By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
Five will be elected to the Joplin City Council on April 6, though two are unopposed.
There is a five-way race for three general seats. Voters will select from among incumbent Mike Woolston, and challengers Jack Golden, Kelly Maddy, Trisha Raney and Kevin York for those seats.
The Globe sent each of the candidates a questionnaire. Their responses to some of the questions follow.
Responses
Woolston, 56, 203 S. Turk Ave., is a real estate broker for Pro 100 Inc. He was appointed to the council in December 1997 and served until April 1998. He was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.
He said his primary concern for the city is economic development. “If our citizens have opportunities to get a better job and increase their income, they can improve their lives and not rely on the government to provide,” he said. He said he also is concerned about declining city revenues and whether that eventually could require a reduction in the city staff.
He said he is seeking another term because he wants to see the community prosper and grow. “As you’ve seen in the news, many cities are struggling financially and are facing severe budget cuts and/or drastic employee layoffs,” he said. “Our city is surviving these difficult economic times because we initiated a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to recruit new industries to our city and to create good jobs. What some may have questioned then has produced positive results and is what I believe will carry us through this difficult period.”
Raney, 31, 930 S. Monroe Ave., is a paralegal at Leggett & Platt Inc. She said paying city employees proper wages is a concern of hers, particularly firefighters.
She said, “We also need to offer services that citizens want, such as more access to public transportation, more availability of recycling programs and areas for outdoor activities.”
She said she chose to run for the council because “I would like to be involved in planning to help make the community even better. We also need more women on the City Council in order to better reflect the population.”
Maddy, 27, 2010 S. Kentucky Ave., is a network administrator for Accumax Auto Parts Inc. He said quality of life issues are among his concerns, including walkable streets and trails, green space, encouraging arts and culture, and continued downtown renovation.
He also wants city government to be more transparent in transacting business and to use technology to make more city information available. “We should be able to communicate local government happenings to the busy and disabled citizens of our city using social networks and other Web services,” he said. “We should make it easy to participate in our government, and I think citizens should be able to join our democratic process through the Internet.”
He said he is seeking a council seat “because I think I can bring a fresh era of enthusiasm and commitment to public service.” He said he is interested in public policy. “I have spent years registering citizens, especially the youth, to vote and to become involved in the political process so their voices are heard,” he said.
Golden, 70, 3301 S. Delaware Ave., is a former economic development director for the city. He cited downtown revitalization as one of his chief concerns.
With much of the major construction and beautification work done downtown, he said, “The most difficult work lies ahead. The attraction of small business to the downtown area is essential and necessary to financially stabilize the area,” and will require the cooperation of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Joplin, investors and others to recruit specialty or single-purpose businesses to the district.
Golden said he chose to run for the council because he believes his experience and education will help him make a positive impact on the future of the city and the surrounding area.
York, 35, 6032 W. Highland Ave., is an outreach director at the Galena Nursing Center. He said safety, economic development and quality of life issues are concerns for him.
“I believe that all issues should be addressed with a stop, look and listen approach,” he said. “Stop, take a step back, look at both sides of the issue, and most importantly listen to what the public wants.”
He said he decided to run for the council to represent Joplin’s families. “I looked at the City Council and I believe there needs to be a stronger presence of people with children in activities,” he said. He said he believes only one other council member has young children at home. York said he believes he is young enough to represent the population in the community with families at home, and old enough to have the experience to make wise decisions with the city budget.
Emerging issues
York, Woolston and Golden all cite jobs and economic development, and city finances as emerging issues they see.
“The city may very well be close to reaching the upper limit of its primary source of income, the sales tax,” said Golden. With the possibility that the availability of state and federal funds will decrease, Golden said, the city should prepare for such “by empowering employees at all levels throughout the city to make recommendations to offset potential revenue shortfalls.”
Maddy cites the implementation of a homeless center, and the possible renewal of the quarter-cent sales tax for parks and stormwater work as emerging issues.
Raney sees the issue of requiring bars and restaurants to become smoke-free, congestion on Range Line Road, and extending the parks and stormwater tax, which expires in 2012, as emerging issues.
Tax fulfillment
All of the candidates said they support asking voters to renew the parks and stormwater tax.
Raney said she supports renewal of the tax for flood control work in neighborhoods, and for construction of more walking trails and residential sidewalks. She also believes the city has adhered to promises it made to the voters for projects from the tax and from the half-cent public safety sales tax.
Golden believes the city has “generally” adhered to its tax commitments, adding that it should bid out construction projects, such as the building of a west-side fire station, as soon as possible to help construction workers retain their jobs.
Woolston said he believes the city has nearly completed the list of projects that it promised the voters with the parks and stormwater tax, with a few left to do through 2011. He also supports going ahead with the fire station, and a training center for fire and police.
York said he believes a great deal of the tax-pledged projects have been completed.
Unopposed candidates
The unopposed candidates in the Joplin City Council election are Mayor Gary Shaw in Zone 1 and Michael Seibert in Zone 4. Each needs one vote to remain in office.
