Candidate Name: Eddie Eaker
Party: Republican
Age: 53
Place of birth: Cape Girardeau
Spouse: None
Children: None
Occupation: Farmer/Lead operator
Education: Woodland High School, Southeast Missouri State University BS in Business/Human Resources
Employer: Agrium Advanced Technology
Businesses owned, all or part: E&M Processing
Previous offices held/sought: None
Question 1: What do you see as Bollinger County's biggest challenge and greatest needs?
Answer: Bringing business to Bollinger County. Without increasing the county tax base, by bringing in new business, revenue will only decline and services will have to be cut to keep a balanced budget.
Question 2: What do you see as the county commission's role in economic development in Bollinger County?
Answer: The presiding Commissioner should work with the Missouri Department of Economic Development to bring business to the county. Other counties in Southeast Missouri have been successful in doing this and so can we.
Question 3: What can the county as a whole do to ensure improvement of highways in Bollinger County, especially Highway 34 and Highway 51?
Answer: The state won't do much to the county roads until there is a need. The Commissioners have to start working harder to increase the need for better roads.
Question 4: Given the current economy, what do you see happening to the Bollinger County budget? Cutbacks? Status Quo? Increasing revenue?
Answer: If revenue is not increased there will have to be major cutbacks to keep the county budget balanced.
Closing remarks: The county is at a cross road. We can keep going the way we are and be one of the poor Missouri counties, or we can start doing something about it. By getting the word out that Bollinger County has some of the hardest working and most dependable people in the state. When this happens business will start to ask questions, the commissioners need to be there to ask what can we do to help.
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