Dudley, Kespohl elected to City Council

Points of focus include safety, cutting spending and creating jobs.

By Tarah Benner

Published April 9, 2010

Gary Kespohl and Daryl Dudley were elected to City Council on Tuesday. The Chamber of Commerce-endorsed candidates said they both plan to focus on reducing crime in Columbia and bringing in new businesses and jobs.

During his two-month campaign, Kespohl, the Third Ward Councilman-elect, knocked on upwards of 3,000 doors in the Third Ward and enlisted the help of Scott Wendling to incorporate social media like Twitter and Facebook into his campaign to reach out to Internet users.

In a tight race, Kespohl beat incumbent Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala by 54 votes out of more than 2,400 cast.

The day after the election, Kespohl admitted he was still in a state of shock.

On election night, Skala said on Kespohl resorted to negative campaigning, referring to an ad that criticized his city travel expenses.

"The word on the street when I was knocking on doors was kind of, 'Not in my town,' " Skala said of Kespohl's campaign strategies. "Like, 'Why is this coming to Columbia?' This is kind of a national negative campaign thing."

Dudley, who won the Fourth Ward race, said he ran to give the customers he talks to every day a voice in City Council.

"It's not all about me," he said. "And I will listen to everybody and make a decision on that. I have to face these people every day, so they will tell me if I've done something wrong."

Dudley, who beat three other candidates, manages a Hy-Vee convenience store. He won by a slim margin with 36 percent of the vote.

Both Dudley and Kespohl stressed reining in city spending in their plans for Columbia's future.

"It's time to get some businesspeople on the council who can run this city like a business," Kespohl said. "We've got to get control of the city budget."

One way Dudley intends to cut spending is by rallying a citizen base to care for existing parks rather than spending the money creating new parks.

"If we get people proud of their neighborhood, proud of their neighbors, everything will start to look better," he said. "People will become self-policing as far as keeping it clean, keeping it straight, keeping it a very nice-looking place."

Safety is an issue to both Kespohl and Dudley.

Kespohl said the downtown unit is down to two officers and he plans to bring it back up to six by spring.

"The downtown squads will be back full strength," he said.

Kespohl is also optimistic installing security cameras downtown will aid in deterring crime.

"Once we get the cameras installed, I think parents will feel good about bringing their kids here to go to school and come on downtown," he said. "It'll be safe."

In addition to crime prevention, Dudley and Kespohl want to encourage more growth in Columbia. Dudley said putting people back to work could generate enough revenue from sales tax to avoid raising other taxes.

"If people are working, they're buying things," he said. "That's where it all comes from."

Dudley said Columbia must continue looking for new options for growth and development.

"Look at other cities and see what they're doing," he said. "Everybody's got a different plan that works."

Kespohl said he wants there to be incentives for businesses to stay in Columbia, and Dudley hopes to find a way to avoid sending bright MU minds elsewhere.

"We have so many things coming out of the university and out of the schools," Dudley said. "Why do we want to send those jobs and those brain trusts? Why do we want to send those somewhere else?"