Candidate questionnaire: Randy J. Leible

NAME: Randy J. Leible

AGE: 54

PLACE OF BIRTH: Perryville, Mo.

SPOUSE, CHILDREN'S NAMES:

Married to Teresa Leible. We have two children. Amber Leible, who is a teacher in Cape Girardeau at Clippard school, and Wade Leible, who is a sophomore at the University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo.

OCCUPATION: Sales representative

EMPLOYER:

Lutesville Motor Co., Marble Hill, Mo.

PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD OR SOUGHT:

Presently I am Alderman Ward II, Perryville. I also served on the Perryville Park Board several years as president prior to being elected to office.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING PERRYVILLE?:

Like several communities, working to deal with a sluggish economy. Like other cities, tax revenues are slumping so it is important to be as frugal with the money as possible to keep the city running smoothly while continuing to spur community wide economic growth to keep our community and city healthy without raising taxes to generate necessary funds to do so.

WHAT IN YOUR BACKGROUND OR EDUCATION MAKES YOU QUALIFIED FOR THIS OFFICE?:

I have been fortunate to have served as alderman for 18 years. As a city we have been through several large setbacks, starting with the flood of 1993. That was a huge test for the entire community, closing Gilster Mary Lee, Sabreliner Corp., and several other small businesses in the bottoms, leaving major damage to all the buildings located there. The airport is owned by the city so we worked with Sabreliner to rebuild so we could save our local jobs. Through the 18 years I served, we have worked through the closing of the local landfill and learned how to deal with issues related to its closing. Storm-water runoff has always been an issue in town and still is. We still are working to deal with it because as the city grows and gets more buildings and parking lots, the water tends to get places faster. We have done a good job dealing with day to day issues while building things for future generations, re: the Perry Park Center which enabled the old Community Center to be turned into the Senior Citizens Center today. We purchased the Prost property on the bypass originally to control storm water. Today it still serves that purpose but also the new Soccer Complex. We were involved with helping establish The Perryville Higher Education Center, which is a very important piece of the puzzle for future growth of our community, our youth, all of the local people and people in surrounding communities as well. We continue to maintain our streets and infrastructure and make necessary improvements so they can serve us for years to come. We have built new sewer and water plants and continue to modify them as necessary so that they are capable to handle future growth and increased demands. We have added additional water towers with cooperative efforts with T.G. Missouri and Walmart to improve fire protection as well as improve the water pressure issues that some folks have had in the past. We have continued to work to keep our ISO rating as high as possible to help keep our homeowners' insurance as low as possible. We did these things without significant tax increases. I have and will always work to build for the future of our city and community. I am truly proud of Perryville and the people here because these things could not have happened without the people's giving of their time and sharing their ideas to make Perryville the place it is today. Thank's to all of you!