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The Districts, Townships and Communities of
Boone County District #2 Northern
District #1 Southern
Bourbon Rucker Riggs Prathersville Sturgeon
Cedar Ashland* Claysville Hartsburg Wilton
Missouri Columbia* Perche Harrisburg Dripping Springs Rocky Fork Hallsville Middleton Mt. Zion
Prathersville
Highway 763
Centralia Centralia Columbia Columbia* Harg Shaw Two Mile Prairie
Commission Dist. 2
East Gans Road
Commission Dist. 1
Katy Huntsdale Rocheport Midway Rock Bridge Easley McBaine Pierpont* Providence Three Creeks Ashland* Elkhurst Deer Park Englewood Pierpont*
* Located in more than one township 2
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Working Together Dear Fellow Boone Countians, I’ve spent countless hours during the past nine months engaged in conversations with friends, neighbors and complete strangers about Boone County government. There’s been a common theme that emerges in almost every single conversation: We live in a wonderful place. This sentiment is usually followed by a concern over how quickly things have changed and an even deeper concern that things are not as good as they once were. We’re not exempt from the challenges so many other communities face. We have our fair share of growing pains, increases in criminal activity and the daunting challenge of keeping the right kind of jobs in our community. We also share a desire for affordable health care, good schools and an exceptional quality of life. This publication represents my best effort to identify the most prevalent issues and to get them on paper so we can begin a healthy community dialogue on how to make Boone County an even better place to live, work and raise our families. Everything boils down to these most basic needs: • We all want to protect our families by making our neighborhoods safer. • We are concerned about the condition and safety of our county’s roads and bridges. • We want access to high quality, affordable health care for our loved ones. • We want our local governments to work together, collaborating their resources and pursuing common goals that benefit ALL the citizens of Boone County.
Paid for by Boone Countians For Fred Parry, Bob Gerding, Treasurer
Max, Melody, Nick and Fred Parry
• We want to attract better jobs to our community. • We want a more transparent government that is open to citizen feedback and input. We can accomplish these things if we work together. In the very near future, your county government will deal with a new lease for Boone Hospital Center, the future of the Boone County Fairgrounds, and a vote to renew the county’s road improvement tax. These decisions are vitally important and must be dealt with in the midst of the dayto-day business of county government. Your voice should be a vital part of the process. There’s no doubt that Boone County’s future will be bright if we work together. I hope you’ll take an active role in helping your Boone County Commission chart a course for a future that best meets the needs of her citizens. Best regards,
Fred J. Parry Candidate for Boone County Southern District Commissioner www.BooneCountyForFredParry.com
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Going The Extra Mile For
safe Roads And Bridges Road and bridge construction and maintenance are significant issues across the state. Counties rely on state funds for projects, and Boone County has been proactive in augmenting those funds through a county sales tax used to maintain its 771 miles of roads. Voters first approved the half-cent Road and Bridge Maintenance Sales Tax in 1993, and while it has been renewed twice in the last two-plus decades, in two years voters will be at a crossroads again when the sales tax expires in September 2018. When last renewed in 2007, the sales tax accounted for 76 percent of the county’s road and bridge budget. In 2016, it is expected to account for approximately 82 percent, generating more than $14.5 million for Boone County roads and bridges. Since its initial voter approval, the sales tax has
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generated more than $226 million for county road and bridge maintenance, according to Boone County auditor reports. However, rising costs and population growth continue to be major concerns when it comes to road and bridge maintenance projects, according to Derin Campbell, Boone County’s chief engineer. “Our dollars are not going as far as they used to,” he says. “In response, we are continually tweaking and adapting our approaches to projects to offset those increases.” Because of the growth that Columbia and Boone County have experienced over the last few years, developers have added new roads to the county maintenance plan. According to Campbell, roads are only accepted if they meet specifications and are built to certain standards. County policy is to maintain the roads in the best condition it
can reasonably afford, Campbell adds. Very few receive any upgrades. The original sales tax proposal also included a property tax rollback from 29 cents to 4.75 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The tax does not require a property tax rollback; however, the county commission has consistently implemented a voluntary property tax rollback, according to the county’s 2016 budget reports. If in 2018 the sales tax is not renewed, the property tax will likely increase to pre-sales tax levels and funding for road and bridge maintenance across the county could be devastated. The county is always seeking new options for road maintenance and improvement, according to Campbell. The goal is to extend the useful life of county roads and bridges, so the county keeps abreast of new technologies and processes that might prolong the life of road surfaces and ensure county road tax dollars are stretched as far as they can go. On average, Boone County has a five-year work plan when it comes to road maintenance, and while careful decisions are made on which roads are addressed, which are not, or which must wait, gray areas pop up causing the plan and its projects to become fodder for campaigns and front page news. During a road improvement project from 2001 to 2003 on Dee Woods Road in Ashland, some residents maintained they did not ask for nor did they want their road paved. The project became a lightning rod during the 2000 campaign season. In addition, costs for the 1/2-mile project that took nearly three years to complete increased from initial estimates of $385,000
to $540,000. Some candidates in the fray maintained the area was in a high-growth phase. However, it was a dead-end road in 2000 when the project was initiated. It is still a dead-end road today. In 2015, the City of Hallsville requested the county blade a new access road to the city lagoon. Per a seldom used, yet existing agreement between the city and the county that predated the 1993 Road and
[ What Will Fred Do? ]
Boone County needs a proactive strategy for keeping our roads and bridges safe and in good condition. Clear priorities must be set with public input. Bridge Maintenance Sales Tax revenues for communities, the city made the request and offered to pay the county its hourly rate for the work. The county’s response made frontpage news when mayor Cheri Reisch asked to meet with the commission to discuss its decision to cancel the existing agreement and draft a new one without notifying the city or requesting comment or input. Situations like Dee Woods Road and the City of Hallsville agreement bring to light the need for transparency and the defense of decisions regarding which roads will be improved and why. Certainly, road and bridge maintenance in Boone County has several moving parts, but with rising costs and maintenance needs increasing daily, the need for clear communication is more important than ever. n
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Crime & Punishment
It’s Time For A New Approach Reports on the evening news are becoming too common — shots fired, drug arrests — and these reports leave Boone Countians with a feeling of uncertainty and insecurity.
of staffing shortages, staff turnover and jail overcrowding. The Boone County jail runs around 10 staff and officers short, according to Boone County Chief Deputy Maj. Tom Reddin.
The 2015 Boone County violent crime rate was the highest since 2007. Aggravated assault accounted for nearly 70 percent of violent crimes, robberies 20.8 percent, rape 12.4 percent, and murders .7 percent, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Uniform Crime Reporting Program. A 2015 in-depth special report by KMIZ, the local ABC affiliate, confirmed the existence of three to four gangs currently operating in Boone County, while other reports told of drug trafficking indictments.
“It’s a jail environment,” Reddin says. “You try and promote it as a career opportunity, but most folks probably look at a jail and look at it as more of a job than something they want to spend a career doing.”
Adding to the list of worries, the rise in crime exacerbates the existing problems
Market updates and salary studies have enabled the sheriff’s department to increase
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He emphasizes it is not only a local problem. “This is a national trend in law enforcement, in jails and related industries, but everybody’s feeling that pinch in trying to fill positions, particularly in law enforcement and jails,” he says.
the pay scale for the jail staff and streamline the hiring process, but the turnover rate is still problematic. Short staffing leads to other issues. It is not uncommon for inmates to be housed out of the county, according to Reddin. Right now all four pods in the 210bed facility are operating, but D Pod was closed for two full months earlier this year, adding an additional 42 to the out-of-county count. Had staff been available, pod closure would not have been necessary. In 2003, the department began picking up detainees from Boone County municipalities and transporting them to the jail for those agencies. This service was made possible by Proposition L, which passed in 2002 and created a one-eighth-cent permanent sales tax for law enforcement. But Prop L pickups were suspended in 2012, according to sheriff department data. Reddin says that is a direct result of staffing issues. Proposition L resulted from a task force created by the Boone County Commission in 2001 at the request of then-sheriff Ted Boehm. The task force assessed department needs, revealed a need for more sheriff deputies and determined that current deputies and staff were underpaid. Fred Parry and Nancy Wilson co-chaired the committee that promoted passage of Proposition L. In 2016, the sales tax is expected to generate more than $3.6 million for the Law Enforcement Services Fund according to the data in the 2016 budget provided by the Boone County auditor. The fund provides
[ What Will Fred Do? ]
We must reverse the disturbing trend of violent crime in Boone County. Opening the lines of communication between the judicial system, law enforcement and citizens is the critical first step. additional funding for several public safety and judicial functions, including the courts, sheriff’s department and the prosecuting attorney. While the sales tax provides additional funding to help put more officers on the road, there’s still a need for adequate and better support for the sheriff’s department and judicial system in order to house offenders. Not only is the department dealing with staffing shortages, but inmate mental health issues, which lead to longer stays and repeat criminal activity, are making overpopulation issues worse. Sheriff department representatives declined to speak on the record regarding the residual effect of jail overcrowding and its impact on the sentencing process. The bottom line is that it leads to more lenient sentencing, resulting in little to no jail time for criminals, and could contribute to offenders being let go only to get arrested again when they commit another crime. Solutions are not easy with so many complicated issues at hand, but to address crime, we need to find answers to staff turnover and jail overcrowding, and facilitate better coordination between agencies and with the judicial system to keep Boone County citizens safe. n
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Good Government
Begins With Good Communication Transparency and accountability are expected when county and city governments are working on an issue. Certainly, that is the goal, but when decisions are made in closed meetings, transparency and accountability are missing in government.
to the public. In the meantime, Parry held two town hall meetings concerning the fairgrounds, which were well attended by as many as 80 people. At those meetings, attendees were encouraged to offer input and ideas about the best way to go forward.
Recent issues of note have left the basic principle of transparency in question in Boone County. The fate of the Central Missouri Events Center and the ichthus, or “Jesus fish,” on the Desert Storm Memorial outside the Boone County Courthouse are two examples.
A unilateral decision also affected the fate of the Desert Storm Memorial, and the ichthus featured on it. The memorial previously was located on Boone County Courthouse grounds. Created and donated by private citizens to honor Patrick Connor and Steven Farnen, the memorial stirred controversy in 2014 when Americans United For Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.based lobbying organization, threatened a lawsuit over the religious symbol on public property. Without a public hearing or notice, the county commission chose to cover the symbol. Despite public outcry over the action and plans to relocate the memorial, it was moved from the courthouse square to the Columbia Cemetery. Parry led an effort to challenge the commission’s actions for the Connor and Farnen families, who expressed frustration and surprise at being left out.
Finding an answer to the future of the Boone County Fairgrounds is a topic of much discussion. When a committee, formed to investigate options, met in a closed session, County Counselor C.J. Dykhouse cited finer nuances of the Sunshine Law about who formed the Central Missouri Events Center Review Committee. Fred Parry challenged the closed meeting. Interestingly, a subsequent committee meeting was opened
Efforts should be made to include more points of view in order to tackle the issues Boone Countians face. Currently, the county commission meets on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. There is one planning and zoning meeting each month
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Will and Marsha Connor lost their son Patrick during Operation Desert Storm. Patrick was a graduate of Hickman High School.
on the first or last Tuesday, in the evening. Solutions to provide more opportunity where citizens can participate and comment might include more evening meetings. Technology and alternative venues could make the meetings more accessible. Broadcasting commission meetings online or on community television and holding them at least twice a year in the northernmost (Sturgeon) and southernmost (Hartsburg) areas would add convenience and opportunity for more citizen impact. With more input coming into the commission from rural citizens, the pros and cons of “home rule� should be investigated. This form of governing gives a county authority over its unincorporated areas without having to seek approval from the state on important issues such as zoning. Home rule has been considered in the past, but a proposal was last rejected by voters in 1996. There is a proverb: Two heads are better than one, meaning the likelihood of solving a problem increases when more than one person is working on it. Improving opportunity and access, and allowing diverse ideas to be heard and considered are key to achieving the transparency and accountability Boone Countians deserve. n
[ What Will Fred Do? ]
We must make Boone County government more transparent. Getting input from all stakeholders is critical in every decision-making process. A BLUEPRINT FOR BOONE COUNTY’S FUTURE
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Relationship Rescue
Let’s Fix The City/County Partnership Working together goes beyond the government-citizen relationship. If we’re going to foster safe neighborhoods, job creation, strong tourism, great recreation and more, it’s essential that we have cooperative city-county relationships. Boone County and Columbia are engaged in a few successful joint efforts. Atkins Park, Jay Dix Station and Regional Economic Development Inc. all illustrate how well the two can come together to benefit the citizens of Boone County. However, there are still obstacles that prevent us from reaching some common goals.
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Both the City of Columbia and Boone County share concerns about rising crime rates, but when the police department cracks down on crime within the city limits, the problem gets pushed out into the county. Better collaboration between the Columbia police chief and the Boone County sheriff would help them address crime in tandem. City and county agencies should work together to address the fate of resources like the Boone County fairgrounds, renamed the Central Missouri Events Center (CMEC) in 2012. A source of contention and concern since its closing in 2014, the CMEC’s future
is murky. Interested citizens, county officials and local businesspeople have proposed several ideas and options, but there’s no clear path to resolution. When it comes to regional planning, the picture becomes clearer. Regional planning efforts in Boone County communities and surrounding counties can have a positive impact on the county and Columbia. As the largest city in mid-Missouri, Columbia draws commerce and its workforce from across the region. Conversely, people who live in Columbia and Boone County fill jobs in neighboring counties. Investing in the growth of the region can have a positive impact for all of us.
In Boone County, a lawsuit won by the county against the City of Columbia prevents TIFs from being used until 2020. The city is appealing the ruling, but in the meantime and potentially for the next five years, TIFs are unavailable as an economic development option. If the county and the city had been able to reach a settlement and work together, TIFs could be used with prudence to further the city’s economic goals. Tighter restrictions on economic growth in Columbia will likely push economic activity out into the county. If this happens, solid working relationships will be crucial in ensuring the county, its municipalities and its neighboring counties can manage growth to their mutual benefit. n
Commerce and jobs tend to go hand-inhand. The same principle can be applied to Boone County and its neighbors: When one is healthy, the other is affected the same way. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. The Dollar General Distribution Center is a good example of how growth in a neighboring county has been a win for Boone County. In 1999, Dollar General opened a 1.2-million-square-foot distribution center in Callaway County. Today, it employs some 650 people from across mid-Missouri. The city of Fulton used both bonds and tax increment financing (TIF) to create an attractive business environment for Dollar General. Today the bonds are paid off and the TIF isn’t far behind. Many employees at Dollar General live in Columbia, support our businesses and pay real estate taxes that benefit Boone County schools.
The Broadway Hotel opened its doors in 2014, replacing a dilapidated eyesore that once occupied the 1100 block of East Broadway. The Broadway is one of two TIF projects completed in Columbia.
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Accessible, Affordable
Health Care:
A Prescription For Boone County 12
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For 95 years, Boone Hospital Center (BHC) has served Boone Countians, midMissourians and others throughout the region, providing health care, community support and a commitment to making Boone County better. In recent years, BHC has navigated the complex medical industry, community health issues and new health care laws. Six years after its passage, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has yet to be fully realized. “The Affordable Care Act implementation in Missouri has been on balance, potentially negative for Missouri, but that’s largely due to the fact that the Supreme Court allowed states to make independent decisions on how it was implemented relative to Medicaid
expansion,” says Dave Dillon, vice president of public and media relations for the Missouri Hospital Association. Unfortunately, although the hospital community is paying for the expansion of Medicaid primarily through cuts to Medicare, it hasn’t seen any benefit from ACA. Even with a modest drop in Missouri’s uninsured rate — the state’s uninsured rate sits at 11.4 percent — hospitals continue to serve a large uninsured population, with the cost of caring for the uninsured going up. In 2014, the latest data cycle, BHC’s “charity care” (the costs of service provided and written off for patients unable to pay) totaled more than $7 million, according to the Missouri Hospital Association. Annually, BHC has more than 15,000 inpatient admissions, more than 7,000 outpatient surgeries, and more than 30,000 emergency room visits. The type of activities that improve medical care require substantial investments in coordination of care, integration of patient records, and outreach to the community to change the behaviors that are creating negative health outcomes. While the federal government, insurance providers, hospitals and patients work out the wrinkles in the ACA, BHC works to find ways to continue to provide the access and excellent care Boone Countians have come to expect.
Investing In Health Care
For the last 13 years, Fred Parry has served as an elected member of the BHC board
of trustees. He has chaired that board from 2011 to the present. In that time, the hospital has invested significantly in advancing access to health care. Those investments include the construction of the $22 million Center for Advanced Medicine, the $125 million patient tower and parking garage in 2012, the $23 million Nifong Medical Campus, plus extensive renovation of operating rooms, patient rooms, the cafeteria and the emergency room. Those investments go beyond BHC and its patients; they impact the community on a significant economic level. “You also have to look at [Boone Hospital’s] strength as an employer,” Dillon says. “Health care is a tremendous economic engine in Columbia and in Boone County, and the investments that the hospital makes, they come back and reverberate throughout the entire economy locally.” Nearly 1,700 people work for BHC, making it the third largest employer in Columbia. It consistently ranks as a top hospital statewide, regionally and nationally, named to Thompson Reuters Top 100 Hospitals, ranked No. 1 in mid-Missouri by U.S. News & World Report and certified three times as a “Magnet Hospital” by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In addition, BHC recognizes the importance of hiring local companies and contractors for hospital improvements. “Whenever we can use a local vendor, if it’s fiscally responsible because we do have a fiduciary responsibility to our community, we always look for our local vendors to be the
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Boone Hospital is the county’s single largest asset and third largest employer. We must protect its future in order to keep local health care affordable and accessible. people that we hire to do our construction and all of the things that go with it,” says Jan Beckett, BHC board of trustees secretary. These dollars are then reinvested locally and that strengthens our local economy.
Community Connections
Community involvement was essential in determining BHC’s action issues of obesity, cancer and access to health care, which were identified in the hospital’s 2013 Community Health Care Needs Assessment. “To tackle the big issues in health care, you have to be very connected to the community, because you have to know the issues so you can move the dial from a health perspective,” Dillon says. Through community health programs, physician outreach and advisory efforts, the hospital endeavors to address health issues before a patient might need medical care. WELLAWARE programs such as Kids on Track, group exercise classes and cancer screenings serve citizens where they live, Beckett says, while hospital physicians reach out to community doctors in outlying areas. “Boone physicians work with those doctors to coordinate the patient’s care from home, to hospital, and back to home,” she says.
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“One of the ways our physicians do that is by going out into the communities, meeting the physicians and finding out what their needs are. That may include [continuing medical education] in their communities with the physicians or holding educational programs for the members of the community. It could also include helping to run a specialty clinic one day a week” in rural communities. In the past, BHC also has supported Boone County and City of Columbia health departments’ Community Health Assessment Project, which determines how the hospital’s annual $500,000 contribution to the county’s health programming fund should be allocated. This helps Boone County address important issues such as poverty, education and homelessness. BHC’s action issues of obesity, cancer and access to care are under review to determine if the “dial” has been moved and how the hospital should proceed. The 2016 assessment will be presented to the BHC board of trustees, Boone Hospital Center leadership and BJC board of directors by year’s end with a plan of action. BJC Healthcare currently leases Boone Hospital Center, which is owned by Boone County. BJC is responsible for management of the hospital under the lease, and Boone County receives an annual lease payment of approximately $2.7 million.
The Future Of BHC Negotiations for lease renewal between BHC and BJC have begun, and the Boone Hospital board of trustees currently is accepting proposal requests from interested health care organizations. BJC has leased BHC since 1988. “Every five years we look at things a little more carefully,” Beckett says. “What was really good for our hospital and our community’s health care in 1988 may not be the best for us or for BJC moving forward. I think that it’s prudent for all of us to look at this and see how we might improve things, and it’s important for all of us to do that thoughtfully.” BJC’s current lease expires in 2020, and intent by either party to break the lease must be announced by Dec. 31, 2018.
This process is important because of the more than $21 million the current lease pays to BJC HealthCare annually. The last round of negotiations by Parry and then-trustee Bob McDavid in 2006 returned some $100 million in concessions back to the citizens of Boone County over the course of the current lease. This money supports the county’s community health fund, general fund, economic development and reinvestment into the hospital. “As trustees, our staff, our physicians, our patients are primary in our minds,” Beckett says. “So that’s why this is a big decision and something that none of us take lightly, and we will work to make the best choice for Boone County.” n
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working for
Better Jobs in Boone County
“Recession-resistant” is a term used to describe the economic environment in Columbia and Boone County. Our strong economy is supported by education, health care, research and high-tech industries, yet the right jobs may be elusive for seekers. Boone County’s communities, including Columbia (its county seat), and the smaller communities of Ashland, Centralia and Hallsville, have a diverse workforce with skillsets that run the gamut from technology to health care, manufacturing and service to professional. We are good at putting our citizens to work. The county’s 2015 unemployment rate was 3.1 percent and compared well to the state and federal rates of 5.3 and 5.1 respectively.
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While that number is attractive on the surface, the workforce in Boone County is underemployed. Many citizens work in jobs for which they are overqualified, which is both a blessing and a challenge. Working to provide a broad base of opportunity ensures better jobs for everyone. In Boone County, 47.7 percent of residents have a college degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This illustrates a need for a wider range of vocational training opportunities for the 52.3 percent who choose not to pursue college. Trained and work-ready employees will help Boone County attract more manufacturing and white collar/tech jobs. With resources such as Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) and the MU Life
Science Business Incubator working to attract and keep businesses, we have an environment that is ready to foster a healthy job market and economic growth in the county. But even with these and other tools at its disposal, Boone County has taken a few hits in the job market and local economy recently. Fallout from the unrest on the University of Missouri campus last year and a county-city lawsuit are two illustrative issues. They bring into focus what we are good at and where we need to improve. The unrest on the University of Missouri campus is an example of how we have come together. The university anticipates a 2,600-student drop in enrollment this fall. The drop will impact the university’s budget in the form of job cuts and a hiring freeze. That setback at MU is expected to trickle down into the city and county economy, affecting downtown housing occupancy, student employment rates and business patronage. County, city, university and community stakeholders are rallying together to overcome this challenge. At the same time, a lawsuit looms between the county and city based largely on an inability to work together and solve another issue: the use of tax increment financing, or TIFs. When a settlement could not be reached in December, the Boone County Circuit Court found in favor of the county and suspended the city’s ability to use TIFs until 2020. The city has appealed the decision to the Western District Court of Appeals. In the meantime, this tool, used to attract and retain businesses by freezing
ABC Laboratories benefitted from the use of Chapter 100 Bonds in 2008. This incentive allowed ABC to increase its workforce and build a new headquarters.
property tax rates for up to 10 years to help pay for infrastructure improvements, is lost as an economic development asset. Because the county and city could not come together, taxpayer money is being spent on legal fees and TIFs are off the table. Other tools are being used effectively, yet rarely, like Chapter 100 bonds. Boone County has used Chapter 100 bonds successfully twice in the last 13 years to keep jobs in the community — once for Analytical Bio-Chemical (ABC) Laboratories in 2008, and for Kraft Heinz last year. It’s clear that when it comes to economic development and job creation and retention, Boone County, Columbia and the surrounding communities have the tools needed to move past their challenges, but we need to be better at working together. Because each set of circumstances is unique, ensuring we are open to new possibilities and have the right tools available when an opportunity presents itself will open doors for businesses, job seekers and Boone County. n
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Googling Fred Parry
More than sound bytes and the 24-hour news cycle If you google the name “Fred Parry,” you’ll find that several news articles, websites, social media profiles and images will populate the search engine results. Words like “magazine publisher” and “talk show host” are often associated with his name, but there are also words like “chairman of the Boone Hospital board of trustees” and “Columbia Housing Authority commissioner” that indicate he is something more. As a Boone Countian, you might recognize his name or his voice from the radio, or you might have read some of his columns in the magazines he publishes. You even may have been a student of his at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Indeed, Fred Parry is known for a few things, but standing on the sidelines is not one of them. A radio talk show co-host for several years on KFRU’s “The Morning Meeting” along with Simon Rose, he garnered a reputation for being provocative as he engaged in polarizing conversations that hit at the heart of community issues. While he comes across at times as blunt or controversial, his goal has been to encourage constructive dialogue on important issues, and through that, to arrive at solid solutions.
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Helping The Hungry “He has this gruff exterior,” says Peggy Kirkpatrick, former director of the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, “but Fred has a great desire to make a difference and to leave the world a better place than where he found it.” Kirkpatrick first met Parry when he featured the food bank in the Columbia Business Times, a publication owned by Parry Publishing Inc., which he sold in 1999. For more than 20 years, Parry has built relationships and created publicity to benefit the food bank. He sat on the board from 1996 to 2000, co-chaired the Score Against Hunger Campaign and raised the bar for the One for One Holiday Food Drive with the Mayor’s Million Pound Challenge. The One for One Holiday Food Drive has raised more than one million pounds of food every Christmas for the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri for the last eight years. “Fred’s been a huge, huge partner with the food bank over the years.” Kirkpatrick says. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that Fred provided leadership and his charismatic personality that raised a lot of money for the food bank.”
Connecting The Community Beyond the food bank, Parry’s skillset has benefited several community organizations. His talent for connecting people to achieve
One for One Holiday Food Drive
a goal has served not only his publishing clients at Inside Columbia, but also those who benefit from his pro bono work, which includes service as a Columbia Housing Authority (CHA) commissioner from 1999 to 2007, and as a trustee on the Boone Hospital Center board for the last 13 years. In fact, his volunteer work earned him the distinction of Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 2006, awarded by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Columbia has the highest cost of living in the state, according to the most recent data released by the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Parry has long been an advocate for affordable housing in the Columbia community. During his tenure on the CHA board he saw the need for additional affordable housing options in the community. His efforts resulted in the CHA building its first new units in many years: the McBaine Avenue townhomes. The project removed three dilapidated properties on McBaine and created five affordable homes for lower income families in their place.
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[ “Fred Parry is known
for a few things, but standing on the sidelines is not one of them.”
— Peggy Kirkpatrick Genie Rogers, CHA board of commissioners chairperson, calls Parry an “idea person.” “He was the one that really pushed [CHA] into doing some innovative things,” says Rogers, who has been on the CHA board since 1990. “The first was the McBaine townhouses project, but it was what launched us in doing affordable housing in the community outside of public housing and Section 8. He thought outside of the box.” Parry helped secure $669,000 in HOME funds from the Missouri Housing Development Commission for the McBaine project. In addition, CDBG and HOME funds from the City of Columbia supported the project. His example demonstrated to the CHA staff and board that they could move forward in innovative ways, Rogers says. The McBaine townhomes were the first of several projects of their kind in recent years. In addition to homes for lower income families, Parry has worked to improve health care as a volunteer member of the board of trustees for Boone Hospital Center for the last 13 years. He currently serves that board
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as chairperson. He also served as president for the Northwest Rotary Club and is a Paul Harris Fellow for Rotary International.
A Matter Of Faith One of Parry’s newest endeavors is in the area of his faith. In 2014, Parry founded the CoMo Christian Men’s Conference. Over the last three years, more than 3,000 men from mid-Missouri and across the Midwest have gathered in Columbia for the annual conference. “Fred is a visionary, a pioneer and a catalyst — these ideas emerge from his passion to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ and to share his story with others,” says Larry Glabe, a friend and spiritual coach to business and professional men in Columbia. “He genuinely loves people and is willing to serve them,” Glabe says. He adds that Parry has combined his abilities and his passion with his publishing platform to provide men from local churches and faith communities with encouragement and resources to inspire their personal spiritual journeys. Indeed, Fred Parry has a gift for bringing people together and a track record of commitment to fairness and equity. For the last three decades, he has worked to support his family, his faith and his community, and if you look beyond the Google search, you will discover someone in it for more than shortterm gain. n
How Well Do You Know Boone County? 1. In what year was Boone County organized? A. 1837 B. 1839 C. 1820 D. 1883 2. In 2014, Boone County government’s revenues were $67,195,963. Of that total, what percent came from sales taxes generated in the county? A. 40 percent B. 52 percent C. 71 percent D. 89 percent 3. In what year did Boone County get organized fire protection for citizens living outside the city limits of Columbia? A. 1951 B. 1961 C. 1964 D. 1974 4. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, how many farms are there in Boone County?
A. 645 B. 765 C. 996 D. 1,171 5. How many miles of roads are there in Boone County? A. 459 B. 771 C. 1,112 D. 1,502 6. In what year was construction completed on the Boone County Courthouse? A. 1906 B. 1909 C. 1920 D. 1928 7. What was the population of Boone County in 1900? A. 28,642 B. 32,908 C. 40,202 D. 43,879
8. How many registered voters are there in Boone County? A. 48,990 B. 78,202 C. 98,546 D. 121,319 9. What percentage of Boone County government’s fulltime workforce of approximately 460 employees is dedicated to public safety? A. 24 percent B. 29 percent C. 36 percent D. 57 percent 10. Boone County’s famous Bur Oak tree is estimated to be between 350 and 400 years old. What is the approximate diameter of this tree? A. 79 inches B. 93 inches C. 107 inches D. 114 inches
Find the answers and check your score at www.BooneCountyforFredParry.com.
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Boone County, Missouri By the Numbers
Population 174,974 (2015) 55,202 (1960) Population in Boone County has more than tripled over the last 50 years, which underscores the positive aspects of our communities, but also highlights the pressing need for a leader with Fred Parry’s ideas.
households 66,136 Number of homes
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Median household income
employment 94,156 2.9% Total county employment
Unemployment rate
education
Top 10 employers in number of employees
47.7% 93.2%
University of Missouri University Hospital & Clinics
Bachelor’s degree or higher
Columbia Public Schools Boone Hospital Center Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital City of Columbia
High school graduate
State Farm Insurance Companies MBS Textbook Exchange Veterans United Home Loans
19.5%
Shelter Insurance Companies
poverty rate
685
Total square miles of land in Boone County
1,171 Number of farms
206 acres Average size farm
$52,185,000
Market value of agricultural products sold
Sources: U.S. Census, Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, April 2016, Citizen’s Guide to County Finances (2014), 2012 Ag Census
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Boone Countians For Fred Parry 711 West Broadway Columbia, MO 65203