Alexander County Q&A

McClure mayor

CHERYLE BRENDA DILLON

Age: 56

Occupation: Events coordinator for Humane Society of Southeast Missouri

Education: Shawnee High School in Wolf Lake, Ill.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, Pat, have two daughters and a son.

Political experience: Ran unsuccessfully for county commissioner in the March 2004 primary.

Gilbert Boren Jr.

Age: 62

Occupation: Retired bricklayer

Education: Shawnee High School in Wolf Lake, Ill.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Kay, have a son and a daughter.

Political experience: First run for political office.

Why do you want to be mayor?

Dillon: I was the one that started the effort to incorporate as a village a year and a half ago. I wanted to see it through.

Boren: I thought we needed a choice for mayor.

What best qualifies you to be mayor?

Dillon: I have been part of researching how to set up a village government. The county didn't know the rules. It was something we had to keep researching.

Boren: I opposed incorporation. I just didn't think we could afford it. I will look out for the community and particularly the older people.

If elected, what improvements would you like to make in McClure?

Dillon: A lot of people here would like to have a small park for the children to play in. We would like some day to our own sewer system. Some day we hope we can have a police department.

Boren: I am for sewers, if we can afford it.

What is the toughest challenge to establishing a village government?

Dillon: It will probably be six months before we have any money in the bank. The village board has to present a budget to the Illinois state government in May in order to obtain a share of state tax money.

Boren: We don't have a budget. We don't have a community center. We have nobody to work on the roads. There will be a lot of tough questions to answer.

McClure board

of trustees

DAVID TAYLOR

Age: 45

Occupation: Electrician

Education: Bachelor's from Southeast Missouri State University in electronic communication

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Theresa, have three sons and a daughter.

Political experience: First run for public office

Debbie Seals

Age: 46

Occupation: Secretary for Shawnee School District at Wolf Lake, Ill.

Education: Graduated from Shawnee High School

Personal: Married. She and her husband, Alfred, have a son.

Political experience: First run for public office

Frank Enloe

Age: 73

Occupation: Retired bus driver

Education: McKinley High School in St. Louis

Personal: Divorced

Political experience: First run for public office

Brenda Webb

Age: 48

Occupation: Registered nurse at St. Francis Medical Center

Education: Nursing college at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, Charles, have two sons.

Political experience: Serves on Shawnee Board of Education and also seeking re-election to the school board in the April election.

Ronald Burford

Age: 54

Occupation: Self employed in the timber business.

Education: Kelly High School at Benton, Mo.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Janis, have two daughters.

Political experience: First run for public office

Stanley Mouser

Age: 58

Occupation: Retired carpenter

Education: Shawnee High School

Personal: Married, He and his wife, Linda, have three daughters and a son.

Political experience: First run for public office

Jerry Wayne Wilson

Age: 46

Occupation: Salesman

Education: Graduated from Farmington, Mo., High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Beverly, have a son and a daughter.

Political experience: First run for public office

Rodney Brown

Age: 40

Occupation: Registered nurse and owner of a health-care business.

Education: Graduated from Shawnee High School and Shawnee Community College.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Casey, have a son and a daughter.

Political experience: Serves on the Shawnee Board of Education, an elected position he has held for 14 years. Ran unsuccessfully for Alexander County commissioner in 2004.

Lynn Cavness

Age: 50

Occupation: Owner of Bluff Lake Transport in McClure.

Education: Shawnee High School.

Personal: Single

Political experience: First run for public office

Why do want to serve on the board of trustees?

D. Taylor: Our town is starting out. I want to be involved in getting it started up and off on the right foot.

Seals: I was involved in getting the town incorporated. I want to see it through.

Enloe: I just want to see I can be of help to this town.

Webb: I would like to see our little village make some improvements.

Burford: I just want to try to clean up our village a little bit. We need laws on keeping lots clean.

Mouser: I think we need a cross section of people in town to serve on the village board.

Wilson: I would like to see some changes made. We have a lot of people in town that are ready for a change. This is similar to a church split.

Cavness: I voted against incorporation to begin with. I am a businessman. I don't want them to pass a bunch of laws if I don't have a say in it.

Brown: I would like to help McClure become a productive town.

What best qualifies you to serve on the board?

D. Taylor: I have lived here my whole life. I am familiar with the community.

Seals: I was among those who researched how to incorporate the town and set up a village government.

Enloe: I've been here 10 years.

Webb: I have served on the Shawnee school board and am running for re-election to that board.

Burford: I own and run my own business. I have a lot of business knowledge.

Mouser: I have served as fire chief of the McClure-East Cape Fire Department and serve on several other boards including the board of directors for the rural water district.

Wilson: I want to listen to the residents.

Cavness: I am a businessman. I just feel like I can make fair judgments.

Brown: I am a lifetime resident of McClure. I have a history of community support.

If elected, what improvements would you like to make in McClure?

D. Taylor: I'd like to get the flood-plain issue resolved to where we can build and it is possible to move forward with the town.

Seals: I'd like to see us create a park or some sort of facility for the kids. Eventually, I'd like to clean up and beautify the town.

Enloe: I have no special ideas.

Webb: The town needs to look at the possibility of a sewer system and police protection. We have no police protection other than the county. We need a community cleanup program.

Burford: I'd like to get the village government started and off the ground and running.

Mouser: I would like to see the town cleaned up and maybe have local law enforcement. I'd like to see us attract new businesses.

Wilson: I'd like to see us have a community park and some street lights. I'd like to see us clean up the town.

Cavness: We have to contract for road maintenance.

Brown: I want to be able to help all the residents of McClure. I don't have a particular issue.

What is the biggest challenge to creating a new village government?

D. Taylor: The biggest challenge is just getting everything set up with the state so we can get state tax money.

Seals: The biggest challenge is finding out everything you need to know and getting the word out to people. You have to be willing to put the time and effort into it.

Enloe: Right now, I don't see any big challenge.

Webb: I just think it is a challenge to get it going correctly.

Burford: The biggest challenge is just for the board to know what we can do and can't do. We don't have a city hall or a budget.

Mouser: Getting residents of the town to work together.

Wilson: Trying to get bylaws in place. We are going to have to build a community center.

Cavness: We have to find out what money we can get from the state government. I think the first year, maybe the first two years, will be really rough.

Brown: I think the biggest challenge will be just to be able to organize the village. Since it is brand new, no one knows how to operate the village.

Cairo Board of Education

DANNY BROWN

Age: 45

Occupation: Security officer for ELA Securities in Cairo.

Personal: Married, wife's name is Ren-a, and a daughter and a son.

Political experience: Served on the board from 1979 to 1999.

Brenda Gooden 8

Age: 65

Occupation: Owner of Midwest Company, formerly B&B Salvage and Rigging Inc.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, Bill, have two daughters.

Joe Griggs 8

Age: 65

Occupation: Director of Shawnee College's Extension Center in Cairo.

Personal: Married with four children

Berlene Jones 8

Age: 75

Occupation: Retired receptionist

Personal: Widow with five adult children

Marlene Schultz

Age: 67

Occupation: Retired administrative assistant

Personal: Married with four children

Political experience: Previously served on the school board

Mary Madison

Age: 50

Occupation: None listed

Personal: One daughter

Why do you want to serve on the school board?

Brown: I just feel the school district has lost communication with parents, students and the community as a whole.

Gooden: For the betterment of the students.

Griggs: To see the district continue in the direction it's going, to provide each student with the best possible education.

Jones: To serve the children and schools in the city.

Schultz: To prepare students for college.

Madison: To enhance the learning experience for all children.

What school issues need to be addressed?

Brown: The biggest challenge is to bring back unity. There needs to be better communication. Everyone talks about low test scores but teachers can't do it themselves. Down here, parents aren't involved because they don't have confidence in the board.

Gooden: The biggest challenge is trying to get our test scores up, trying to better educate our students. I would like to see more electives in the high school. We have to get our parents involved and our community.

Griggs: We have to provide safe schools, qualified and caring teachers, and increase parent participation in the educational process.

Jones: We have worked to get the school district back on track financially. We are now headed in the right direction.

Schultz: The most important challenge is academic restructuring.

Madison: Our children need people in positions that understand the importance of education and care that they become successful adults. We have to do a better job of training and recruiting qualified teachers, and equipping them with the technology needed to provide a fun and productive way to learn.

Thebes mayor

ANTHONY (SCOTT) BOMAR

Age: 35

Occupation: Dutch Enterprises heating and air-conditioning technician.

Education: Graduated Jackson High School.

Personal: Married. He and his wife, Allison, have two daughters and two sons.

Political experience: First run for public office

Why are you running for mayor?

Bomar: There wasn't anyone else running against the incumbent. I felt we needed a choice.

Q: What improvements are needed in Thebes?

Bomar: We need to make it a place we can be proud of. We have a historical courthouse. We need to get it open and keep it open. We need to try to attract some small businesses. You can't even buy a loaf of bread over here. I would like to get people to take pride in where they live, and get rid of the cars turned upside down in their front yards.

Thebes Board of Trustees

PATTY OSORIO

Age: 32

Occupation: Housewife

Education: Graduated from Collinsville, Ill. High School

Personal: Married. She and husband, Carlos, have three daughters and a son.

Political experience: First run for public office

Tina Hale Sissom

Age: 41

Occupation: Employed at Kagmo Electric in Cape Girardeau

Ediucation: Graduate of Egyptian High School in Tamms, Ill.

Personal: Married. She and her husband, J.B., have five children.

Political experience: Previously ran unsuccessfully for mayor and for village trustee

Why are you running for the village board of trustees?

Osorio: There is nothing for the youths in our small community. I would like to get a park or baseball team, something for these kids.

Sissom: I believe the next generation needs to take its place in the community.

What improvements are needed in Thebes?

Osorio: The community is all about the elderly. It is time for the next generation to step up and take its place in society and try to better this town. I would like to see some sort of business brought in here. We have no revenue in this town.

Sissom: I would like to clean up different things in the town, get some recreational parks for the kids. I would like to attract some businesses. We have all these empty lots down here in Thebes. I want to opt out of the federal flood-plain regulations. I don't agree with federal flood-plain regulation because it kills small towns.

Candidates who did not return profile information

Thebes Mayor Bobbie Shafer 8

Candidates for Thebes Board of Trustees Elise (Lisa) Hale, and John Kennedy

Candidate for McClure Board of Trustees Claude Taylor

Cairo Board of Education Carlandus Mallory 8