First Ward candidates focus on safety, students

By Robby Lewis
March 7, 2008

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First Ward candidates said they all know Columbia needs improvement, specifically in the First Ward itself.

The League of Women Voters of Columbia/Boone County held an open forum Thursday night for the Columbia residents to share their questions with the potential candidates.

LWV chairwoman Carol Schreiber said the forum was a great opportunity for residents to learn about an election that is not heavily covered.

“The electing is coming up in April,” Schreiber said. “There are four candidates for the First Ward, while Laura Nauser is unopposed in the Fifth Ward. We like to give the public an opportunity to ask questions and the candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves.”

A number of First Ward residents live in lower-cost housing. A resident complained that a police officer recently has been telling residents of the First Ward they should move elsewhere.

First Ward Councilwoman Almeta Crayton said the officer was out of line to do this.

“I don’t think it’s an officer’s duty to tell you where to live,” Crayton said. “You pick up the criminals, you don’t tell people where to live.”

Former mayoral candidate John Clark said it is offensive, but not surprising because of the lack of police officers in Columbia.

“That behavior is just as offensive as when a lot of realtors weren’t showing houses to people in the First Ward,” Clark said. “It is somewhat understandable because the police are lacking 20 to 25 officers in each beat. We need adequate staffing.”

Ragtag Cinemacafé owner Paul Sturtz said safety must be improved before the rest of the ideas can be talked about.

“We need to put our resources into police staffing,” Sturtz said. “If the people don’t feel safe, we can’t act on the rest of our ideas.”

The candidates also believe one thing they will have to do is get MU students more involved with the government. Former neighborhood association officer Karen Baxter recently put up her own Web site to help reach out to students.

“I have approached several groups on campus,” Baxter said. “One of the main reasons I started my Web site is because I know this how students get a lot of their information.”

Sturtz said it is difficult to get students involved because most of them don’t plan on staying.

“It’s a real challenge,” Sturtz said. “When I was 19 years old, I didn’t care about the college town I lived in. It really takes being drawn in a while and knowing the government and the city they live in affects them.”

Sturtz said more people should get involved in their city government.

“We need more and more people to come to these forums and be involved in our government,” Sturtz said. “We need a more transparent government and more involvement.”

Clark said it is impossible to join a city council with no plan in place.

“I have a fire in my belly, and have for 15 years, and that is to change Columbia and the First Ward,” Clark said. “I don’t think you can be an effective member if you are starting from scratch. And I have been planning these 15 years.”

Crayton said Columbia has to unify together to fix problems.

“It’s been a good experience to be on council,” Crayton said. “I see a difference, but we’re not there yet. There is such a divide here, but we ignore it. We need to come together in our community and solve these problems. As long as you are divided, you’ll never get anything done.”

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First Ward candidates focus on safety, students

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