have those new beneficiaries — who now drive costs with preventable hospital admissions and expensive emergency room visits — use the primary care system. But the Supreme Court ruling creates a scenario where hospitals can lose existing revenue with getting the replacement cash Congress intended, all while still having to treat the uninsured patients who can’t get coverage. Becker said that explanation has gotten local chambers of commerce across Tennessee to endorse expansion. “These are rock-ribbed Republicans,” he said. “But they all scratch their heads and say, ‘Well, if that’s the case, then of course we do this.’” In Louisiana, Jindal’s health care agency quietly released an analysis saying the changes

could actually save money over time. But the Republican Governors Association chairman is steadfast in his opposition. In Georgia, Deal answers pressure from his state’s hospital association with skepticism about projected “uncompensated care” savings and Congress’ pledge to finance 90 percent of the new Medicaid costs. Altman, the Kaiser foundation leader, predicted that opposition will wane over time. Arkansas Republicans, who oppose Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s call for expansion, have floated the same idea as Haslam: pushing would-be Medicaid recipients into the insurance exchanges. Deal convinced Georgia lawmakers this year to let an appointed state board set a hospital industry tax to generate some of the state money that supports Medicaid. That fee — which 49 states use in some way — is the same tool that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is using to cover her state’s Medicaid expansion. Georgia Democrats and some hospital executives have quietly mused that Deal is leaving himself an option to widen Medicaid in his expected term. “These guys are looking for ways to do this while still saying they are against ‘Obamacare,’” Altman said. “As time goes by, we’ll see this law acquire a more bipartisan complexion.”

Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election By Missourian staff April 2, 2013 | 3:02 p.m. CDT

A sign marks Bethel Church as a polling place during the start of the municipal election Tuesday morning in Columbia. | Ben Walton

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Poll workers Kelly Massman, left, Monica Fulkerson and Grace Cherri talk about past experiences working elections while waiting for voters Tuesday morning at the Knights of Columbus polling place. | Breanne Bradley

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Supervisor Evette Nissen talks to election judges Joyce Dawson and Paul Rowoth while people vote Tuesday at the Optimist Club polling place. | Breanne Bradley

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Election judge Monica Fulkerson scans a driver's license of a voter Tuesday at the Knights of Columbus. | Breanne Bradley

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Election worker Monica Fulkerson checks in before casting her ballot Tuesday morning at the Knights of Columbus voting place. | Breanne Bradley

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Stickers for voters line the end of a registration table Tuesday at the Knights of Columbus polling place. | Breanne Bradley

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Mike Smith receives his ballot from election judges Tuesday at the Knights of Columbus hall. | Breanne Bradley

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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Columbia resident Billy Boyce receives his registration form from poll worker Kelly Massman on Tuesday morning at the Knights of Columbus voting location. | Breanne Bradley Voters went to polling places around Columbia to vote in Tuesday's election. ÂŚ

COLUMBIA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Voters across Columbia and Boone County are heading to the polls today to elect representatives to city and town councils and boards, to fill school board seats and to decide the fate of ballot issues. In Columbia, three seats on the City Council are up for grabs. Incumbent Mayor Bob McDavid is seeking a second term but faces a challenge from candidate Sid Sullivan. Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl also is seeking re-election in a race that has him facing Karl Skala, who he replaced on the council in 2010, for the third time in a row. Haven't voted yet? Find your polling place on the Boone County clerk's website. For information about ballot issues and candidates, check out the Missourian's Voters Guide.

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In the Fourth Ward, incumbent Daryl Dudley is in a three-way contest with Ian Thomas and Bill Weitkemper. Also on the ballot in Columbia is a charter amendment that would prohibit the city from using eminent domain for private redevelopment.

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat Boone County voters approve 911 sales tax VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Prop 1 seeks sales tax for 911, emergency centers

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Across Boone County, voters will decide whether they want to pay a three-eighths-cent sales tax to pay for an overhaul of the 911 and emergency management operations. There were no school board members up for election in Columbia, but other districts did hold elections for their school boards. Turnout was light at polling places the Missourian visited this morning. Here's what some voters had to say about the election. Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1600 W. Rollins Road "I voted for Daryl Dudley. I think he's been doing a fine job and I'd like to see him continue." — Dale Powers, 50, works in development for MU Health Care "It's good to see that (downtown development is) being thoroughly vetted in the community, and I think that's important."

— Scott Lincoln, 61, works for Missouri Department of Mental Health "I think Ian's very intelligent, and we could use some smart leaders." — Kerri Yost, 41, college professor "I like (Ian Thomas) because I think he'll bring a breath of fresh air." — Avila Nilon, 55, Lincoln University professor "Well, I think 911's important, and the mayor, of course." — Dan Nelson, 67, retired First Church of the Nazarene, 2601 Blue Ridge Road "I wanted to make sure we had balance on the council. It's important for me to vote for a

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candidate that could bring those views to the table." — Greg Clarkston, 48, government employee "I feel Kespohl has done a good job and needs to continue doing a good job." "I feel that 911 services are very important even though we do have, I think, higher sales tax in the area. I felt that was a worthwhile cause." — Lynn Rodgers, 48, client representative "I think (Karl Skala and Gary Kespohl) are both competent, certainly different styles. Voting for one versus the other adds some balance, I think, to the council overall." "I understand the needs for the 911 center. However, I don't think sales taxes are the best thing to do. We're putting enough of a burden on lower-income folks. We need to look at different sources of funding." — Miriam Hankins, MU research lab supervisor "The Chamber of Commerce supports Kespohl, and he's typically a little bit better with spending our collective money. ... (For mayor) I went with Bob McDavid. He's done a nice job. I'll stick with him." "We already have an excessive amount of sales taxes. I'd love to see the city re-appropriate the money it already has versus adding another tax that literally does not have a sunset, so we will have that tax forever." — Jessica Schlosser, 30, local business owner "I voted for Sid Sullivan. His views are in alignment with my views on the direction of the city, that we need to provide more services for the general community as a whole." — Eric Monroe, 56, technical analyst "I've learned a lot about our current 911 facility and its limitations, and we need a lot of help with that." — Caroline Leemis, 25, interior designer On the 911 tax: "They have a surplus in the taxes now, and they're trying to find ways to spend

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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it elsewhere instead of on the things they haven't finished." — Steve Wells, 48, works for a company that makes gas detection systems Broadway Christian Church, 2601 W. Broadway "Everyone should vote. It is an American privilege, and it is our duty to vote." — Julie Nichols 50, instructional technology coordinator for Columbia Public Schools "My duty to vote, plain and simple," — Kirk Mescher, 57, engineer "I vote because it is the duty of every American. Even though it is not a partisan election, I do see it as partisan. We have the choice between two candidates for mayor: one who is very conservative and (one who is) very liberal. As someone who is liberal, I am against the conservative candidate. For the city council race, it is more about personality, and I am voting for Ian Thomas. The 911 tax I was not convinced about until my wife convinced me. The more we read about it, the more we realized that we needed them to be more clear on how they will accomplish what they say they will." — Richard Meadows, 57, veterinarian "As a former city councilman, and having worked with Mayor McDavid, I voted for him. I really like his approach to employees and citizens both. Especially on the pension plan, he showed some out-of-the-box thinking. He looks at the city as a business, and that is exactly how it should be looked at. I did vote for the 911 tax. I am still hesitant about it because they didn't sunset the tax. They also didn't provide a real plan or budget of how all this money is going to be spent. It is going to be close, but most folks recognize that there is a need for it." — Jason Thornhill, 42, real estate agent and former Second Ward council member "It is an obligation for all citizens to vote. I plan on voting for the 911 tax. I am hopeful that it will pass." — Bonnie Schapiro, 61, American history instructor at Moberly Area Community College "I vote nearly every election. It is just something I do. I plan on voting for McDavid because he did a good job in his first term. The reason I am voting for him is because there was a lack of controversy, which I appreciate. I plan on voting for Daryl Dudley because I actually see him in 11 of 16

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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the community, and he is always willing to talk and listen with people. I am voting for the 911 tax. It definitely sounds like we need it. Even if people are calling it a Cadillac system, it is a system we need. I also believe that it will pass." — Kelly Mescher, attorney "I am interested in the Fourth Ward councilperson race. I am voting for Daryl Dudley because I like what he has done and what he stands for. For example, his stance on the Columbia Police Department and maintaining it is something I feel very strongly about. On the 911 tax, I am feeling pretty 50-50 about it. I am kind of up in the air about it right now. On the mayoral race, I voted for McDavid because I like the direction he has taken the city. I think he is right that we need to focus on infrastructure and continue to get access on the west side of the city to I-70. I am just really happy with where he is taking us and with the job he has done during his first term." — Steven Mitrisin, 52, delivery driver "I can't stand McDavid, so I am not going to be voting for him. What he has done to this city is just wrong. He is just useless as the mayor and not benefiting the city of Columbia. What he has done to our airport and what he wants to do is just plain ridiculous. I am voting for Daryl Dudley for City Council because he is well known, and I feel like Ian Thomas wouldn't do nearly the job Daryl would do." — Diane Bongard, 54, executive assistant for a not-for-profit group "I vote because it is my responsibility. To not vote would be just silly. I am going to be voting today for Mayor McDavid. I am more familiar with him and the job he has done as mayor. I am going to be voting for the 911 tax simply because we need it." —Toni Hayes, 47, executive assistant with MU Athletics Department "I am going to be voting for Ian Thomas." — Robert Almony, 67, tax accountant "I plan on voting for Ian Thomas simply because one candidate ran a negative campaign and the other candidate is too pro business. We need a person on City Council who is not sold out to the business community. I voted against the 911 tax." — Mark Ehlert, 59, economics researcher at MU

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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"I am voting today because I am just trying to be a good citizen. I am voting for Mayor McDavid because he is big on economic growth, and he has been very careful as he has focused on growth during his first term. I am voting for (the) 911 tax because I definitely see the need for it. I feel like we need to be more responsive to the needs of the entire county's residents. We need to make sure everyone has hopefully better access throughout the county. " — Doug Moesel, 53, faculty at MU Trulaske College of Business "I always vote. I was conflicted surrounding the 911 tax. I think we need to upgrade our facility, but I think this was too big of a package for us to pass all at once." — Sandra Stegall, 64, University Extension employee It was a family affair for Erin and Michael Barbaro, 36, and their two small children, Ava and Anthony. The Barbaros stopped by Broadway Christian Church before dropping their children off at their preschool and heading to work. "We decided to bring everyone because we wanted to show voting is important. I am supporting Ian Thomas because he has a better vision, is very thoughtful and knows the direction the city of Columbia needs to move. I also think our city leaders need to think ... before they make decisions, and that is why I am voting for Sid Sullivan." — Michael Barbaro, 36, computer programmer "I think the professed objectives of the proposed 911 tax are laudable. The tax revenue that is already in place should be reallocated to fit the needs of the 911 dispatch center. ... Sure, we need the services, but where does it stop with the government passing on the bill to the taxpayers?" "I am voting for Daryl Dudley because I know him, as well as his wife, personally and have been acquainted with them for years. I just know him to be a phenomenal fella. ... I am voting for McDavid because he has done a decent job in his first term and deserves a second term." — Christy Barton, 66, lawyer Howard Johnson Inn, 3100 I-70 Drive S.E. “My councilperson was the most important. I think (Kespohl) has a sound conservative sense.” — Shirley Batson, 65, works for self-employed husband

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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“I just wanted the right people in the right position. I think McDavid and Kespohl are both doing a great job. I wanted 911 to pass. I don’t think the city has the right to take property that isn’t blighted.” — Linda Buchheit, 55, ultrasonographer "I’m going to go ahead and support (the 911 tax). I think if we want to be safe and to be able to keep our community covered, we need to support joint communications. I think we learned through 9/11 that we have to support the communication process.” — Michael Bland, 43, works in information technology at MU “My wife and I are voting junkies, I guess. You could say the personnel were the important issues: the mayor and the district people. Bob McDavid and Kespohl, I like the forward ideas they have for the city. I think Bob McDavid did a great job with the airport. I think it’s important, the airport. It’s critically important for the city. Yes for 911, and I think they should pass the amendment to prevent eminent domain.” — Joe Goldfarb, 72, retired men’s swim coach and College of Education employee for MU Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway "I think we need some new leadership. I think the current political leaders in this community have made some big mistakes the last few years. Take a look at the parking garage downtown." — Jim Swearengen, 68, lawyer "I think the 911 tax is a huge waste of our resources and our tax money. I think we can do better than the incumbents." — Richard Maseles, 60, lawyer "While I recognize the need for (911) funding, I recognized that this time around they were asking for too much." — Terry Phillips, 55, certified public accountant "There's a lot of things I'm not happy about. A good example is the 911 tax. It's terrible that we're financing our city with a sales tax. That's a regressive tax." — George Smith, 72, MU professor

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Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

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"It's something we need. It's a basic service the county needs. That's as basic as it gets." — David Brown, 62, contractor "I'm voting for the mayor, and I think what he's been doing for the airport is great. And I think Ian Thomas is another great candidate. I was discouraged to see some of the negative advertisements his opponent put out. They didn't seem accurate at all, and it was a real turnoff." — Ted Curtis, 65, engineer Paquin Tower, 1201 Paquin St. "I voted for McDavid because he delivered my son Nicdanger almost 23 years ago, and he's been doing a great job, too." On city Proposition 1: "If the government acquires property for economic development because it is blighted, where will the poor people go?" — Miguel A. Rodriguez, 52, works as disabilities assistant "The government has too much power. They think they can boss you around, but they should have a good reason to an owner for acquiring their property." — Monty Nichols, 60, retired "The option to transfer land to private entities is not appealing." — Muhammad Hai, 36, MU student "I was mostly interested in the mayoral race. I voted for Sid Sullivan because he's better for the city. He's more representative of the people rather just good for bringing businesses." — David Mehr, 63, a physician and professor at MU School of Medicine "Eminent domain should only be used when there's a compelling need such as constructing a hospital or roads. I'm not comfortable with the city using eminent domain to acquire private property with the aim of transferring it to other people." — Tom O'Sullivan, 52, detective at the Boone County Sheriff's Department "Neither (McDavid nor Sullivan) was outstanding to me. I mean, I agreed and disagreed with 15 of 16

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some of their individual positions, but they were just not distinguishable enough to choose." On the 911-tax: "It's an overkill. I think building a citadel is excessive." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sean Riberry, 26, construction worker Missourian reporters Allison Prang, Nuria Mathog, Ethan Colbert, Tony Puricelli, Valentine Lamar and Bailey Otto contributed to this report. Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia...

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia's mayor By Ethan Colbert, Elizabeth Pearl, Hannah Cushman April 2, 2013 | 11:19 p.m. CDT

Mayor Bob McDavid talks with Tom Bradley during his election night watch party on Tuesday at Shiloh Bar and Grill. McDavid was re-elected with 61 percent of the vote. ÂŚ Amy Stroth

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Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia...

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WINNER'S PRIORITIES: McDavid has made growth of the business community a top objective, partnering early with Regional Economic Development Inc. to recruit business to Columbia. His joint efforts with REDI most recently resulted in a Chinese firm investing $6 million in MU research start-up Nanova, Inc. MoreStory Related Media

Columbia mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan visits with supporters Elizabeth Peters, left, and Janet Hammen during his election watch party Tuesday evening at the Bleu Restaurant and Wine Bar in downtown Columbia. Sullivan lost to incumbent Bob McDavid.

Transit:With FastCat as its cornerstone, McDavid hopes to create a student-targeted transit system to generate revenue that can then be funneled into routes "That serve those who are either in the low-income group or disability group, those who actually need the service." Student housing: The mayor prefers that housing for MU's growing student population be built near campus. He acknowledges that parking remains a challenge but hopes proximity to campus will persuade student residents to take the bus in lieu of bringing a car to town.

Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

Airport: For McDavid, expansion of the airport is the gateway to economic growth. He took the lead in encouraging stakeholders to ante up for a $3 million revenue guarantee struck with American Airlines in 2012. He hopes to see more frequent flights to Dallas and Chicago, to add more flight destinations and to build a new terminal at Columbia Regional Airport.

VOTERS GUIDE: Mayoral candidates' views on Columbia

THE SCENE

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council

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OTHER POSITIONS:

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Bob McDavid tops Sid Sullivan, wins second term as Columbia...

issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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McDavid watch party What started out as a crowded election night watch party, ended with Mayor McDavid being surrounded by a few close family and friends at Shiloh Bar and Grill. Once the results were finalized with McDavid receiving 61 percent of the vote, the cheers, chants and applause started bouncing off the walls. "Bob, it is in," Fred Parry, publisher of Inside Columbia Magazine, said as the final precinct results were posted to the Boone County Clerk's website. "Everyone we have a new mayor â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is the same mayor, but he has a new term as mayor!"

McDavid said the chance to serve as mayor for another term was an honor. "We've started to gain some positive momentum on accomplishing the city's goals," McDavid said. When reflecting on his first term, he said he was most proud of the progress the city made on building infrastructure, lowering the crime rate and working to bring jobs into the city. "The work though is not done. We still have more work to do," McDavid said. McDavid said his second term is not going to be all that different. "We will focus on the goals we get from the cross-city survey," he said. "This survey really allows us to listen and follow-up on what are the needs of the residents of Columbia." Addressing those Columbia residents who voted for Sid Sullivan, McDavid expressed hope they might be swayed to support him throughout his second term. "You are never going to get 100 percent of the vote in an election, but you must be sensitive to the needs of the supporters of your opponent," McDavid said. "I believe and I credit Mr. Sullivan for running a clean campaign. He challenged me on the issues, and I responded to the best of my ability." Suzanne McDavid, McDavid's wife, said she was very proud of her husband's performance as mayor, and she hopes Columbia is proud to have him leading the city again. "I hope they recognize that mayor is moving the city towards a city that is fiscally stable, with jobs coming into the city and with an improved airport," Suzanne McDavid said. "I know he 3 of 4

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still has work to do, but I know he is up to the task." Sid Sullivan watch party Across town the laughter at Sid Sullivan's watch party at Bleu didn't stop even after the candidate and his supporters knew he had lost. "I'm disappointed I didn't win, of course," Sullivan said. But "I'm happy I ran." Khesha Duncan, a volunteer in Sullivan's campaign, said she was disappointed as well but glad the election involved serious debate about the issues. "There's been so much good debate, so much conversation, so much brought to light on current challenges in the community," she said. "That's the most important thing about having a challenger." The Sullivans have a tradition of traveling somewhere new after one of them loses an election. This time, they will probably go to the Bavarian Alps. "We talked about it this morning," Joan Sullivan, Sid Sullivan's wife said. "But who knows? We'll discuss it tonight when we get home." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat By Madeline O'Leary, Tony Puricelli April 2, 2013 | 11:15 p.m. CDT

Karl Skala embraces supporter Peter Byger after the election results revealed Skala as the winner of the third ward council member position. Skala's election watch party was held on Tuesday at the Bleu Restaurant and Wine Bar. ÂŚ Jessica Salmond

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Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat

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THIRD WARD: Includes the northeastern portion of Columbia. WINNER'S PRIORITIES: Karl Skala wants to create new jobs by supporting local businesses and making more vocational and technical training opportunities available. He wants to restructure costs for infrastructure and growth by establishing user-based fees based on impact rather than relying on tax increases. He also wants to emphasize proactive regional planning to avoid duplication of infrastructure and maintain property values in existing neighborhoods. MoreStory Related Media

Larry Grossman, left, tells Third Ward incumbent candidate Gary Kespohl the results of the election Tuesday night at Jack's Gourmet. Kespohl lost his race to challenger Karl Skala.

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election

OTHER POSITIONS Roads and infrastructure: Skala says road and sidewalk improvements are imperative in the Ballenger Lane and Clark Lane corridors. He wants to see Third Ward infrastructure projects receive more attention and funding from the city. Police and crime: He believes the Police Department must work hard to build public trust. He supports increased use of community policing. Transit system: Skala believes the city should have a fleet of buses of varying sizes that can be deployed on routes based on differing levels of demand. THE SCENE Skala's watch party

VOTERS GUIDE: Third Ward City

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Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat

Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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Skala's gathering in the back room of the lower level of Bleu had started to thin out with 75 percent of precincts reporting. When news broke of his victory at 9:47 p.m., however, people began coming out of the woodwork to congratulate the candidate. Upon hearing the news, Skala started pacing the room excitedly. The first words out of his mouth were, "I wish I had a Hawaiian shirt on." Instead, he was wearing his trademark black turtleneck and photo vest. Mahree Skala, his wife, began hugging everyone around her, a wide but exhausted smile stretched across her face. "I knew I'd get to call him councilman again," said Alyce Turner, who serves on the Energy and Environment

Commission with Skala. Turner went on to share her enthusiasm for the future of the City Council. "I think now we have an opportunity with Karl and Ian (Thomas) on the council to really make Columbia what it can be," Turner said. "I'm so pleased. This is going to make such a difference." Chants of "Hooray for Karl" and a long line of supporters waiting to shake his hand set the tone after the results were announced. In a speech to the room, Skala expressed his excitement for a more progressive City Council. Supporters echoed sentiments of a transition away from a Chamber of Commerce-endorsed council. "We have flipped the council," Skala said. "This will make a difference." "I think this means the world to him," said Ashley Skala, his daughter. "I mean, this city is where he raised his family. I think he's very proud to live here, and I think that he shows time and again that he really loves where he lives and wants to help the city grow." Skala said this campaign taught him not to sweat the small stuff. "It's fun when you win. It's awful when you lose," Skala said, laughing. "It was really depressing

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Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat

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when I lost in 2010. I mean, what could you say, except that you were going to continue? That's what you do, when you're serious about it. You can't quit." As Skala spoke, his wife stood silently in the background, visibly struck with emotion. She spoke of how hard he has worked and how hard he will work as a council member. He's basically coming out of retirement, she said. Skala's transition into the council will open up his seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission and, consequently, his Thursday nights, the time when MU Choral Union rehearses. The Skalas used to sing together there before he joined the commission. "Now he can go back to singing in the choir," Mahree Skala said. Kespohl's watch party The tone was different at the watch party of Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl, who lost to Skala by 150 votes. Less than an hour before the results were announced, Kespohl never saw it coming. "If they count the precincts the same way they did last election, I'll win," he said. Kespohl held his watch party at Jack's Gourmet off Business Loop 70 in the same dimly lit dining area where his campaign kick-off took place. About 40 people gathered around the tables. Soft conversation and intermittent laughter hummed among them. Their postures painted portraits of fatigue â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shoulders hunched, forearms pressed to the table, fingers drumming the surface. Seventy-five percent of the precincts had been counted. Skala maintained a lead of about 9 percentage points about 9:19 p.m. "This time in 2010, Kespohl was losing by well over 100 votes," said Larry Grossman, a Columbia businessman. "The Democratic precincts are always counted first." At 9:47 p.m., the final results trickled in. With repose, Kespohl told the modest audience he had lost. Supporters groaned with disappointment. He coughed lightly. "I'm afraid for Columbia now because of what Skala wants to do," Kespohl said. "He may drive development completely out of Columbia." 4 of 5

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Karl Skala reclaims Third Ward Columbia City Council seat

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Despite the loss, Kespohl said he won't drop out of sight. "I'm still going to get involved. I just want to see Columbia grow and prosper." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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3/31/14 2:36 PM

Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat

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COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat By Chris Jasper, Elle Hoffman, Nuria Mathog April 2, 2013 | 11:24 p.m. CDT

Ian Thomas, the Fourth Ward City Council winner, talks to a supporter during his watch party Tuesday evening at Broadway Brewery. ÂŚ Showkat Nanda

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3/31/14 2:37 PM

Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat

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The Fourth Ward: Includes the southwest portion of the city, bounded by Broadway to the north, Scott Boulevard to the west, the MKT Trail to the south and Providence Road to the East. It includes the Fairview, College Park, Old Southwest, Historic West Broadway and Village of Cherry Hill neighborhoods. Winner's priorities: Thomas, a transportation consultant and former director of the PedNet Coalition, wants to address some of the city's street needs by using a "traffic demand management tool kit" that promotes carpooling, a better bus system and staggered commute times. He also believes widening West Broadway east of West Boulevard is unnecessary. MoreStory Related Media

Fourth Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley, the incumbent candidate, steps away from his election night party to take a phone call Tuesday at Rio Grande Restaurant. Dudley lost to Ian Thomas.

Other positions Airport: Thomas says airport terminal upgrades are important but would guard against spending exorbitant amounts of money on the project. He's reluctant to offer airlines incentives such as revenue guarantees. Downtown: Zoning changes might be necessary to control the number of student apartments downtown, he says, and he wants to encourage more downtown housing for professionals, seniors and families. Police and crime: Thomas says the Police Department needs more officers. He supports community policing strategies and wants to empower neighborhoods to combat crime, particularly in the First Ward. The Scene

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3/31/14 2:37 PM

Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat

Bill Weitkemper sits with his wife, Judy, during his watch party for the Columbia City Council Fourth Ward seat on Tuesday at Booches. Weitkemper and incumbent Daryl Dudley lost to Ian Thomas.

Related Articles McDavid, Skala, Thomas sworn in to Columbia City Council Voters offer thoughts on Tuesday's municipal election VOTERS GUIDE: Fourth Ward City Council candidates' views on Columbia issues What you need to know before you go the polls on Tuesday Candidates discuss 911 tax, policing at final public forum City Council candidates discuss city, ward priorities City Council candidates discuss street, sidewalk and trail needs City Council candidates discuss increasing MU enrollment Candidates address infrastructure, minority issues at NAACP forum City Council candidates discuss the Police Department

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Thomas' watch party A casual, warm gathering filled at least half of Broadway Brewery at Thomas' watch party. People enjoyed crackers, dips, spreads and beer. A small group of people circled around the television waiting for numbers, but most attendees engaged in conversations while standing in small groups or gathering around tables. Thomas remained toward the back of the room, greeting all who wanted to talk to him with a firm handshake and a smile. Some attendees were residents of other wards who wanted to show support by attending the party. “I don’t drive, so his work on the bus system is interesting to me," said Beth Hastings, a Columbia resident and PedNet supporter. "I don’t live in his ward, but I would have voted for him; he’s a good guy who can get a lot done.” The constant flow of conversation at the party was only halted by the sounds of an improvised drum roll made by hands on a table to announce that final numbers were released. The room erupted in joyful cheering and hardy whistles when Thomas’ victory was declared.

Upon hearing the news, Thomas hastily put on his glasses, leaving them crookedly perched on his nose just above an unmoving smile. He then began to read his victory speech, occasionally referencing notes written in a composition book. In his speech, Thomas thanked his family, fellow candidates, and supporters. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming work session," Thomas said. "I am very pleased to be serving the community.” Dudley's watch party The small crowd surrounding Daryl Dudley barely reacted as he set his phone down after checking the final results. He had lost his seat on the City Council. Sitting at the end of a table

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3/31/14 2:37 PM

Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat

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at Rio Grande, he forced a smile and said, “Oh, well.” Flamenco music filled in the strained silence as his supporters stood up from their chairs and prepared to leave. Dudley stood up and accepted their embraces as they walked out. “Well, this will free up my Mondays,” Dudley said. “The citizens decided they like Ian at the helm,” he said. “I accept their judgment.” For the election, he picked a special tie from his collection of over 500 ties: the American flag. As ever, Dudley adorned his tie with a pin reading, “Cancer sucks.” Absent from the watch party was Dudley’s wife, Rita, who is receiving cancer treatments. “This will give me a chance to stay at home with my wife as she goes through her next round of chemo,” he said. Though his eyes were red, he smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s just the way the people voted.” He also said that although he wasn’t sure if he would try to reclaim his seat in three years, he would stay involved in local politics. Weitkemper's watch party At Booches, Bill Weitkemper sat quietly on a wooden chair, hands folded serenely across his chest. Beneath the harsh glow of an overhead lamp, his friends and family chatted at wooden tables dotted with empty glasses and Coke cups. Weitkemper stared intently at the numbers flashing across the bottom of the television screen, pausing every so often to exchange words with his supporters. "I don't think I'm doing so good," he said. About 9 p.m., Weitkemper briefly left the establishment to congratulate Thomas on his victory. He said he told the newly elected Fourth Ward councilman that he would be great at his job. Still, he said, his defeat won't stop him from being active in the community. On Wednesday morning, he'll be up bright and early to attend an 8 a.m. Water and Light Advisory Board meeting. On Thursday, he'll be present at a meeting on disability issues. He also has something to look forward to on April 15: a Boy Scout campout with his grandson Jacob. It'll be his first campout since November, the month before he announced his candidacy for the Fourth Ward seat.

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3/31/14 2:37 PM

Ian Thomas wins Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat

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Ken Leija, who helped with the advertising component of Weitkemper's campaign, said he was impressed with the former sewer superintendent's understanding of city issues. He expressed hope that Weitkemper's "good thinking" had made an impact on the City Council. His wife, Judy, said she was proud of her husband and his ideas to make Columbia a better place. "He's really the best candidate," she said. "The community just doesn't know it." Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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