By SCOTT NILES Courier staff writer
October 07, 2008 12:24 am
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CENTERVILLE — Five people are vying for two open seats on the Appanoose County Board of Supervisors this November.
John Arnold
Incumbent John Arnold believes the county’s main concern should be on the secondary roads department.
“One of the biggest problems we have is the declining funds of secondary roads to maintain our county’s infrastructure. Expenses are continuing to rise dramatically and revenues are not coming in as much. We need to find more money,” he said.
Arnold, a Republican from Centerville, believes raising the state gas tax would help give counties more money in their budgets.
Another area he would like to concentrate on is bringing new industry to the county.
“I would try to work with local businesses and organizations to attract more industry to the area,” he said.
Arnold is a Navy veteran with a degree in business administration and is a business owner.
Lee Hatfield
Candidate Lee Hatfield believes in a fiscally responsible local government.
“It seems to me that all county money should pass through the board of supervisors, so they should know something, but they never seem to,” he insists.
Hatfield, a Republican from Cincinnati, said he sees too much of the county’s budget going for Centerville projects and would like to focus more of the rural dollars on projects related to the county.
Hatfield has a bachelor’s degree in business with emphasis in accounting and a master’s degree in public administration. He has spent 24 of 26 years leading Marines as a sergeant major. In his last three years in the Marine Corps, he was responsible for 1,066 Marines, leading a majority of those soldiers into battle twice.
“I know a lot about welfare of my people, guarding their welfare, safety and well-being,” he said.
Jody McDanel
Incumbent Jody McDanel believes local government is an ongoing process and it has to be improved all the time.
“We can always improve, and that is what we strive for all the time, to be ready for the realization,” he said. “We are striving for perfection, to do the best job we can do to spend tax dollars as wisely as possible.
“When I ran for this position originally, I had no clue what a supervisor did. I didn’t realize what all things you get involved with,” McDanel said. “I try not to be a politician, but you are a politician.”
McDanel, a Democrat from Centerville, thinks he is able to do a good job at analyzing the situation and providing services for county residents.
“I also want to see the county grow as much as possible ... if you stand still you’re falling behind ... we have to learn and grow ... we can’t stay the same,” he said.
Linda Rouse
Candidate Linda Rouse has two main objectives if elected — “sound economics and good government.”
Under “sound economics,” she said she would like to see a recognition of agriculture as the leading industry in Appanoose County, as well as maintaining infrastructure throughout the county in order to promote economic viability.
Following her plan of sound economics is her ideals on “good government.”
Rouse, a Democrat from Centerville, said she wants to provide services to the vulnerable citizens of the county, including the frail elderly, disabled veterans, children in foster care, the mentally ill, the mentally challenged, the developmentally disabled and those with brain injuries.
“Basically, I want to see the groups covered that only have their county government to depend on,” she said.
Jim Senior
Candidate Jim Senior of Centerville said he wants his county government to be operated by the people.
If elected, one of the things he would like to do is set up several committees, consisting of the elderly, teenagers, rural farmers, businessmen and women, hospital workers and several other groups, to get input on issues that the county believes should be addressed.
“These people would meet however often needed and would bring back areas of concerns that had to do with their groups,” said Senior, who is running as an independent.
Another area he would like to see improved is funding for the county’s secondary roads.
Senior has been in financial management most of his life and was an accountant for a number of years until his recent retirement.
He also said that as an independent candidate, he only owes his allegiance to the citizens of Appanoose County.
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.
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