April 08, 2008 10:06 am
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By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
Two incumbents and three challengers will vie Tuesday for two general seats on the Joplin City Council in Tuesday’s election.
The incumbents are Morris Glaze and Bob Harrington. The challengers are Keenan Cortez, Veda Boyd Jones and Bill Scearce.
Cortez, 43, is an executive manager. He is a Marine Corps veteran.
Cortez previously served as chairman of the Public Safety Sales Tax Committee and Public Safety Coalition that promoted passage of the public-safety sales tax to fund expansion and capital expenditures for the police and fire departments. He also is a past chairman of the civilian advisory committee of the Joplin Police Department. He currently serves on the Capital Improvements Sales Tax Committee, which oversees the city’s expenditures of sales-tax money for specific public projects.
Glaze, 57, a salesman for a trucking company, Standard Transportation, was appointed in 2006 to fill the unexpired term of the late Guy Palmieri, a councilman who died shortly after being re-elected. He has not sought any other elective office before.
Glaze attended MSSU and Columbia College’s extended campus. He is a Navy veteran.
He was appointed to the Joplin Industrial Development Authority in 1995 and served until his appointment to the council. He is a past president of that panel. He has been chairman of the Joseph Newman Innovation Center for seven years and has served on the board of directors of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce since 2000.
Harrington, 60, manager of the physical plant at Missouri Southern State University and risk manager for the university, is seeking his second term. He was first elected in 2004. It is the only elective office he has sought or held.
He previously served on the governing board of the Joplin Museum Complex, was chairman of a city-appointed task force to review Memorial Hall and served on a sales-tax proposal committee.
Jones, 59, is a writer. She holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Arkansas, a bachelor’s degree in history from Pittsburg State University, and an associate of arts from Crowder College. She received the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1995 from Crowder.
Jones has written 42 books, nine of them romances and 33 children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction. She writes for reference books, including Scriber’s Dictionary of History and Gale’s Guide to Literature for Young Adults, and magazines including Woman’s World, Writer’s Digest, Highlights for Children, and Farmer’s Almanac. She also works as a paid speaker at writers’ conferences, schools and literature festivals.
She has not sought public elective office before. She has served nine years on the Joplin Library Board and held the offices of president, vice president and secretary.
Scearce, 67, a former City Council member and city employee, is district manager of Design Benefits, an estate planning service.
He holds a bachelor of science degree in parks and recreation administration and once was employed as Joplin’s parks and recreation director.
Scearce was elected to the council in 1982 and served until 1990. He has served on Joplin Industrial Development Authority, the Joplin Personnel Board and the Sales Tax Oversight Committee.
Benjamin Rosenberg is unopposed for the Zone 3 seat being vacated by Richard Russell, who is not seeking re-election.
Melodee Colbert-Kean is unopposed in her bid for re-election to the Zone 2 seat.
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