THREE OF FOUR CHAFFEE COUNCILMEN FILE FOR RE-ELECTION

CHAFFEE -- Three of four Chaffee City Council members have filed for re-election.

Filing opened Tuesday, and closes Feb. 4.

Jerry Wolsey of Ward 1, Ron Eskew of Ward 3 and Brad Bader of Ward 4 have all filed for re-election. Ward 2 Councilwoman Irmgard Chronister has not yet filed, but said she plans to do so.

Both Wolsey and Chronister would enter their second terms if re-elected. Bader has served on the council since February after he was appointed to replace Keith Moore, who died in a car accident.

The council appointed Eskew at the request of Mayor Ron Moyers to fill a vacancy created when Randy Dooley moved from the ward. Eskew was sworn in Dec. 16.

Wolsey, 40, of 503 North Fifth Street, said Tuesday he enjoyed serving the people of Chaffee and that a lot of work remained to be done. The city just finished its third year of a five-year street improvement project, Wolsey said, and he'd like to be involved in seeing the project through.

Wolsey said he'd also like to continue taking part in helping to improve the city's water system and public safety. Hard work by the council and the city's water superintendent, Jack Martin, has bettered the water system, he said.

"In the ward I represent I want to really work hard on getting better drainage of water. We have somewhat of a flooding problem up in Ward 1 during hard rain. I want to work closely with the water and street superintendent in getting this water drained off."

Several ditches will have to be cleaned out, said Wolsey. Because Chaffee is somewhat in a low-lying area anyway, the work which will also include unstopping culverts won't correct the entire problem, but Wolsey said he hopes it will take care of much of it.

The work has already started and will continue into the summer, said Wolsey. Most everyday, he said, work is done up on the north end of Dame Street.

Wolsey owns and operates Wolsey Investigative Service of Chaffee.

For Bader, 35, the chance to continue serving on the council another two years would be a chance to continue learning something he's already done a lot of.

"It's a learning curve and you learn as you go along it," he said, "and I'd like to do it another two years." Bader said he's learned a lot about how a small town budget is put together and enjoys the process.

Recycling and waste disposal, and how they will affect the city, interests him, said Bader, a Chaffee dentist who lives at 602 Sheridan.

"I'd like to get involved," he said. "It's a healthy mix on the council to have people from different professions and backgrounds; to bring different ideas to the council."

Ron Eskew, though he's only been on the council a short time, said he finds the job interesting and would like to continue.

"I'm becoming very interested in what Chaffee does for its youth. I'm very interested in keeping (illegal) drugs out of Chaffee."

Eskew, 36, of 419 Gray, is a loan collection supervisor at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. Eskew has worked at the university for 12 years.

In May, Eskew said, he will receive a master's of science degree in administration, with an emphasis in human resources from Southeast.

"It will be kind of interesting to see how I can use (that) in working with the council and the citizens of Chaffee," he said.