The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Carthage, Jasper County

Discussion

October 26, 2012

Steadley trust planning session attracts 40-plus Carthage leaders

By Susan Redden news@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage officials and representatives of organizations in the community gathered Friday to start a process aimed at identifying future needs that can be addressed by funding from the Steadley Memorial Trust.

Discussions were led by Ralph Ochsner, a Kansas City-based consultant hired by Steadley directors to oversee the effort.

He said the more than 40 participants are being asked to identify influences and assets of Carthage, and to envision the city in the future if there are no changes in current conditions.

“Then we’ll be asking them to envision what Carthage could be with no limits on resources, in terms of time or money,” he said.

Information gathered Friday will be assembled and used to guide discussions in a week, aimed at developing future funding decisions for the trust, which has given Carthage-area organizations more than $13.3 million since 1999.

Members of the Carthage City Council and city staff were among those participating in the discussions, and Mayor Mike Harris compared the steps with ones the city has gone through with drafting a Comprehensive Development Plan for the city and the more recent downtown visioning program undertaken with students from Drury University at Springfield.

The financial limitations of cities and other organizations make resources possible from foundations such as the Steadley Trust even more important, Harris said.

“The (financial) pie is limited and a lot of it is spoken for, so you have to make improvements as money is available,” he said. “The city is taking on parks improvements, but it’s something we have to focus on one park at a time.”

Participants will return for another session next Friday. Results will be analyzed and potential projects will be forwarded to Steadley trustees for future consideration of projects that fall within the mission of the trust.

Steadley directors hired the consulting firm in an effort to think longer-range about how to make future decisions on funding from the trust. The firm helped trust advisers through similar steps more than 25 years ago, Ochsner said.



Recipients

In recent years, funding from the foundation established by Kent D. and Mary L. Steadley has helped support the Carthage Golf Course, Fair Acres Sports Complex, the Fair Acres YMCA, the Carthage School District, Mercy McCune-Brooks Hospital, the Carthage Public Library and organizations that are involved in animal welfare, historic preservation, human services and the arts.

Text Only
Carthage, Jasper County
  • Jim-Spradling-obit.jpg Carthage attorney, reformer of revenue department, dies

    James R. Spradling, a Carthage attorney who was noted for his reform of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1970s, died at 5:50 a.m. Monday at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.

    August 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Steadley trust planning session attracts 40-plus Carthage leaders

    Carthage officials and representatives of organizations in the community gathered Friday to start a process aimed at identifying future needs that can be addressed by funding from the Steadley Memorial Trust. Discussions were led by Ralph Ochsner, a Kansas City-based consultant hired by Steadley directors to oversee the effort.

    October 26, 2012

  • Bondswoman charged with false imprisonment

    A bail bondswoman from Carthage is facing a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly attempting to put a man in jail without a judge’s order, then taking him home and handcuffing him to the banister of a staircase until a friend of the man paid her his bond money.

    January 4, 2012

  • Man’s last statement to be given to defendant

    A judge ruled Monday that the Jasper County prosecutor must provide attorneys for Darren J. Winans with a videotaped statement co-defendant Matthew D. Laurin made about the Sheldon murders shortly before killing himself.

    August 23, 2010

  • Carthage proposes 1.6-cent rise in city property tax

    A drop in the assessed value of Carthage real estate will translate to an increase of about 1.6 cents in the city’s proposed property tax rate.

    August 9, 2010

  • Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse

    Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
    County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building.

    May 9, 2010

  • Newton County Jail State budget cuts reduce county funds

    County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
    In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup.

    May 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree

    In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.

    May 9, 2010

  • Jasper County Commission gets building project update

    Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
    Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient.

    May 8, 2010

  • Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court

    Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
    Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor.

    May 7, 2010