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Published July 01, 2008 11:28 pm - NEOSHO, Mo. — Candidates in Newton County’s upcoming Republican primaries all touted their experience during a forum Tuesday night. GOP candidates cite experience at forum By Derek Spellman dspellman@joplinglobe.com NEOSHO, Mo. — Candidates in Newton County’s upcoming Republican primaries all touted their experience during a forum Tuesday night. Two candidates for each of four county offices will vie Aug. 5 for the GOP nominations. Each of the eight candidates spoke for a few minutes during the forum hosted by the Newton County Republican Central Committee. In the race for District 2 county commissioner, Jarod Kennedy is challenging incumbent Jack Sanders. Kennedy cited the variety of skills he has acquired working at Al’s Gas, a propane company in Neosho. The experience, he said, has afforded him the communication skills, work ethic and trouble-shooting ability that would make him a good commissioner. “I’ve never had a problem I couldn’t fix,” he said. Sanders cited the county’s strong fiscal management and its effective response to disasters, such as ice storms and tornadoes, as key reasons for his re-election bid. “My motto from the start has been, ‘I know who I work for, and that’s you,’” he said. In the race for District 1 commissioner, incumbent Jerry Black is trying to fend off challenger Tom Meadows. Meadows described his experience in business, particularly in budgeting, bidding, and equipment purchases and maintenance, as among his qualifications for office. Since 1997, he has been the owner and operator of a small business, Creative Works Custom Woodworking. Before that, he said, he spent 27 years with Yellow Freight Systems, a trucking company. Black cited his experience for the past eight years as a commissioner and, before that, as the owner of a small business. Black said that in the eight years he has been on the commission, the county has established a good health-insurance program for employees, built 40 new bridges and increased the reserves in the general-revenue fund. Before his election as commissioner, Black owned and operated Miner’s Ice Co. for 28 years. That time gave him experience in dealing with accounting, insurance and maintenance issues, he said. In the race for Newton County sheriff, incumbent Ken Copeland is running for re-election against Mike Langland. Langland was with the Newton County Sheriff’s Department between 1994 and 2004. He has spent the past several years as an international police adviser in Iraq, helping to train Iraqi law-enforcement officers. Langland said his experience in Iraq has given him the breadth of experience to oversee the Newton County department as well as the qualifications to help the department address homeland security needs that will arise. Langland said among his goals is reducing employee turnover. 
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