The drama. The mystery. The intrigue. The County Commissioner.

Welp. Here’s the thing. We’ve got a race happening here in Adair County for county commissioner. You’ve probably seen the candidate’s signs when you’re sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Baltimore.

Harley Harrelson vs. Stanley Pickens.

County commissioner. Sounds flashy, but what does the county commissioner do? Let’s start with a definition, shall we?

Commissioner: [kuh-mish-uh-ner]

1. a person commissioned to act officially; member of a commission.

There you have it folks. My work here is done. I’ve brought you information more insightful than anything that has come before it. We are electing an individual to act officially (what does that even mean?) and wear a membership badge.

…Okay, so maybe that’s not all.

Before writing this post, we gave our political communication class a survey to find out exactly what people know (or don’t know) about the county commissioner.

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Question 1:

Do you know what the general duties of County Commissioner consist of? No Yes

If yes, please elaborate.

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Responses:

• “I think they are in charge of delegating funds for the county or city.”
• “Usually a group of people from different areas who pass city ordinances and whatnot… Legislative House of the city.”
• “Main duty is regarding finances/taxes. Plus many things regarding county.”

And our personal favorite.

o “Turn the light on for the friendly neighborhood Batman.”

Oh, and ten people circled no.

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Question 2:

Do you know who is running for County Commissioner in Adair County? No Yes

If yes, tell me!

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Responses:

• “Clark?”
• “Swaim” (Wrong, but while we’re on the subject, Kristie Swaim is running for associate circuit judge against Josh Meyer. Post to come.)

And then we have someone who wrote in his or her own "maybe" and circled it.

• They wrote, “Pickens?” Have some confidence, people!

And the star student of our political communication class:

• “Harrelson and Pickens and I think one other person?”

We’ll just scratch off that last part…

o “Harrelson and Pickens and I think one other person?”

We’ve been working on finding an official description of the county commissioner, but it’s proving to be harder than we thought. Harrelson has a basic explanation of commissioner duties on his website. Here’s what we found.

o Construction and maintenance of public buildings

o Granting licenses

o Fixing the tax levies for the county and having the same collected

o Authorizing payments owed by the county and auditing all officers having control of county monies

o Managing county property and county funds

o Prosecuting and defending all actions for and against the county

o Overseeing the construction and repair of county roads and bridges

That’s a starting point, but we think there’s still a lot we need to know. In the next few weeks, we will to try and meet with Harrelson and Pickens to find out directly from them what a commissioner really does. (Besides act officially, of course.)

After all…

To vote for the right person for the job, we have to know what the job is.

Until then, comment on this post if you have any ideas about the commissioner or anything else related to Adair County!

So what are we voting on anyway?

It has happened to all of us. We go to the polls feeling somewhat educated about most of the candidates on the ballot. After watching countless TV ads and being bombarded by so much literature, you can't help but have a general sense of who is running for each race. You go down the ballot feeling quite confident until you come to the section of ballot proposals.

“Huh?! What is this? What does all this fancy language mean? I didn't know anything about this! If I vote yes, how will this affect me?”

These are just a few of the questions voters have asked when they get to this part of the ballot. But fear no more! We are here to untangle all of this political jargon and tell you exactly what you need to know. Ready? Let’s begin!

First, there are 3 amendments that voters will vote on. If passed, the Missouri Constitution will be modified with these changes. Amendment proposals are put on the ballot only after the majority in the state legislature approves it.

Amendment #1: All you’re voting on with this one is whether county assessors, who are usually appointed, should be voted into office in 3 of the 4 four counties in St. Louis (which are St. Louis, Jefferson, and St. Charles).

Why is this amendment on here? Well, because some believe that assessors will be held more accountable when assessing property if they have to go through the election process.

Amendment #2: The second amendment deals former prisoners of war. The amendment states that disabled POWs should be exempted from property taxes.

Why is this amendment on here? Because it is believed that our military veterans do not receive the help they deserve after serving our country. 

Amendment #3: The last one is about real estate taxes. The amendment proposes that no taxes should be added when property is sold or transferred.

Why is this amendment on here? The idea is that if transfer taxes are prohibited, then there will be no double taxation.

And last but not least are two propositions that met the required number of voter signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Proposition A: with this proposition voters will decide whether they want to decide whether to keep the earnings tax that is currently implemented in St. Louis and Kansas City. What’s an earnings tax you ask? Well basically the state of Missouri takes out 1% of the money earned by people who work or live in the two cities. If approved, voters will decide at the next election whether they want to keep the tax and all other cities in the state will be prohibited from enforcing the earnings tax.

Supporters: Let Voters Decide and The Show-Me Institute                                        

•         They say that voters have the right to decide whether they want this tax or not
•          Many businesses are hesitant to move into these cities because of these taxes, which means less jobs available for the residents
•          It is believed that if the tax was eliminated, over 5,000 would be created

Opponents: city officials in St. Louis and Kansas City

•          Leaders in the two cities argue that the tax is necessary for day-to-day services
•          The tax brings in $200 million a year and loss of that money means a loss of jobs

Proposition B: this amendment is also known as the “puppy mills initiative.” The initiative is an attempt to regulate dog breeding facilities. The proposition asks for breeders to have no more than 50 dogs at a time and to provide them with adequate shelter, food, and veterinary care. If passed, animal cruelty will become a misdemeanor crime.

Supporters: Missourians for Protection of Dogs

• There are over 3,000 puppy mills in the state that inflict harm on these animals
• Dogs should be treated fairly and get the respect they deserve

Opponents: Missouri Farm Family Agricultural Alliance

• The initiative is harmful to the agricultural business
• It is a trick to regulate CAFO’s (concentrated animal farming operations)

So there is a brief outline of what you can expect to vote on in the polls in November. We will be looking more closely at these amendments and propositions as the election gets closer but hopefully this will help you have a greater understanding of what you'll be voting for. 

And the blogging begins....

Come one, come all.  Our names are Kelly and Tracy. We're seniors at Truman State University who are about to embark on a political blogging adventure right here in Northeast Missouri.

        Right there, that red spot. That’s what this blog is about. When we received this assignment as part of Truman’s political communication class, we have to admit we were a little bummed about the subject of the blog: city and county elections and ballot proposals. These two topic areas are not widely publicized and sensationalized as the Senate race is between Carnahan and Blunt. In fact, it seems these topics receive very little media attention at all. Poor neglected things.

        But, no more. We plan to give these candidates and proposals the TLC they deserve. Our excitement about the blog grew as we realized this is our chance to dig and discover. We will not be relying solely on media sources. We will be relying on you, the people of Adair County, to learn exactly what these candidates are about and the impact the ballot proposals will have right here in Northeast Missouri.

        Of course, races on the state and national level will impact residents in this area, but the local races will resonate with much more strength as the elected officials are listening to constituents in this county only.

So…

Politics starts at the local level.

So…

The local level is that red spot on the map

So…

The red spot is a vital part of the November election.

What we don’t want to do.

Use lots and lots of political jargon.

Pork barrel spending.

Wall Street versus Main Street.

Washington insider. Slave to special interests.

Working across the aisle.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

  

What we do want to do.

Talk.

       Forget the political rhetoric, the ambiguous phrases, the inspiring imagery. We want to engage with you. We want to discover who is truly the candidate most fit for the job and how each ballot proposal will shape the lives of those that call Kirksville home. We want to talk to you. We want to interview the candidates for commissioner and associate circuit judge. (And perhaps interview them again… and again.) We can talk about puppy mills and taxes. We can talk about Adair County. We can talk about all that is local. All that affects our everyday lives.

So please, will you talk with us?

• Check out our blog often! We will be posting every Monday and Thursday
• Comment on our posts 
• Shoot us an email at AdairAlerts@gmail.com
• Tweet! @adairalerts
• Vote in our polls and of course, subscribe to our blog!

Afterall, we all live here together, so let’s make sure we know what we’re getting into.