By Susan Redden
Globe Staff Writer
CARTHAGE, Mo. —
The ballot will be somewhat deceiving when Jasper County residents go to the polls for the Aug. 3 primary vote.
Nearly a dozen offices are up for election, but the only county races are for presiding commissioner and circuit clerk. Nine other officeholders are running unopposed.
And voters who want any type of say on county leadership posts being decided will have to do it in August, since all the candidates are Republicans and no one will face a challenger in the November general election.
Three candidates are challenging one-term incumbent John Bartosh in the reach for presiding commissioner, and one contender, a court employee, is challenging Linda Williams’ bid for a fourth term as circuit clerk.
Two of the three challengers for presiding commissioner are making hours in the commission office an issue in their campaigns.
David Troyer and Jeff Hammons both described the commission post as a full-time job. James Pendergraft said he, if elected, would stay involved in computer consulting, but the commission job would be his first priority.
The three challengers are seeking to unseat incumbent Bartosh, who unseated incumbent Chuck Surface four years ago.
Bartosh, 55, of rural Carthage, said he wants to serve another term because he believes he and other commissioners “have got the county in good shape.”
“We’re better off than a lot of other counties,” he said, “because we’ve got some financial reserves.”
He also cited efforts by the commission to regulate sexually oriented businesses.
“I know some people think we didn’t do enough, but we worked with the state to get the job done,” he said.
Bartosh said he likes working with residents and taking care of the day-to-day problems.
“I call people back no matter what,” he said.
He has been a Jasper County resident since 1978, and lives in rural Carthage. He previously owned a number of companies, including Lucky J RV Service, Ozark Sanitation, Four-State Stockyards, Four-State Sanitation and the Lucky J. Arena and Restaurant.
He is a graduate of Mount Vernon (Iowa) High School.
Troyer, 63, of Carthage, has lived in Jasper County nearly 40 years.
He said he has been encouraged to run by a number of people, particularly those familiar with this work on the Carthage Special Road District. He said he would resign that post, if he is elected.
“We run the road district like a business; I think the county should be done the same way,” he said.
He said he wants to make changes that would make the commission office and courthouse “a little more user-friendly.”
“I want to walk into the commission office and find a commissioner actually there,” he said. “I want to be a full-time commissioner, and give people honest, straight-forward answers in a timely fashion.”
He retired last year after owning Troyer Bonding Co. since 1980. Prior to that, he had worked for the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole, and as a real estate agent. He has served as a commissioner with the Carthage Special Road District for the past 13 years.
He was born in Joplin, and graduated from Hillcrest High School and what now is Missouri State University, both in Springfield.
Hammons, 48, of Carl Junction, is a longtime county resident.
He said he is running because he believes “it’s imperative for the county to have people in place who are willing to honor the position with a full-time commitment.
“The job isn’t a 40-hour job, it’s a 24-7 job, and I’d suspend my real estate license to give that time to the county,” he said.
He said he would have quarterly meetings in the county to improve communication with residents.
He currently works in real estate and construction for Keller-Williams Realty, and previously owned a development company and then an insurance agency. He is attending Missouri Southern State University to complete a bachelor’s degree.
He ran unsuccessfully two years ago for county assessor, and previously was president of the Home Builders Association of Southwest Missouri and president of the Jasper County Sheltered Facilities Board.
Pendergraft, 49, of rural Carthage, is an information systems contractor and consultant.
If elected, he said, he would work to get the commission more involved in economic development and would use his expertise in information technology “to put into place at no cost, systems that would provide more information on the county and how its money is being spent.”
“I’d use technology to make county government more visible in how it operates and spends money,” he said.
If elected, he said he would not give up his job in computer consulting and contracting “because I think it would be to county’s advantage that I stay aware and involved in the technology.”
He said he would like to see the commission have “dedicated office hours when you could always find someone in the office.”
He was born in Joplin and is a lifelong area resident. He is a graduate of Parkwood High School in Joplin and holds a degree in computer information systems from Missouri Southern State University.
This is his first run for public office.
Circuit clerk
In the race for circuit clerk, incumbent Linda Williams is facing a challenge from Melissa Holcomb, who also works in the court system.
Williams, 69, of Carl Junction, is seeking her fourth, four-year term as circuit clerk.
She cited as among her accomplishments: upgrading the court website to provide more information and implementing the Missouri State Wide Court Automation, which makes information from the courts available to the public, litigants and other courts statewide.
She said she also completed a court consolidation to combine offices in the court system under single management for a more efficient operation and was involved in the establishment of Family Court in the county.
She said she has signed the county up for a state court collection system used by a number of other counties, with that conversion to start in September. She said she also is prepared to accept credit cards for payment in the court system.
She has lived in Jasper County for more than 40 years. She worked in the court system for 25 years prior to her election as clerk.
She is a high school graduate, and has completed “court college” and other training offered each year to circuit clerks.
Holcomb, 41, of Joplin, has lived in Joplin since 2000. Since 2004, she has served as a deputy circuit clerk in Jasper County, working for Judge Stephen Carlton. She said she is running at the encouragement of residents and those involved in the court and law enforcement.
If elected, Holcomb said she would upgrade the court’s website for easier access to court forms, and would implement a payment collection procedure already used by the majority of counties in the state to ensure that fines and fees are collected.
“With this procedure, we could bring in additional funds for the county,” she said.
Holcomb said she also would make staff training a priority, and install debit and credit card payment systems at the court, to make it easier for those paying filing fees and fines.
She holds an associate degree in legal studies from Missouri Western University in St. Joseph.
She has worked in the court system for more than 12 years, including service as a deputy circuit clerk in Buchanan County and as a court specialist with the statewide Office of Courts Administration when she trained clerks’ offices throughout the state on Justice Information software.
This is her first run for public office.
Absentee voting
The Jasper County clerk’s office will be open extra hours — from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 31 — for those who want to cast absentee ballots in the Aug. 3 primary. Offices are located in the Carthage courthouse and on the second floor of the Jasper County Courts Building at Sixth Street and Pearl Avenue in Joplin.
