Today's Feature Judge Candidate Hearing Postponed.
The hearing for David
Dallys petition for ruling on the
qualification of Susan Butler as a candidate for
Circuit Judge, Division II, Twenty-Ninth Judicial
Circuit was postponed from its scheduled time of
1:30 yesterday afternoon and rescheduled to
Friday, April 10 at 9:30.
Dally, who is a candidate for
the same position, claims that Butler was not a
qualified Missouri voter for the last three
years, a stipulation of the Missouri Constitution
for Circuit Judge qualification. Dally filed a
petition requesting a ruling last Tuesday.
Butler filed for a change of
Judge early yesterday morning and Judge
Baldridge, who was scheduled to hear the
petition, notified the Circuit Clerk early
yesterday afternoon that Judge Darnold of Nevada
will here the case. Butler also filed for a
continuance in order for her to prepare for the
hearing.
Baldridge currently holds the
position both candidates are seeking. He is not
running for reelection.
Butler told the Mornin
Mail yesterday that the matter
"wasnt anything personal," merely
an interpretation of law.
Candidates
Results of
Questionnaires sent by Carthage Chamber of
Commerce. Note: Candidates are listed in order
according to the official ballot.
Name: David
Coffee
Address: Rt. 3 Box 343-B,
Carthage
Phone: 358-4507
Office Sought: R-9 School Board
Background: David moved
to Carthage in 1979 and served on the city
council in 1988-89. He is currently on disability
leave, but was employed by Prudential Insurance
Company from 1979-1990. David attended
Freed-Hardeman University and is pursuing his
second term on the school board.
Why Run/Qualifications:
He enjoys kids and is deeply concerned about
giving them the best education possible. As the
current school board secretary, he also serves as
the districts delegate to the Missouri
School Board Association and the R-9 Board
representative to the State Association (MSBA).
He also serves on the MSBA Board.
Goals: David would like
to continue the positive things that are
currently happening in our schools. He desires to
keep communication open with the public and
businesses here in the Carthage area.
Name: Tony
Diggs
Address: 2327 Alison, Carthage
Phone: 358-2455
Office Sought: Carthage R-9
School Board
Background: Tony is a
life long Carthage resident and graduate from
Carthage High School in 1979. He graduated
Missouri Southern State College, and is the
current Director of Sales and Marketing for Able
Body Corporation. He has been with Able Body for
nine years. He is married, and has a twelve year
old son attending Carthage Junior High.
Why Run/Qualifications:
As a product of the Carthage School System and a
lifelong Carthage resident, Tony would like the
opportunity to give something back to the
community. He has been involved in corporate
business for several years, and feels that he has
the skills required to help direct the school
system.
Goals: Tony would like
to help direct the school system to continue to
grow into a high quality environment for our
childrens education.
Name: Ron
Ross
Address: 1826 Southwood
Phone: 358-9622
Office Sought: R-9 School Board
Background: Ron moved to
Carthage with his family in 1951. He graduated
from high school in 64, from the University
of Missouri, Columbia with a B.S. in Business
Administration in 1969, and in 1970 with a
Masters in Business Degree. He was an officer in
the U.S. Army and served from 1970-1972. Ron was
president of United Automotive from 1972-1997,
and is presently Vice-President of Baker
Automotive/United Automotive.
Why Run/Qualifications:
Ron believes education is the finest gift one can
give a child. He served on the school board a
total of nine years. His business management
experience is, in his belief, helpful to the
education process and long-range planning.
Goals: He would like to
continue to be involved in the recently started
building project. Ron hopes to find a financially
responsible way to build a new four-year high
school in the near future.
Commentary
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126
One of the most frustrating
parts of this job is seeing an obvious wrong and
not being able to do anything about it. Free and
fair debate, where ideas are exchanged and
discussed, is one thing. That is the way it was
intended with a vote of the majority to rule.
What is disgusting is when the majority party, in
this case the democrats, abuse the system to
advance an agenda at any costs. A perfect example
of that happened this week.
The Committees of the House are
to be in proportion to the membership of the
House. In other words, if two-thirds of the
members of the House are democrats, then
two-thirds of the members of any committee should
be democrats. In our case, 46% of the House
members are republican, 53% are democrat, one
member is an independent and there is one
vacancy. It is the vacancy that is the point of
contention. Well come back to that in a
moment.
With numbers that close there
is usually only a difference of one on the
committees. The first thing they did was enlarge
some key committees so much that when the
percentage was rounded up, they were able to add
one more democrat for a difference of two. That
is why the House Committees are larger than they
have ever been in years.
Now back to the vacancy. The
vacancy is over in the 87th district which is in
St. Louis county. It just happens to be one of
the most republican districts in the state. The
seat was held by a gentleman named Bill Hand, who
was one of the finest men you could ever meet.
After fighting a long illness, he died earlier
this year. When there is a vacancy, it is up to
the governor to call a special election to fill
the seat. This is USUALLY done in a very timely
manner, especially if it is a seat held by a
democrat. For instance, when a St. Louis democrat
resigned last summer her replacement was elected
and sworn in in time for the start of Special
Session. Another resignation in the fall by a St.
Louis democrat resulted in an early enough
election for the replacement to be ready for this
session. A north Missouri democrat resignation
last fall resulted in Gov. Carnahan calling the
election early enough so that the replacement
could be sworn in in time for this session. That
one backfired on him when a republican, David
Klindt, won that race. Now Gov. Carnahan has
steadfastly refused to call for an election in
the 87th district since it will probably result
in the election of a republican.
Not only has Gov. Carnahan
deprived the citizens of the 87th district the
right to be represented this session, it has
allowed Speaker Steve Gaw to play fast and loose
with the makeup of the Committees. He has now
ruled the 87th seat will be counted as a vacancy
and as a result, the percentage on several
committees will round up, allowing him to add
another democrat. It is probably more than a
coincidence that this has happened right before
several key Committee votes! Of course this whole
argument could have been avoided if the Governor
had done the right thing and called an election
for the 87th district.
Often I am asked why it is so
hard to get common sense things done in Jefferson
City. What I just told you about is a perfect
example of what we are up against.
As usual I can be reached at
House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City,
MO, 65101, or 1-800-878-7126, or
mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions,
comments, and advice.
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