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November 11, 2009

Four throw hats in ring for Neosho council seats

By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — Four people are vying for two seats on the Neosho City Council that will come up for election next year, but the field could become larger.

The field is composed of the two incumbents, Jeff Werneke and Warren Langland, and challengers Chris Wright and Tom Workman.

Potential candidates have until Tuesday to file to run for the seats, each of which carries a three-year term. The election will be in April.

Both Wright and Workman used to work for the city.

Workman, 46, spent a total of 18 years with the city until earlier this year. He was among the nine people who were laid off last month in budget cuts. He said he had decided to run even before the layoffs.

“I’m not saying anyone who has been there (on the council) hasn’t been doing a good job,” said Workman, who worked in the Parks and Recreation Department.

“I just want to give back to a town that has given me so much,” he later told the Globe.

Workman also has been the owner of Workman’s Mini Mart, 722 W. Spring St., for the past two years.

He said he is not pursuing a single agenda. He said he would like to “make sure we have a good employee base” and “maintain and take care of what we have.”

Wright, 28, worked as a Neosho police officer from July 2002 to June 2006. Since then, he has operated a power-washing business called Niagara Power Spray. He also is a member of the Missouri National Guard and a veteran of the Iraq War.

“I’m real big into saving money,” said Wright, who cited better fiscal management and more project oversight as key issues he would raise.

Wright has reiterated some of the criticisms that arose during the City Council primary and election earlier this year, which saw challengers Richard Davidson and Heather Bowers ultimately oust incumbents Sherry McCormack and Howard Birdsong.

Wright questioned the oversight level on previous projects that included the installation of streetlights on a stretch of Spring Street and the expansion and renovations to the Senior Center. More recently, he questioned the use of grant money to acquire the former Frye & Gray building as a future home for the city’s Farmers Market during a budget crunch.

“I don’t think it’s a need, it’s more of a want,” said Wright.

Werneke, 37, who is seeking a third term on the council and is in the middle of a second stint as mayor, said he wants to run partly to continue the projects already started and because he thinks the city needs some “consistency” amid a difficult economy.

“A lot of good things have happened,” Werneke said, citing downtown revitalization, street paving programs, the completion of the South Street overpass, and passage of two multimillion dollar bond issues to address the city’s aging water and sewer infrastructure.

A lot of those issues were “20- or 30-year-old problems” that have been addressed in recent years, said Werneke. The city, for the first time, has formal plans in place for infrastructure and for long-range goals.

The mayor also said he has tried to help the city be more open by, for example, offering town-hall style meetings.

“I’ve had two runs as mayor, and I feel like I’ve got some more to offer in that capacity,” he said.

Langland, 50, said he is seeking a second term on the council largely to continue work on the infrastructure and to help the city through a struggling economy.

“I feel like continuity is good,” Langland said. “We got a lot of things done in the last three years.”

Langland is the president of the Neosho Concrete Co. He has been with that company for almost 30 years.

City Clerk Audrey Covey previously said if one more person files to run for council, the city would have to hold a primary election to narrow the field of candidates to four. A primary election is necessary when more than twice the number of candidates file for the number of open seats available, according to the city charter.



Deadline

The deadline for filing to run for the Neosho City Council is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

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