Jackson School Board member to seek nomination for 157th District

The race to replace state Rep. Scott Lipke is underway.

Gerald Adams, a Jackson School Board member for 11 years, said Tuesday that he will seek the Republican nomination in the 157th Missouri House District. Adams finished third in a four-way primary in 2002, gathering 22.4 percent of the vote in a contest Lipke won with 29.4 percent.

Adams, 57, is a former dairy farmer currently employed as a printer at Nordenia. School board experience will give him insights into education issues, including school funding and spending, he said.

"There are changes every year, whether state regulations or federal regulations," Adams said. "There is not a lot of experience in Jefferson City of people who have been on school boards.

Lipke, a Jackson Republican, has represented the 157th Missouri House district since 2003. Because of term limits, Lipke will not be able to run for a fifth two-year term in 2010. Donna Lichtenegger, a Republican activist who lost to Lipke by 24 votes in the 2002 primary, said Tuesday that she is considering the race but has not made a decision.

The 157th District includes Jackson, most of northern Cape Girardeau County and most of Perry County except Perryville. The district has been represented by a Republican since the late 1980s.

Lawmakers sometimes try to make decisions on how districts spend money without considering the problems such mandates create, Adams said. Bills that have been discussed, but in Adams's view were bad ideas when proposed, include a mandate to spend 65 percent of the district budget on teaching staff and another measure that would have raised the minimum salaries for teachers.

"That is why seven people are elected by the people in this district," Adams said. "We have different needs in different proportions in different areas, and we know those problems. With 524 public school districts, they can't all be the same."

Other times, Adams said, lawmakers get it right. The school funding formula currently in place is working well, he said.

Adams said his background as a dairy farmer -- he and his wife operated G&A Dairy Farm in Gordonville for several years -- will help him when lawmakers are debating agricultural issues.

"There is a lot of red tape and inspections, which are fine, but sometimes they just go overboard," Adams said.

Adams plans an official announcement of his campaign in August, after lining up supporters to help run the campaign and naming a campaign treasurer.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Jackson, Mo.