Springfield City Council Primaries

Zone 2 residents, it is time to retire Sheila Wright. After listening to her recent interview with Vince Jericho (linked to broadcast on KSGF Newstalk Radio), these items struck me:

• Ms. Wright says she wants to work with the police and fire departments to "upgrade" those departments (whatever that means). Ms. Wright was pretty calloused about stiffing those departments on their pension plan, which leads into...
• The missing money from city coffers. About 1.5 million. Funny thing, that's about equal to the shortfall in the police and firefighters' pension plan. Ms. Wright says that City Council didn't enable the thief through their lack of oversight. One must question why she feels that way. Two previous audits indicated a lack of checks and balances in the accounting system, and those problems were not addressed.

Somehow, I don't think the miles and miles of sidewalks that Ms. Wright is so proud of (except in my neighborhood) quite makes up for the rancor City Council has created with our first responders, nor the indifference to how the taxpayers' money is handled. Twelve years of Ms. Wright is enough. Time for new blood.

The second candidate, Steven Lloyd Reed (link to interview here, would like to see Amtrak service in this area. I would too if it weren't for the fact that Amtrak is a black, sucking hole that can't make a profit, in spite of continuous infusions of tax dollars. Mr. Reed is also in favor of funding a technology park (check it out on his website.) I don't want to spend my tax dollars on it, but decide for yourself.

My choice for the Zone 2 seat is Cynthia Rushefski. You can listen to her interview here.

Rushefski seems to understand some of the problems the city is facing, such as:

• Our understaffed police department.
• Lack of oversight in the accounting departments.
• The rising crime rate.

I'm confident that Ms. Rushefski can improve those major problems and still have time for sidewalks.

Also on the ballot is a 1/4 cent tax hike. Yes, I know that they tell you that it doesn't raise taxes, but it does. While I won't vote for it, I fully expect that it will pass.

The polls are open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. You can check out what is on the ballots here.

Comments

[PC]

Ruin my day? What part of this was supposed to ruin my day?

"Sorry for the egg"? What ARE you going on about?

As for my "buddy Cindy," I've never met the woman.

I have met you however. I've also watched you in action in front of City Council. You seem to get bent out of shape rather easily--something you can't really afford to do if you want to hold public office.

[Steven Reed]

More in case you do not post the other

I spend many different days and many hours working to help Doug get the Audit going since I had done the Nixa one and understood the entire process.

And the thinks I get was?

Sorry I hate to ruin your day!

[Steven Reed]

DA

If you ever check out the facts City Council has already spend millions on the second industrial park which sits empty.

And your buddy Cindy will fit right in with the rest of them after you help elect her! She turned in her Missouri Ethics Committee form as a Democrat---sorry for the egg!

DA