SCOTT CITY TO ELECT COUNCILMEN, THREE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS

SCOTT CITY -- On Tuesday, voters here will decide who is to hold two city council seats and must eliminate one of four candidates for three school board seats.

The ballots will show a contested race in Ward 2, and two write-in candidates are vying for the open Ward 1 seat.

The Ward 2 seat is currently held by Kenneth Holder Jr., who is being challenged by Robert Camp Jr.

Holder has served on the council for one year.

"I really like serving on the council," Holder said. "I ran initially to help improve the city and to see the people of Scott City get involved in their government."

Holder, who has lived in Scott City all his life, said he has watched the community grow. He said he believes it has the potential for further development.

"I think that we have to do a lot better job marketing the city in the future," Holder said. "We could give short-term tax breaks to new businesses so that they would come to Scott City and take root.

"We also need to establish some sort of tourism market and sponsor community events to get people to come to the city to spend money," Holder said.

Holder's opponent, Camp, has lived in Scott City since 1966.

"I have children who live (in Scott City); I want to make it a better place for them to grow up," Camp said.

Camp said he would prefer to have members of the Police Personnel Committee elected by the community at large, and would like to see the police chief elected rather than appointed by the mayor.

"That way we could be sure the police activities are in the general interest of the majority of the people," Camp said. He cited the fact that the city police currently patrol parts of the interstate rather than concentrate solely on the well-being of the city.

"I don't want to see people hot-rodding on the interstate, but I would rather see the police patrolling the streets of the city than looking for extra revenue on the interstate," Camp said.

Two people in Scott City have launched write-in campaigns for the Ward 1 council seat.

Brenda Moyers, current Ward 1 councilwoman, did not file for re-election. Now, she's had a change of heart and is launching a write-in campaign.

"I am going to nursing school full time and I thought that I just wouldn't have the time to devote to the council," Moyers said.

"But the council has worked so well together over this past year that I decided I would make time for the city," she said.

THere are several things Moyers said she would like to see completed if re-elected.

"I want to see Nash Road open to the Southeast Missouri Port Authority," Moyers said. "I'd also like to see someone from Scott City named to the port authority board."

Moyers said she also hopes that a second street leading out of Scott City will soon be built.

"It would be in the best interest for safety and convenience," she said. Currently, Main Street is the only through street that runs east and west in Scott City.

Shortly after Moyers' announcement that she would run a write-in campaign, Randy Newell made public his intentions to run against her.

"I want to take part in the growth of the city," Newell said. "I would put every effort forth to serve the residents of the ward and the city as a whole."

He said that he first became interested in city government when he recently served on the council's address changing committee, preparing for the change to 911 service in the fall.

If elected, Newell said he would like to establish some form of "City Beautiful" project.

"We could get people to maintain their yards and other areas of the city that need to be cleaned up," Newell said. "We could have the town looking a lot better than it does now."

Since no one has officially filed for Moyers' seat, the person who gets the most write-in votes will win the election.

Jerry Cummins, who has served on the council for the last six years, is running unopposed for the Ward 3 council seat. Cummins is the chairman of the council's 911 Committee and spearheads the city's efforts to have an operational emergency phone service by November. Cummins also serves on the council's Budget and Planning and Zoning committees.

Norman Brant is running for the Ward 4 council seat currently held by John Smith. Smith, who has served on the council for the last six years, is not seeking re-election. Brant is unopposed.

Four candidates have filed for three open seats on the Scott City Board of Education.

Gale Dale, who has served on the board for two terms, is seeking re-election.

"When I filed for the first time, I wasn't real involved in the city," Dale said. "Being on the school board is a good way to get involved; it's something I hold a vested interest in."

Dale said she believes Scott City has a terrific school system and wants to be able to continue to serve and maintain a standard of excellence.

"You can make a lot of difference on the school board," Dale said. "But you must be open minded and willing to listen and make the best decisions you can that will ideally benefit the most students."

Mike Ruth, who has served on the board for one, three-year term, said that he would like to remain on the board to see the planned renovations of the schools completed.

"They're going to do a lot of work this summer the bulk of it anyway," Ruth said. Ruth has a son in Scott City High School and a daughter who is a graduate of the Scott City schools.

"I would like to see the school grow in the number of students attending," Ruth said. He said that unlike other area schools, he believes Scott City can make room for more students.

"We need to keep the class sizes down, but we've got the room," Ruth said.

"I enjoy being involved with the school board," Ruth said.

Ray Smith, who ran an unsuccessful campaign to be elected to the school board last year, saw an opportunity in filing for an open seat.

"I think we have one of the most successful school boards in the state," Smith said. Smith has served as president and vice president of the Scott City Parent-Teacher Organization.

"I have two kids in the school system now," Smith said. "I would like the opportunity to serve them, and the other students of the district."

Cathy Raines is also running for the open seat on the school board.

"I have three children one on every level of the school system from whom I learn the problems each level suffers," Raines said. "I am interested in what is going on; I want to be part of the decisions that are made."

Raines knows newly hired Scott City Superintendent Doug Berry well, having served with him on the Scott City Parent-Teachers Organization.

"The hiring of Mr. Berry is one of the reasons I am running," Raines said. "It's a very exciting, positive time for the schools."