Collector Candidate Robert Kormeier: Cite the benefits, or liabilities, for a fourth-class city such as Owensville having an elected City Collector:  

The collector’s job, I think is very important to the city, in collecting their business licenses and also liquor license but as far as the city  collecting property taxes the county can do it more efficiently.

INCUMBENT Pasty Nelson: What do you mean more efficiently?

Kormeier: If we would turn the collection of property taxes over to the county they could be collected more efficiently and save the city money. That money could be spend on something else the city wants, such as streets or whatever.

Nelson: But you’re still paying a county collector and you’re paying for a collector so where are you saving the money?

KORMEIER: Money saved is a minimum of one and a half percent of taxes collected plus the postage and all the other supplies that go with the collection.

WARD 1 CANDIDATE Sam Britton: Regarding the non-binding resolution question on the April 8 ballot, what majority percentage (either for, or against, selling off the city’s electric service) would you use as a determining factor in your final vote, either for or against, selling off the electric generation plant, related equipment and service lines, and why?:

Well I think you could go with 51 percent. I think at that point when you cross that 50 percent barrier, the majority have spoken at that point, and that is certainly sufficient enough to me to constitute a majority being for or against.

(Follow up portion of question): Yes i do, I am in favor of selling the electric system. I think with a power company, with an actual power company being in here  it would actually be run much more efficiently. And also, I think, for the benefit particularly of  businesses, I think it would be the one and only way to do away with the demand metering which is hurting so many businesses here in Owensville. I know businesses  personally that are suffering financially because of the demand meters. Also for residents it would certainly bring down the cost of electricity considerably getting out of the MoPEP energy pool.

Ward 2 candidates John Kamler (unopposed): I’ll go out on a limb and based on the people that I’ve talked to and I’ve talked to probably half the businesses and I will talk to the rest of them before the election. I would be shocked if its not a little over 60 percent if they understand the ballot language. Our electric rates have just been killing us. Residents and businesses. I’ve got some charts Ill share with people afterward comparing MoPEP with Ameren. I’m definitely in favor of selling it also.

INCUMBENT WARD 1 ALDERMAN HAROLD HIBLER:

One thing, the ballot, if you read it, says this is asking for an opinion only. It will be on-binding on the board aldermen. So Even if it does pass is still don’t mean we have to sell the electric plant. No. 1, we don’t have anybody wants to purchase the electric business much less the power plant. No. 2 only two ways you get out of the MoPEP pool. One is to give five years notice and after five year you are  still obligated to the all debts the MoPEP pool has. The other way is if you can find another city willing to take on our trade and trade out. Three strikes against us right there. Thank you.

KAMLER: First thing, I mean no disrespect to Harold but I wish I had heard this two years ago when I brought it up. I feel like  I’m the one that’s educated most of these people about MoPEP. And had we had that kind of leadership we might not be in the mess we’re in now. But I believe there is someone willing to buy the power plant. And, I agree it is non-binding, but if you go out there an talk to people, they want something done. That’s why I stepped up and ran. I’ve done a lot of public service in this town and I’m trying to do more. I will listen to constituents. And the ones I’ve heard they are definitely wanting something done.

Britton: My comment would be simply that there is no way, if I had been in a position of dealing with that contract, that that contract never would have been signed. That is putting a noose around the city of Owensville that should have never been done. It’s was actually admitted that only ever other page of the contract was looked at. And, You simply make sure you read all the stuff between the dotted lines. And if you don’t understand it , you make sure you  thorough investigation so that you do understand it before you sign such a contract.

INCUMBENT MAYOR JESSE LOEB: Do you feel that the citizens of Owensville receive service from city employees equal to the amount of payroll that the citizens pay for, and what would you do, if anything, to better serve the citizens?:

 Yes as far as the amount of money such as the light and power boys are paid, I think our top paying person is, I think it’s $21, maybe $22 an hour, on a night like tonight, when it sound like we might have, that’s a pretty cheap feeling to have somebody up, get your power back on for you when you’re getting ready for bed.

As far as the street department, I think our highest in the street departments, maybe, I think one we have one gentleman and he makes, I think around, $14 an hour. So, in our water and sewer, John Roach I think makes $17 an hour and Jeff Kuhne I think makes $12.50.

So, yeah with the experience and the abilities of all our city employees I think they do a super job.

Even the girls in city hall, without all their help, then the shape the city is today in compared to a year ago, I’m sure it’s debatable to some, but I feel the city has done a complete 180 and is doing great. (Asks for repeat of second part of question. Moderator reads second part again). Just to back up a minute about the electric part. At my house, my utility bill, it’s something I can afford. And it’s not because of a good paying job, it’s money I’ve spent on my house to make it more efficient.

But, with the way things are in right now in Owensville as a whole for everybody, it’s not working. I can’t honestly sit up here and say sell we should sell the power plant and get out of the electric business or not. With the way things are now it suits me fine. But like I said, for the businesses and the city as a whole, it’s not working. So. On April 8th if the citizens of this town decide  this is something they want to pursue to get out of light and power, I would like to see something a little more than 51 percent approval rating. I would like to see something more maybe around 60 percent. That may be a little high. I would like to see more than just, maybe, opinion.

But, yes, if that’s something the citizens want to do, that’s something I would be a part of and move in that direction.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE MARY DIESTELKAMP :

When I look at the city employees, I take a look  backwards, I guess at where I work and there are no perfect employees. I think there’s  always room for improvement in every business and every industry and I think the same is true with the city of Owensville.

Having said that, we have employees that are heavy equipment operators, we have employees who work around on high voltage, we have employees who get down in manholes and sewers and expose themselves to potential cave ins and things like that.

So I think there’s an inherent an risk with  the work they do that they should be compensated for so I don’t have any problem with the pay scale right now. And I think that with the City Admini­strator’s guidance as far as work projects and things like that, if they have an overseer, I think we’re in good shape.

Kamler: How would you, if elected, find ways to repair badly worn city streets given the city’s current financial and manpower situations?:

I’ve been to several meetings that I’ve sat through the past couple of years, our former city administrator, they kept commenting that if it was cheaper to do it in house than contract it out. I’ve never been one to agree with that. I don’t agree with that. That’s the first thing I’d look at is contracting it out.

We have some streets that are in dire need of repair but we don’t have the money. There are several things we need to look at. One thing we definitely will have to do, I think we need to have a performance review of our employees. Charts that I’ve seen in the past, some of our employees are in the very top 100 percent or higher versus towns our same size in the state. We may have… tough decisions have to be made  especially in this economic times. We definitely will have to try to come up with some money some how/

I would entertain a task force. I think a task for has been needed in this town for awhile. I believe our auditor has asked for it the over the last few years. And that would be something we would prioritize…find a street or the top 10 and go from there. I certainly think we can contract it out way  cheaper than doing it ourself. And, on that line, I think we need to get rid of the equipment we’ve got, try to get what we can out of it, use that, and try to apply that money toward that.

Britton:

Also, another possibility, is, with great caution, looking at possible grants to help fix the infrastructure here with the caution that read the fine print very carefully because just like the states get held hostage with grant money and handouts to the states, Cities and towns can be held hostage by the federal government too. So you have to be very very careful and not just accept any grant that comes down the line.

But, If the grant can be obtained with no strings attached that Owensville would have to abide in that grant,  I’d be in favor of grant money also to help fix up the infrastructure at least to get things going, until we can get a big enough  tax base and business growth in here help facilitate the, keeping the tax base up so we don’t have to do these things.

DIESTELKAMP:

I think there’s some things the street department can do in house. But I also think you have to be careful when you contract out.

That little thing call prevailing wage kicks and it does inflate the cost of the project. So really you really need to take a look at that before you commit and that’s what the city administrator is there for.

HIBLER: Why should the city actively pursue federal and/or state grants for improving infrastructure or economic development?

I think the city should, and should have, been pursing these programs a long time ago. MRPC’s got a lot of money out there. Which is your tax money, my tax money and the government wants to give it back to you free. So why not get out there  and take advantage of it.

We obtained three grants on the fire department.  If it wasn’t for that, all the volunteer firemen  would not have no protective fire gear. We also had money given to us for a haz-mat trailer.

So I think we can actively purse going out and getting this money, which is your money coming back to you from the government.

DIESTELKAMP: You just have be careful what type of grants you get, because some of them are matching grants. Which means if the government offers you $50,000 you also have to come up with $50,000. So, given the budget constraints, we just really have to be careful what we do with that. But Grants are great.

KAMLER:  I do not want to get involved in matching grants any more than we have to. I am encouraged, Mr. Tracy seems like he is very knowledgable on grant writing. I am encouraged he can find some that are beneficial to the city.

Britton: Again the bottom line with the grants is, that if you’re going to take grants, you have to make sure that when it comes payback time for some grant, that the citizens and business owners of Owensville are not stuck with something that the government mandates. Too many times this happens with the states, all the time and it happens with the cities as well. There will be grants and a lot of times city officials are so desperate for the money that they sign on the dotted line and all of a sudden later on something comes back and bites them in the rear end (lists examples which are not included due to length)…the point of the matter is you don’t want the power taken away from the citizenry of the town and that’s what you’ve got to be careful about…I’m just simply saying, you have to be responsible and you have to make sure what you’re signing on to when it comes to accepting grants.

DIESTELKAMP: How will you vote on the non-binding question pertaining to the electric system in Owensville, and what criteria did you consider in formulating your opinion?

I intend to vote yes to give the next board, whoever it may be , and the mayor, the authority to look into selling the (electric) system and getting out of the pool. I think that’s the only way we’re going to bring costs down.

As for selling the system, I think there’s interested parties out who are interested in the distribution system alone without selling off the power plant. I think there is enough revenue to be generated from that  to pay off the city debt and you can drop the kilowatt price down by doing that. That would still leave you with the generators as a back up in the  event of a power outage or major ice storm like we’ve had in the past. So, kind of have your cake and eat it too.  So, I’m in favor of it…I think there’s a really good opportunity available to get out of the pool. I just think we need to pursue it and I think the next council needs to have the opportunity to do that. So, I’m voting yes and I encourage you to do that too.

Kamler: I’m encouraged to hear that…Based on what I’ve seen, I believe we could get roughly three, three and half million, four million dollars for our grid system. Then we would be able to get a fee every year from them on, user fees, franchise fees, whatever want to call it, roughly 300-thous­and…we could use some of that money for streets if we had to. The whole idea is we’ve got to get out of this MoPEP mess. I was on the electric committee. We put some figures out there. I’ll put my neck on the line right now and say the figures we put out there are too low. The coal fire power plants they’ve invested in (Kamler cites specific MoPEP projects on which cost estimates have risen from an $1 billion to nearly $2 “almost double what they thought.”)…Our costs could double and triple before its over with. It’s just a mess that we’ve got to get out of. Hopefully, I’m encouraged, I think we can get out fairly easily what with Ameren’s backing. So I’m voting yes myself.

Britton: The situation to you that have to understand with MoPEP is they are not regulated. There is no oversight by the Missouri Public Utilities commission which there would be as far as AmerenUE. There would be a little more control of the cost in­creases…MoPEP can pretty much do what they want to do. That is, to me, is just one more reason to get out of the energy pool and get in with a real energy company here.

DIESTELKAMP: We hear a lot about the pool and there’s been a lot of criticism, and you know that goes along with this job. When you get elected you don’t get a crystal ball with it.  So, you know, sometimes we make mistakes. I was not on the board when either contract with the pool was signed (in 2001 or 2005. She acknowledge Mayor Jesse Loeb was not on the board at the time and didn’t think Ward 1 Alderman Harold Hibler was either. City records show Hibler did vote in 2005 to approve the “amended and restated” MoPEP contract). We do the best we can do. Some times we screw up. Plain and simple. And, we move on a try to fix this. I just encourage you to vote and give the council the authority to move on.

NELSON: Do you feel an elected City Collector’s position, compensated through a percentage of taxes collected, is vital to the operation of a fourth-class city when the County Clerk’s office is available to collect local taxes for a lower percentage than currently being retained by the city for  compensation?:

Yes I do. For one reason, people like to talk to someone one on one. I had a lady come in today. She wanted to know how much her taxes was  and what size her lots were. I could look on my map and find out.

Older people want to, I say older people, I’m in that category now, older people want to talk to somebody one on one. They do not want to drive to Hermann. Yes you could save a little bit of money by having the county collect.

I talked to (Gasconade County Collector) Shawn (Schlottach) today cause I wasn’t just to sure what they would charge. Shawn’s exact words was ‘why would they want to do that.’ And I said I don’t know but they do.

But I do know people like for the collector to be in Owensville because they like to talk one on one, ask questions about their taxes so they don’t have to drive to Hermann.

Kormeier: Since we have telephones, we don’t have to drive to Hermann. And, also, Patsy does a real good job collecting. So, that’s not the reason I’m running. The savings would be more than just the simple fact to having someone to talk to.

If you want somebody to talk to, the county collector is there five days a week rather than the city collected who is only there two days a week so I don’t see the point to that.

LOEB: My only thing about the city collector, is, often times when, there’s been days when I’ve been at City Hall for two or three hours, and the phone is been ringing off the hook, someone had to leave because their kid was sick and who is gone for the day. And this has nothing to do with Patsy or Rob. It’s just nice to have an emergency body that is free of charge. They’re just on the other side of the room. They can answer the phone, she waits, I’m not just speaking about her, I’m just talking about the benefits of the city collector, us having the collector in town.  

There’s a lot of times  having an extra person who is already being paid, doesn’t cost any money, to answer the telephone, to wait the desk, to help out and answer questions when people come into City Hall. That’s my two cents.

Question from the audience: Sam Britton, who is blind, was asked about special equipment required for viewing documents. He already has personal computer equipment required to view printed documents. He responded that it would not cost the city “one red cent.” He also plans, if elected, to return his monthly salary to the city.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Regrettably, due to the length of time it took to prepare the city’s transcript, we are unable to provide a document of the R-2 board of Education Candidates’ comments.

A DVD copy of the entire forum is available for review by e-mailing dmarner@wardpub.com on Monday.