Harley Harrelson: The Facts

Hello, all! Earlier this week we sat down with Harley Harrelson, the Democratic candidate for Presiding Commissioner of Adair County and drilled him about what he would do should he be elected. Here ya go, folks.

The Budget

• Get the budget back on track
• Eliminate wasteful spending

Harrelson owns and operates an auto mechanic shop in Kirksville. He runs his business and handles the revenue in a way that he believes the government should. How’s that? Simple. He doesn’t spend the money until he has it. Harrelson noted that the government tends write a check and then worry about how they will pay for it later. One of his main goals as commissioner will be to get the budget back in line. In order to accomplish this goal, Harrelson will make concerted efforts to cut down on wasteful spending. He believes there is a lot of wasteful spending that occurs in Adair County and that government officials tend to spend rather frivolously. “With me, it’ll be like its my money,” Harrelson said, so he’ll only spend it on cost-effective and sensible purchases.

Jobs

• Create more jobs in Adair County

Some people have told Harrelson that procuring jobs for the community is not in the commissioner’s job description. Harrelson, however, believes this is an important duty, although it occurs indirectly. Harrelson offered the example of a wind farm that is being prepared for construction in Adair County. It will create jobs, and he wants to continue to do just that. Harrelson wants jobs to be readily available for those that want and need them. Additionally, if Truman graduates want to stay in Kirksville after graduation, he would like jobs to be here so that is a possibility.

Roads and Bridges

• Improvement and maintenance

In our interview, Harrelson told us that there have been a lot of issues with the roads due to all the rain we’ve had and also due to a lack of funding. We didn’t know this, but the majority of funding for roads comes from a gas tax. When gas prices increased people cut down on driving or purchased more fuel-efficient cars. As a result, less gasoline was purchased and the funding for the roads was depleted. Harrelson said that the state of Missouri is pushing Adair County to improve their Road and Bridge commission, or it will be dissolved. If that is the case, residents will not be able to drive on country roads because there will be no funding to maintain them. This clearly cannot be allowed to occur and Harrelson will take steps to make our roads drivable.

Emergency response

• Coordinate neighboring fire departments
• Create a list of First Responders that can be called to duty in emergency

As we saw two years ago when a tornado hit Kirksville, natural disasters happen. Harrelson thinks it’s important to be prepared for them. Harrelson stated that the tornado was handled well, but he wonders what would have happened if it hit a mile or two south where the hospital and nursing home are located. Harrelson would like to establish a list of First Responders who could be called in were a disaster or any other emergency to occur. He wants to organize and train First Responders to coordinate evacuation efforts. Harrelson would also like to collaborate with neighboring fire departments to be even further prepared.

Communication

• Public forums
• Clear and open communication

Harrelson believes that the current commissioner does not communicate with the residents of Kirksville nearly as much as he should. Harrelson stated that it is necessary to be open with voters. If elected, Harrelson wants to host open forums in town. At these forums, residents could express any thoughts, ideas, and concerns they may have. Harrelson realizes that no one knows the roads like the people that drive them everyday, and he needs to know their concerns to properly do his job. Harrelson also stated that there are a lot of people with a lot of good ideas, but they usually aren’t heard. Through these forums, they would be heard and he would have the opportunity to establish clear communication pathways with the residents of Adair County.

There you have it, Harley Harrelson on the issues. He has a lot of ideas, but its up to you to vote for who you think is the best candidate. As Harrelson said in our interview, “It shouldn’t matter what party you are. You vote for the best person for the job.”

These are the facts, but check back this weekend to hear our own thoughts and opinions on the interview, Harrelson, and the job of presiding commissioner!