"At Large" Draws Little Interest.

The City Council held their regular meeting Tuesday evening in City Hall. The Council rejected a proposed Ordinance that would change the way Council Members are elected. The bill would have changed the current representation of two Council members per ward to one member per ward. The remaining five members would be elected by the entire community. These community elected members are referred to as "at large" candidates.

The Ordinance was rejected by a two to seven vote. Members Jackie Boyer and Bill Fortune voted in favor of the "at large" electing of members. Members Mike Harris, Ron Ferguson, Diane Sharits, Ronnie Wells, Don Stearnes and Bill Welch voted against. Council Member Jim Woestman was absent.

The concern of most members was the possibility that members elected "at large" would be from one particular ward.

"My thoughts concern there being special interests and power," said Harris.

"This could cause a possibility of corruption," said Bill Welch.

"I’m really disappointed in the outcome," said Boyer. "I have served on the Council for eleven years. I don’t know of any instance were a Council vote was detrimental to other wards."

Prior to the vote Mayor Kenneth Johnson stated his reasons for sponsoring this ordinance. Johnson stated that he didn’t stand alone in this idea and it’s a way of getting more people in the community involved in the City Council.

"Joplin’s been doing it for several years with no problems," said Johnson.

This Ordinance would have corrected residency requirements. As it stands now persons wanting to run for City Council do not have to live in the ward they want to represent.

The filing date for next April’s City Council election is Tuesday, December 16th. Closing date to file is January 20th, 2004.

Heroes Honored.

During the City Council meeting Tuesday, Police Chief Dennis Veach, Fire Chief John Cooper, and City Mayor Kenneth Johnson honored those involved in saving the lives of the residents in a recent apartment fire.

Police Officers John Banks, William Barksdale, Steve Waldo and Carthage citizen Steve Swatosh were each presented a plaque of recognition for their heroic acts.

"They got a sheet, everybody got a corner," said Police Chief Veach. "Two children ages two and three years old were simply tossed out a second story window, two adults also jumped out the window."

The police were already at the complex on another call when the second floor apartment was on fire.

"It was a very intense situation on the second floor," said Veach. "Officers called into the Fire Department. However, there just simply was not enough time for the Fire Department to get there."

The fire occurred November 25th on the second floor of an apartment building in the Quail Ridge Apartment Complex.

It will be interestin’ to see if anyone takes advantage of the "loophole" in the Carthage Code and files to represent a ward they don’t live in.

As you may remember, the former 1st Ward Council member Mike Harris filed to run after being off the Council a couple a years and after the 2000 census. Ward lines had been redrawn and put Harris in the 2nd Ward. After some hubbub, it was discovered that as long as ya live in the City, you can run in any ward ya want. At that time it was assumed the code would be changed, but it hasn’t happened yet.

This could result in some last minute filing as candidates wait to pick their ward, or their opponent. Now this may get some more folks interested in City politics.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click and Clack Talk Cars

Dear Tom and Ray,

I do most of the light maintenance on my vehicle, and I’ve added a step in my oil changes that I think is beneficial in the long run. I drain the dirty oil, just like everybody else does. Then while the drain plug is still out, I start the engine and let it idle for a minute. I usually manage to get an extra cup or so of oil purged. Am I doining more harm than good? - Ken

Tom: You want the good news first, Ken? You are significantly cutting down on the number of future oil changes on this car.

Ray: The bad news is that it’s going to croak the engine. This is a terrible idea, Ken.

Tom: The key components of the engine are made of metal. And when the engine is on, they’re spinning and moving up and down hundreds of times per minute, even at idle. When they are moving, they’re rubbing against other peices of metal. To prevent these things from distroying each other, there’s an elaborate system that forces pressurized oil between all of these moving parts while the engine is running. But that oil pressure system can only work if there’s A) oil, and B) pressure. You have neither.

Ray: Without oil, even for a minute, those parts scrape against each other and wear down. Then the damaged parts no longer fit together. Those gaps will make it harder to keep the oil pressure up, and it’s a downward spiral from there.

Tom: It’s absolutely not worth it, Ken. Leave the extra cup of dirty oil in there. It’s irrelevant.

Ray: Cross your fingers that you haven’t done too much damage yet. In good conscience- you can’t sell the car to anyone else. You’ll have to hang on to it and drive it into the ground. But don’t worry, it won’t be a long drive.