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City candidates speak about communities, progress
Note: This is second in a series on the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum held Monday.
Candidates for local city boards gave their thoughts on the statuses of their communities during Monday night's election candidate forum held at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center on the Fort Scott Community College campus.
Present for a discussion were three candidates for the Fort Scott City Commission, including incumbents Sam Mason and Cindy Bartelsmeyer, and Jim Adams, who is seeking a seat, and one candidate for the Uniontown City Council, incumbent Mayor Larry Jurgensen. Danea Esslinger, an incumbent on the Uniontown City Council, was not present at the forum.
Local broadcaster Larry Gazaway moderated the forum. Candidates talked about the communities they represent and explained why they are running for seats on their respective panels.
In this year's election, all candidates for all school board and council/commission positions are uncontested. The only race of competitive nature is that of the Fort Scott City Commission where the top two vote-getters will be awarded four-year terms and the third place finisher will earn a two-year term.
Bartelsmeyer, currently the mayor of Fort Scott, said she is an FSCC graduate and previously worked at the college where she managed state and federal grants. Bartelsmeyer said she is involved with several local groups and organizations such as the Red Cross, Good Neighbor Action Team and Bourbon County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), to name a few.
"I enjoy living here," she said.
Mason, a retired district magistrate judge, said he was born and raised in Bourbon County and attended local schools. He has served on the city commission for six years.
"I enjoy it," he said.
Adams, a former city commissioner and mayor, said he was not born and raised in Fort Scott but has lived in Fort Scott "two different times." Adams' previous city government experience includes four years as commissioner and two years as mayor.
"I came back 12 years ago," he said. "I thought I'd get involved in politics. I have a lot of passion for the city."
Adams said the city is "doing a very good job" and one of his main goals is to "ensure we remain transparent." He said the commission should be a diverse group of people.
"There has been progress the last few years, continuing projects," he said. "I think everyone (commissioners) brings a unique perspective. The most important for me is transparency. I want to ensure that continues."
Mason said he continues to enjoy "working for the general public" and commended City Manager Dave Martin for his work with the commission and for the city. Mason said he is proud of the fact that commissioners have not raised the city mill levy in six years.
"When the city manager does all the leg work for the commission, that's all you really need," Mason said.
Mason said immediate goals for the city include further beautification efforts and continuing to address the condition of local roads.
"Streets, streets, streets and potholes," he said. "Beautification also, and helping neighbors clean up."
Bartelsmeyer said she has served on the commission for four years, two of those years as mayor. She said she found herself "unexpectedly" in the mayoral role when she was appointed two years ago. Bartelsmeyer grew up in Uniontown but has lived in Fort Scott for several years.
"I've loved Fort Scott since I was a kid," she said.
During her time in Fort Scott, Bartelsmeyer said she has "enjoyed watching progress in the city" and local groups "that work toward that goal." She referenced the numerous improvement projects currently going on in the city such as the LaRoche Baseball Complex, the Western Building renovation and the Riverfront Park project, to name a few, as well as various street and local clean-up projects.
"Tell me how many cities have this much going on," she said.
Bartelsmeyer said commissioners are "all very forward-thinking." Some immediate goals she mentioned include addressing local infrastructure, which she said has "kind of gone downhill for several years. We will address that."
Bartelsmeyer also echoed a recent directive made by Martin that the city is going to get "tough on codes issues," she said.
Commission candidates were asked about a project the GNAT plans to conduct in May to make property improvements along the East Wall Street corridor, and if there should be a long-term plan to address beautification efforts across the city.
"The GNAT is the way to start," Adams said. "It takes a lot of people, a lot of labor and a lot of hours and volunteers to help out."
Adams said he has already seen some improvements being made on Wall Street.
"A lot of problems have a 50-year history," he said. "They should have been kept up all along ... We'll keep up."
Bartelsmeyer said the GNAT project on Wall Street "is just the beginning." Addressing that corridor first is a good idea as visitors should have a "nice visual first impression of the city."
"What I've seen has been positive and people are willing to clean up their areas," she said. "That's the first of many areas to work on."
Mason said the city has money available to help low-income residents rehab their properties. Improvements he mentioned included resurfacing of Second Street, expected to begin Thursday, and the recent clean-up of trees and sites around town.
"It's going to take time," he said.
Uniontown Mayor Larry Jurgensen, who was present at the forum, said he has served on the council and as mayor for two terms. Jurgensen said the town is moving forward and a project to implement a new water delivery system for its residents was recently completed.
He added that a future item on the Uniontown City Council's agenda is a new community center in the town.
"It's not a one person deal," Jurgensen said about the work of the council. "It's a team. We have a plan going forward."
Jurgensen said current council members Seth Martin and Dustin Goalden are stepping off the council this year and have talked about possibly coming back on the panel in the future.
"So we want voters to get out and write people in and fill our council," he said.
The forum also included updates from USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham on the school bond issue for his district voters approved in November 2014, USD 235 Superintendent Randy Rockhold on the proposed $2.5 million bond issue for his district, and Bourbon County Sheriff Bill Martin on a sales tax proposal to build a new jail facility. Both the USD 235 bond issue and the sales tax proposal for a new jail will be on the April 7 ballot.
The purpose of the forum is to introduce candidates to the public so constituents know more about those representing our cities and schools in Bourbon County, and to provide information on the bond issues and sales tax proposal, according to information from the chamber.