The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Local News

Discussion

November 3, 2009

Voters endorse plan for full-time prosecutor in McDonald County

Diamond, Lanagan bond issues pass

By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

McDonald County voters on Tuesday threw their support behind a proposal to make the prosecutor’s office a full-time position, while bond measures passed in the communities of Lanagan and Diamond, according to complete but unofficial results.

The prosecutor’s office will become full time as of June 2011 under a plan endorsed by a margin of 696 votes in favor and 580 against. Voter turnout was 9.5 percent.

The salary for the prosecutor’s position will rise from $53,000 to $106,000 in June 2011.

Efforts to reach Ronnie Walker, McDonald County Western District commissioner, for comment Tuesday night were unsuccessful. Walker had spearheaded the push to get the proposal on the ballot.

The term of the current prosecutor, Janice Durbin, expires in January 2011.

Walker had told the Globe that the office needed to become full time to keep pace with caseloads and with the county’s growing population.

The prosecutor’s caseload increased from 802 cases in 1991 to 1,874 last year, the commissioner said.

As for the county population, that increased from 21,681 in 2000 to an estimated 22,731 in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population was 16,938 in 1990.

Walker said the county needed to be able to attract and retain experienced prosecutors.

Lanagan

In Lanagan, a proposal to issue $100,000 in revenue bonds to finance construction of a new waterline from Anderson to supply Lanagan eked out a victory. The measure received 35 “yes” votes and 31 “no” votes.

The water from Anderson will supplement the water from the city’s own well, Jimmie Gideon, Lanagan’s public works director, previously told the Globe. Tuesday’s ballot measure needed a simple majority for passage.

The total project is to be about $1.8 million, with the bulk of the cost to be paid with grants that the city is seeking.

If the city doesn’t land the grant money, the project will not go forward, Gideon said.

He vowed that Lanagan residents would not see a water rate increase to pay for the revenue bonds or for the water from Anderson. Both are to be paid from the existing budget.

Diamond

In neighboring Newton County, voters in the city of Diamond overwhelmingly approved a $650,000 revenue bond issue that will be used to increase the capacity of the city’s sewage holding lagoon and to replace about 1,800 feet of 8-inch sewer line with a 15-inch sewer line.

The proposal passed by a margin of 141 in favor to 13 against. It needed a simple majority for passage.

Mayor Steve Carter previously told the Globe that the work needed to be done to comply with state mandates from the Department of Natural Resources.

Carter said the average sewer bill, assuming 5,000 gallons of usage, is $16.50 per month. He estimated that the bond issue would increase the rate to $21 per month, although he said that figure was “on the high side.”

Text Only
Local News