HERMANN — While there is a multitude of hopefuls for five statewide offices on the Aug. 6 Primary Elections ballot, there are only two Gasconade County offices that offer voters a choice.

Only the two associate commissioners’ posts feature a primary elections race. The other five county offices have only one candidate, all Republicans, which means those offices will unofficially be determined in next week’s vote.

Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland of Hermann is being challenged by businessman Todd Alferman while Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore of Owensville faces Ron Hardecke of Owensville.

And in a somewhat unusual twist to a political campaign season, both challengers agree that Gasconade County government is being well run, which is prompting the two incumbents to wonder aloud why are they being challenged for another four-year term?

Alferman, the owner and operator of the Old Dutch Mill gas station and convenience store at highways 50 and 19 told the Gasconade County Republican that running for public office is something he has considered for some time.

“I’ve always taken an interest in small-county politics,” he said. “I want to give back to our community. I’m at the stage of my life where I can do that.”

He said he has been traveling throughout the Northern District –– roughly the area north of Highway50 across the county with some territory edging into the southern Third Creek part of the county added since the last census to make up for lost population in the Hermann area — and has been somewhat surprised by the support he’s found.

“It’s going good,” he said of his campaign, which has been a low-key effort going into the final week before voting. “I’m hitting a lot of these little small picnics, going door to door, meeting people.”

Alferman said he has not heard specific complaints about the way county government is being managed. He did mention that there are some roads that need attention — which the incumbents have said for some time.

“Obviously, there are a few roads” that need work, he said, adding that residents throughout the county would like to see more chip-and-seal coating applied. But, he acknowledged, “it’s tough” to convert many miles of gravel first to chip and seal and then asphalt because of the cost.

“You can’t please everybody” when it comes to upgrading county roads, he said.

The businessman said he would like to help continue moving Gasconade County forward while “making sure that we follow the budget.”

“I’m ready to work with the residents of Gasconade County,” Alferman said.

Holland, himself a businessman with various entrepreneurial interests, is seeking his third full term on the policy-making board. He was appointed to the Commission to fill the seat vacated by Larry Miskel of Hermann, who was elected presiding commissioner about 10 years ago.

Holland said he is proud of what he and the other commissioners have accomplished since he’s been on the panel.\

“We’ve got the budget of the county in really good shape,” he said, referring to the revenue that has been generated by a healthy General Fund Sales Tax and the other special taxes that voters have approved in recent years.

He especially pointed to the Law Enforcement Sales Tax, a half-cent tax that is shared with five of the county’s municipalities, that generated close to a million dollars a year. The majority of that money is dedicated to the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department. Having that money available for salaries has been crucial to maintaining law enforcement in the rural areas, Holland said.

“We would have lost everybody (in the department) if w didn’t have that,” he said.

Like other rural counties, Gasconade County was losing deputies at a steady clip to other police agencies offering more pay. The Law Enforcement Sales Tax allows this county to be more competitive in recruiting and retaining experienced personnel.

Holland points to other projects that he’s had a role in, such as upgrades at the historic courthouse, including renovating the exterior of the building, a new roof, the addition of an elevator, the upgrade of county government’s telephone system and the effort to further protect the computer network from cyberattacks.

Other accomplishments in the county worthy of note, he said, includes the improvements being made by Public Water Supply District 1, which serves the Peaceful Valley subdivision. Although county government has a key role in the financing of that project, he gives all credit for the success of the project to the people of that community.

“They were the ones on top of this,” Holland said. “They did a wonderful job out there” obtaining funding for the needed improvements.

Meanwhile, he said, the Commission is working to foster economic development in the county’s communities.

“We’re working with Bland on a few things,” he said, referring to road improvements and efforts to recruit retail business to the southern county community.

In the Northern District, the Commission kept pushing the state highway agency to improve the bridge over Frene Creek on Highway 19.

“That’s not one of our bridges, but we pushed for it,” he added. The Missouri Department of Transportation decided to replace the 1930s-era span rather than renovate the narrow bridge.

Holland said he’s also proud that he has been able to help other county officials find what he calls “obscure” sources of funding that often go overlooked. One such grant program enabled the county to replace well-worn Road Department vehicles. “That’s helped us update our fleet,” he said.

The associate commissioner said he’s hopeful he can continue working to move the county forward.

“The bottom line is I want to thank everybody. I have enjoyed what I’m doing and I think we’re doing a good job,” he said.

On the southern end of the county, Ron Hardecke has helped shape local Republican Party views for years. A longtime member of the county’s GOP organization and a leader of the Gasconade County Farm Bureau, Hardecke decided to to jump into the associate commissioner’s race simply as an alternative to incumbent Jerry Lairmore, even though Hardecke says he has “no beef” with the way county government is being run.

“I’m just running to give voters a choice,” Hardecke told the Republican. “I have time at this phase of my life to do the job.”

A farmer who now serves as the president of the county’s Farm Bureau organization, Hardecke said, “I believe we need good, sound fiscal policy” in county government. Also, he said, “We need to support property rights.” He did not elaborate on that point.

He did touch on what is perhaps the key role for a Third-Class county commission: The maintenance of a road system.

“Obviously, county roads are a big job for the Commission,” he said. That includes, he added, taking care of the people who take care of the roads — and other county government employees.

“I want to create an environment for our county employees to feel it’s a good place to work,” Hardecke said.

The political hopeful said he has traveled throughout the district to familiarize himself with the conditions and needs while greeting the residents. In fact, he said, by election day, “I’ll have driven all the county roads in the Southern District. I’ve enjoyed meeting the wide variety of people we have in this county.”

Hardecke said that if elected he will have a learning experience ahead of him.

“I’m going to have a lot to learn about how things are being done,” he said, adding that he’s ready to take on that challenge.

Incumbent Jerry Lairmore would be quick to point out that one of the first things Hardecke or anyone else new to the Commission would learn is that it’s not a part-time job. At least not anymore.

Since first joining the Commission on Jan. 1, 1997, Lairmore has seen the job grow from a once-a-week meeting into a multi-faced role that has the commissioners sitting on several regional boards, meeting with state agencies, traveling the roads regularly and dealing with the never-ending telephone calls from residents.

The job of being a commissioner, he said, is one that the general public might not fully understand.

“They don’t understand all of what we do,” he said. Indeed, with more unfunded mandates coming down to the counties from state government, county officials’ responsibilities have grown.

Lairmore said he is most proud of his record of talking with residents. “I respond to every phone call,” he said. “I always have. I try to contact anyone who has an issue and try to work things out.”

While Holland pointed to the Law Enforcement Sales Tax as crucial to the sheriff’s agency, Lairmore notes that the Use Tax approved a couple years ago has turned into a major source of revenue for county government. The Use Tax is a sales tax applied only to purchases made online from out-of-state vendors who do not have a physical presence inside Missouri.

The tax was prompted by the increased business being done online during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lairmore was the primary advocate the Use Tax, which also benefits Gasconade County Communications, the 911 dispatch service. It took a half-dozen voter rejections before it was approved.

“COVID changed everything,” Lairmore said, especially how shopping was done. Not having the Use Tax in place at the time the pandemic occurred translated into many lost dollars that could be spent on services to the residents.

This year the Use Tax could generate more than a half-million dollars that would go straight to the county budget’s bottom line.

“That’s why the Use Tax is so important,” Lairmore said. “We get that money back into the county,” he added.

Lairmore noted that the counties in Missouri that don’t have a Use Tax are feeling the loss of revenue.

“Those counties that don’t have it are hurting, they really are,” he said.

Indeed, during Lairmore’s tenure on the Commission, he has seen county government go from pinching pennies in order to keep the offices open to having a cushion to provide pay raises and boost services.

“In the years I’ve been there, we’ve offered more services with the same money coming in,” he said.

County government began this fiscal year, which runs from January through December, in the best shape it has ever been in financially. And, considering the sales tax numbers produced thus far, it appears the start to 2025 could be even better.

Aside from adopting a budget, the Commission’s most important duty is overseeing the maintenance of the network of roads, most of which are gravel. While Lairmore would prefer hard-surface roads — they are easier to maintain, he said — converting gravel roads is expensive.

“I’m a big supporter of upgrading the roads, to chip and seal, hard surfacing,” he said. But, he explained, there is a process that is used that involves residents of a particular road granting right-of-way to the county and being in favor of conversion in order for the road to be placed on the list for upgrading.

Lairmore said he tries to stay on top of road conditions.

“I drive my roads, check my roads every weekend,” he said. He hopes voters will allow him to continue checking on those roads.

“I like working for the people of Gasconade County,” he said, hoping the voters will agree that he’s done a good job.