Election candidates take a stance on issues at luncheon
March 25, 2015
Charlea Mills
As the April 7 General Election approaches, the candidates are out in full force campaigning and presenting their issues to the community. One opportunity to do so included the Ballot Issues luncheon sponsored by the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Each year, the Chamber hosts a ballot issues event to allow Chamber members to meet the candidates and hear their stances on various issues related to the office they are seeking. This year, the event hosted candidates for the Cassville R-IV School Board, the Cassville City Council and the South Barry County Ambulance District Board, represented by chairman of the board Ken Cieslinski.
Running for the Cassville School board positions are incumbents John Sullivan and Carolyn Bowen and challengers Wade Hermansen and Dale Phelps. In the Cassville City Council election, northward incumbent Ann Hennigan and challenger Jon Horner were present as well as the challenger for the southward Cindy Carr. Southward incumbent Jan Anthony was unable to attend.
Chamber President Michelle Bredeson welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Barry County Clerk Gary Youngblood who explained the ballot and voting procedures for April 7’s Election. The format for Thursday’s event allowed for each candidate to share about themselves for two minutes and express their intentions in the election. Chamber member Stan Kelley asked each candidate two questions and they were given two minutes to respond to each. Questions were selected out of those submitted to the Chamber prior to the event.
The format was not a debate nor were questions accepted from the audience during the luncheon. Instead, candidates took turns answering the questions selected by the Chamber after introducing themselves and sharing their philosophy for their candidacy.
Questions began with the school board candidates when Kelley asked, “What improvements do you feel need to be made to our district to help make us a leader in the state?” Bowen answered first, touching on the improvements already made to the school through the bond issue passed last year. She also said, “With the new technology that we’ve added in the last three years has been tremendous and by the time we get all of that finished I am sure it’ll be time to update because all of that gets changed just immediately and constantly all the time.”
Sullivan echoed Bowen’s sentiment regarding the importance of technology. He also shared about the plans of a teacher to start one of only 25 programs in the state for high school students planning to pursue a degree in education. Sullivan concluded, “We need to keep our staff informed and stay on top of everything the state is doing and all of the new things going on, and we are fortunate enough to have young people who are energetic enough to do this. There’s a lot of great things going on, and it’ll never end what we need to do.”
Phelps said that he wanted to see the District looking at how other Districts are improving their programs. He also expressed the importance of the A+ program and said, “There are different ways of recruiting our kids to different colleges and get them scholarship money.”
Hermansen’s responses were dedicated to the importance of energy and culture within a school in terms of keeping teachers motivated and students successful. He stated, “If you want to know the condition of your district, you ask your teachers. You ask your custodians. You ask your bus drivers, and you ask them what is the culture of your school, and is it a culture of success? That’s what you need.”
The second question asked of the school board candidates was, “How do you plan to make sure our district is meeting the needs of all students from high achievers to special needs?”
Hermansen kicked off the answers, talking about his daughter’s experience as a special needs student and how enthusiastic her teacher has been with her small successes. He said, “That’s when I understood the education of a student comes from a dedicated teacher that is motivated and thrives on those little successes, because that is how little kids learn. They have those little successes, and you just build on them.”
Phelps’ response touched on the importance of attending school events in all areas. He also said, “We are losing out on other kids, we have two seniors that went out for baseball this year. We need to strive for all programs.”
Sullivan discussed the importance of the staff at the school. He said, “From top to bottom, it takes everyone, from the littlest to a 12th grader, it takes all of our staff to make these kids successful.”
Bowen discussed how she hears feedback from parents and teachers and how positive it is. She also said that there are always areas to improve and that is how the school grows. Bowen stated, “Our salaries are so that people want to come here and they want to stay.”
The first question asked of the City Council candidates was, “What do you feel are the two most important issues facing Cassville and why?”
Jon Horner said the most important issues were the roads and the infrastructure. We cannot grow, as a community if we don’t have the proper streets or the proper infrastructure for our current residents and our future residents.”
Hennigan echoed Horner’s sentiments about roads and infrastructure. But also added the importance of growing the economy. She said “Another thing that I think is really important is growing the economy and bringing in some industry. We don’t necessarily have the property available as far as the city owns to bring in big industry.”
Carr said that she really hoped that the city could find more jobs for younger people in the community to explore. She said she wasn’t sure of the way to go about it, but the need for employment opportunities locally.
The next question asked was, “Job creation is a constant struggle. What do you think would be an appropriate approach for the City to attract new jobs to our community?”
Carr kicked off the second answer by discussing the importance of infrastructure and the school being a good draw. She said she was always open to community opinion, but there needs to be a draw. Carr stated, “We need recruitment. We need someone out there trying to sell Cassville.”
Hennigan expressed the need to get the IDC, the Chamber and the City together on how to bring businesses in. “I feel like we’re missing a little bit. We all know our Chamber members. The Chamber members know City Council and IDC. I really feel like we need to get together so we have a comprehensive plan.”
Horner said that the school, the college and hospital are great draws to get businesses in. He also talked about how the roads are important to getting people to the area. Horner said, “We’ve got to be fishing everyday for jobs. I want a unified approach for that.”
Cieslinski answered question about the proposed ambulance sales tax from the South Barry County Ambulance District. The first question was, “There are some citizens that are concerned that our hospital is Mercy and the ambulance contract is Cox. Is there a reason to be concerned?”
Cieslinski said, “They are two totally separate entities and two totally separate contracts.” The end answer that there is not an issue with that.
The next question was, “In 2014, approximately how many calls were residents versus how many were non-residents? How will this tax adjustment help pass on this expense to those non-residents that are using the service and do not contribute to property tax?”
Cieslinkski said, “That probably is the single largest issue with the tax issue that is going to be on the ballot. There are about 3,000 calls a year that the Ambulance district goes on and nearly one-third of those calls are non-resident. As it is right now, the only people that are helping make that service available are based on your property tax.”
Charlea Mills
As the April 7 General Election approaches, the candidates are out in full force campaigning and presenting their issues to the community. One opportunity to do so included the Ballot Issues luncheon sponsored by the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Each year, the Chamber hosts a ballot issues event to allow Chamber members to meet the candidates and hear their stances on various issues related to the office they are seeking. This year, the event hosted candidates for the Cassville R-IV School Board, the Cassville City Council and the South Barry County Ambulance District Board, represented by chairman of the board Ken Cieslinski.
Running for the Cassville School board positions are incumbents John Sullivan and Carolyn Bowen and challengers Wade Hermansen and Dale Phelps. In the Cassville City Council election, northward incumbent Ann Hennigan and challenger Jon Horner were present as well as the challenger for the southward Cindy Carr. Southward incumbent Jan Anthony was unable to attend.
Chamber President Michelle Bredeson welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Barry County Clerk Gary Youngblood who explained the ballot and voting procedures for April 7’s Election. The format for Thursday’s event allowed for each candidate to share about themselves for two minutes and express their intentions in the election. Chamber member Stan Kelley asked each candidate two questions and they were given two minutes to respond to each. Questions were selected out of those submitted to the Chamber prior to the event.
The format was not a debate nor were questions accepted from the audience during the luncheon. Instead, candidates took turns answering the questions selected by the Chamber after introducing themselves and sharing their philosophy for their candidacy.
Questions began with the school board candidates when Kelley asked, “What improvements do you feel need to be made to our district to help make us a leader in the state?” Bowen answered first, touching on the improvements already made to the school through the bond issue passed last year. She also said, “With the new technology that we’ve added in the last three years has been tremendous and by the time we get all of that finished I am sure it’ll be time to update because all of that gets changed just immediately and constantly all the time.”
Sullivan echoed Bowen’s sentiment regarding the importance of technology. He also shared about the plans of a teacher to start one of only 25 programs in the state for high school students planning to pursue a degree in education. Sullivan concluded, “We need to keep our staff informed and stay on top of everything the state is doing and all of the new things going on, and we are fortunate enough to have young people who are energetic enough to do this. There’s a lot of great things going on, and it’ll never end what we need to do.”
Phelps said that he wanted to see the District looking at how other Districts are improving their programs. He also expressed the importance of the A+ program and said, “There are different ways of recruiting our kids to different colleges and get them scholarship money.”
Hermansen’s responses were dedicated to the importance of energy and culture within a school in terms of keeping teachers motivated and students successful. He stated, “If you want to know the condition of your district, you ask your teachers. You ask your custodians. You ask your bus drivers, and you ask them what is the culture of your school, and is it a culture of success? That’s what you need.”
The second question asked of the school board candidates was, “How do you plan to make sure our district is meeting the needs of all students from high achievers to special needs?”
Hermansen kicked off the answers, talking about his daughter’s experience as a special needs student and how enthusiastic her teacher has been with her small successes. He said, “That’s when I understood the education of a student comes from a dedicated teacher that is motivated and thrives on those little successes, because that is how little kids learn. They have those little successes, and you just build on them.”
Phelps’ response touched on the importance of attending school events in all areas. He also said, “We are losing out on other kids, we have two seniors that went out for baseball this year. We need to strive for all programs.”
Sullivan discussed the importance of the staff at the school. He said, “From top to bottom, it takes everyone, from the littlest to a 12th grader, it takes all of our staff to make these kids successful.”
Bowen discussed how she hears feedback from parents and teachers and how positive it is. She also said that there are always areas to improve and that is how the school grows. Bowen stated, “Our salaries are so that people want to come here and they want to stay.”
The first question asked of the City Council candidates was, “What do you feel are the two most important issues facing Cassville and why?”
Jon Horner said the most important issues were the roads and the infrastructure. We cannot grow, as a community if we don’t have the proper streets or the proper infrastructure for our current residents and our future residents.”
Hennigan echoed Horner’s sentiments about roads and infrastructure. But also added the importance of growing the economy. She said “Another thing that I think is really important is growing the economy and bringing in some industry. We don’t necessarily have the property available as far as the city owns to bring in big industry.”
Carr said that she really hoped that the city could find more jobs for younger people in the community to explore. She said she wasn’t sure of the way to go about it, but the need for employment opportunities locally.
The next question asked was, “Job creation is a constant struggle. What do you think would be an appropriate approach for the City to attract new jobs to our community?”
Carr kicked off the second answer by discussing the importance of infrastructure and the school being a good draw. She said she was always open to community opinion, but there needs to be a draw. Carr stated, “We need recruitment. We need someone out there trying to sell Cassville.”
Hennigan expressed the need to get the IDC, the Chamber and the City together on how to bring businesses in. “I feel like we’re missing a little bit. We all know our Chamber members. The Chamber members know City Council and IDC. I really feel like we need to get together so we have a comprehensive plan.”
Horner said that the school, the college and hospital are great draws to get businesses in. He also talked about how the roads are important to getting people to the area. Horner said, “We’ve got to be fishing everyday for jobs. I want a unified approach for that.”
Cieslinski answered question about the proposed ambulance sales tax from the South Barry County Ambulance District. The first question was, “There are some citizens that are concerned that our hospital is Mercy and the ambulance contract is Cox. Is there a reason to be concerned?”
Cieslinski said, “They are two totally separate entities and two totally separate contracts.” The end answer that there is not an issue with that.
The next question was, “In 2014, approximately how many calls were residents versus how many were non-residents? How will this tax adjustment help pass on this expense to those non-residents that are using the service and do not contribute to property tax?”
Cieslinkski said, “That probably is the single largest issue with the tax issue that is going to be on the ballot. There are about 3,000 calls a year that the Ambulance district goes on and nearly one-third of those calls are non-resident. As it is right now, the only people that are helping make that service available are based on your property tax.”