On the Ballot: Missouri House District 32 Candidate Profiles

Voters will decide between two candidates for the District 32 Missouri House of Representatives seat being vacated by Rep. Jeanie Lauer due to term limits. District 32 covers most of Grain Valley, parts of Blue Springs, and areas east to Oak Grove. Valley News asked questions of both candidates, Janice Brill, Democrat, and Jeff Coleman, Republican, to learn more about them and the issues they believe are most important to voters in District 32.

Janice Brill, Democrat

Tell Us a Bit About Yourself:

I moved to the area 12 years ago to be near my twin grandsons. I didn't become a grandmother until I was 60 and didn't want to miss a thing. I lived in St. Louis for 4 years before coming here. In St. Louis I worked for St. Patrick's Center services for the homeless and as the author events host for Left Bank Books, an independent bookstore.

Most of my life was lived in the south central Missouri Ozarks; for 13 years as a beef farmer on 243 acres and 18 years as a public school teacher. I hold a BA in history and political science and an MA in history.

Since retirement I have volunteered for many things such as CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a food pantry at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, and Jobs with Justice (a coalition working for economic justice).

I decided to run because in my Civics classes I told my students that elections were about choices and unopposed elections are undemocratic. Also, I want to gauge what can be done when a candidate takes no money and spends very little and relies on grassroots contact. I hope my candidacy can show what can be done without donations from outside sources.

What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing voters in our district and how would you address them?

The most important issue for me is the expansion of Medicaid. Missourians should not have to impoverish themselves to get help with health challenges.

Thirty-three states have expanded Medicaid and receive federal money that should be coming to our coffers. This can be done by a vote of the legislature and the signature of the governor. I would be a vote to expand Medicaid.

Education is a primary responsibility of a state government. The foundation formula should be fully funded and teacher training and salaries should be improved. High stakes testing is not in the interest of learning. The classroom teacher is the best judge of academic attainment.

I am not a supporter of charter schools since it takes money away from the entire system and benefits only some students. The intrusion of politics into education policy is very unfortunate. Classroom teachers and retired educators should be consulted about ways to improve our system. As a retired public school teacher, I would work for these changes.

We have little or no regulation of the payday loan industry because of its powerful lobby in Jefferson City. Payday loans entrap people with high interest rates (400+) and deceptive fees. Since most payday loans in Missouri are large out-of-state firms, money is drained from the state. Studies show that the presence of payday loans increases crime and encourages blight. I will propose and fight for sensible regulations of this industry.

Jeff Coleman, Republican

Tell Us a Bit About Yourself:

I grew up in Oak Grove. I now live in Grain Valley with my wife Debbie and seven kids where I am on the school board and I am a City Alderman. I am past president of the Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Committee.

I own two businesses, a financial services company specializing in retirement planning and income, and also an independent insurance agency working with medicare insurance to estate planning. I decided to run for this office for the same reason that I am involved with our local community, that is to serve and represent the needs and wants of our district, and of the state.

What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing voters in our district and how would you address them?

I think the top three issues for our state are:

Infrastructure: We currently have a proposition on the ballet on November 6th which will help take care of this issue. Missouri currently has the 7th longest roadway system in the United States and has the 46th lowest gas tax. We have to get something done in order to help us keep our citizens safe and to attract more business to our state.

Workforce development: As the world's jobs continue to change with new technologies, we need to keep up with those changes to keep our Misouri citizens trained so that again, we can attract business to come to Missouri with enough people to fill those company's jobs.

This leads me to the 3rd issue of education. We need to continue to add STEM programs to our public schools K through 12, and to our higher education systems. We also need to make sure we offer more education for trades, such as welding, electrical, plumbing, etc.

All of these issues tie together to help move our great state in a direction that will help all of us.

Janice Brill, Democrat Candidate, District 32

Jeff Coleman, Republican Candidate, District 32