Columbia mayoral, City Council, School Board candidates discuss platform goals ahead of municipal election

Candidates for Columbia mayor, Columbia City Council and Columbia School Board gathered at the Daniel Boone Regional Library on March 18 for a forum hosted by the Columbia chapter of the League of Women Voters.

At the forum, candidates were given one minute to make an opening statement before taking questions from the LWV and forum attendees.

Three of the four mayoral candidates were in attendance; Tanya Heath, Blair Murphy and incumbent Barbara Buffaloe.

Certified write-in candidate Lucio Bitoy IV was not present. Competing for City Council Ward 4 were candidates Ron Graves and incumbent Nick Foster.

In the Columbia School Board race, candidates Erica Dickson, Ken Rice and incumbent Suzette Waters were present. Of the three candidates, voters will elect two.

Mayor

The mayoral section of the forum covered public safety, employment and housing, among other topics.

Heath’s candidacy revolves around bettering communication in the community. “I feel that there is a cloud of confusion with communication when I hear things are not moving in a forward direction,” she said.

Incumbent Buffaloe shared highlights of her first term and expressed concern for how national politics impact Columbia. “I’m worried about things that are happening across our nation,” she said. “I’m worried about … the effects that it’s having on Columbia, not just with funding, but also just the narrative that you’re seeing out there about wanting to go back to the way things were.”

Murphy focused his introduction on public safety. “I think Columbia is a great city,” he said. “I just think that it just, you know, needs a little bit of attention drawn to public safety and stuff to make it better for all of us here.”

According to Police Chief Jill Schlude, the Columbia Police Department is currently understaffed, meaning each officer must cover a larger area and some community engagement programs have been cut.

For Murphy, the police department is a top priority. “First and foremost is public safety, and my main goal would be to get us fully staffed,” he said.

Candidates also reacted to a quote from the Facebook group “The Real Columbia Missouri” that was submitted by an audience member which read, “What used to be an absolutely beautiful city in Missouri, and a pride for Missouri, is no longer. It’s all horrendous, the crime, stealing, stores robbed, addicts laying around and homeless everywhere, constant shootings … It’s a real shame.”

Buffaloe did not express agreement with the idea that safety in Columbia is declining. “We have invested so much in public safety and we continue to bring down the crime numbers,” Buffaloe said. “I reject that quote and think it’s an unfortunate show of what we’re seeing right now on social media and fake news sites.”

Heath introduced a seven-step plan to reduce homelessness, but her time elapsed before she could complete the statement. The plan included helping people obtain official documents, updating laws regarding panhandling, collaborating with mayors from other towns and finding best practices to help people detox from their addictions. The complete plan is not available on her campaign website or elsewhere in campaign materials.

Murphy’s response to the issue was brief. “I’m for helping the people that want the help,” he said.

Employment opportunities were also a key discussion point, as the Trump administration continues with large-scale firings of federal workers.

Buffaloe discussed opportunities in manufacturing, research and medical investments as potential solutions for employment. She also urged Columbia residents to advocate for reducing local job cuts. She said residents can do this by, “writing to our Congress representatives, writing to Jefferson City and to our local officials about the importance of investing here locally in keeping those jobs in Columbia, because it adds such a vibrancy into our community.”

Murphy said he would support a proactive approach. “My main goal is to keep everything here, to keep everyone that currently lives in our city employed,” he said.

Heath’s approach was rooted in mentorship opportunities for small businesses. “I’d be focused on what we can do with what we have here that are the gold nuggets that just need to be found and developed with mentorship,” she said.

All three candidates expressed support for Planned Parenthood. Murphy and Buffaloe called attention to its family planning services while Heath placed greater weight on general healthcare.

Candidates also supported amending zoning laws to allow for more mixed commercial and residential spaces.

“We have to think about how we’re going to use the available land and how we’re going to make that holistic with people’s needs,” Heath said.

Columbia City Council

Lifelong Columbia resident Ron Graves spoke on his ties to the city and his key campaign issues of public safety, infrastructure and housing.

Nick Foster discussed his successes in his term and looked toward the future, addressing growth as the biggest challenge for Columbia.

Graves and Foster’s time was split between public safety, housing and community outreach. Graves said that unfunded pensions may be responsible for understaffing in the Police Department.

“Increasing the police department is not only hiring new police officers, it’s keeping the ones that we have,” he said. “We have seen a record number of police officers that have been resigning from their positions.”

For Foster, the greatest resource the city council can provide to local law enforcement is support.

“Right now, [the department is] saying that their purpose is to protect the vulnerable,” he said. “That is what Chief Schlude says is their North Star, and I will support them in every way in doing that exactly.” He did not explain any specific plans for support.

Candidates also discussed the role of the Citizen Police Review Board, a group that reviews alleged police misconduct in the community.

Under a new Missouri law, the CPRB’S power is limited to reviewing certain types of policy violations, lowering the scope of their advisory power. Foster said he would support establishing a new board to recommend police department policy.

“People in this city need to know that they have a voice in responding to police concerns,” he said.

Graves said he would be opposed to an additional advisory board of citizens.

“I think that police department policy should probably be set, personally, by experts in that field,” he said. “I don’t think we have a lot of citizens in the community that are experts on police policy.”

Both candidates supported adapting building codes to allow for the development of small “cottage homes.”

“These are the kind of things we want to see developed,” Foster said. “We’re facing a crisis in this way and we need to dedicate a lot of our resources and time to addressing it.”

Graves brought his experience as a residential designer to his version of the plan.

“[One] project that we looked at [was] trying to build small homes on small lots,” he said. “I think it’s a great way to make someone’s first home affordable.”

Graves and Foster both said that, if elected, they would prioritize communication with their constituents.

“One thing I pride myself on is responding immediately when my constituents are in touch with me by email or phone,” Foster said. “I’m the only council member that I know of that actually sends out a newsletter.”

Graves proposed an event to review and discuss city council meetings with his constituents. He said the event would move to a different location each time.

“This ward is very large, and being able to kind of move it around in different locations in the ward would help,” he said.

Columbia School Board

The School Board section of the forum largely revolved around community involvement in decision-making, as well as potential changes to the education system at a federal level.

Candidates responded to questions from Columbia Public Schools students as well as those from the LWV and attendees.

Erica Dickson discussed her experience working in public schools, which she says allowed her to see which groups of students were facing the most difficulties.

“I really wanted to step in and be a part of the team … and really be a fierce advocate for the upliftment and success for all of our students,” Dickson said.

Ken Rice highlighted his background as a business leader and volunteer to demonstrate the good he would be able to do for the district.

“I believe that my skills and experience will work towards helping the school board make better decisions when it comes to transparency, common sense governance and support for CPS teachers,” Rice said.

Incumbent Suzette Waters has served on the School Board for three years, two of those as president. She focused on her direct involvement with students and teachers.

“Since being elected, I’ve visited over 100 classrooms and participated in building events and school events,” Waters said. “It has been really important for me to be present in those education environments.”

Students’ questions focused on diversity equity and inclusion and students who are immigrants.

All three candidates said they would support teachers’ freedom to design their own curriculum.

“We do have a duty and a responsibility, no matter what we stand in the face of, to make sure all of our students are safe and supported and see success,” Dickson said. “And I think DEI is a very important piece of that work.”

Rice’s perspective varied.

“I believe that teachers should have educational freedom to teach what they need to in the classroom as long as it follows the law,” he said.

As current president, Waters said she is closely watching the development of new state policies. She also expressed support for diversity within classrooms.

“That is kind of the point of education: broadening your horizons and understanding that, although we live in a diverse community, there is still so much more out there,” Waters said.

With the topic of immigration, there was consensus among the candidates that student safety is important, but no clear plan for how the district would proceed if the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were to enter public schools.

“No matter [a student’s] immigration status, their citizenship status, their ability, it doesn’t matter,” Waters said. “We provide an education for them and they belong here.”

Rice proposed working with undocumented students to help them obtain legal status, allowing them to remain in the district without concern over immigration status.

Candidates also shared their views on school choice vouchers, a tax-credit scholarship program for students to attend private school. Waters and Dickson were in opposition of these programs.

“If we can’t afford to fully fund the foundation formula for public education in our state, we sure do not need to be making a $50 million direct appropriation for vouchers for private schools,” Waters said.

Rice said he supports school choice vouchers, provided there are guidelines.

“I think vouchers can be helpful, but there needs to be structure around those voucher programs to be successful,” he said.

The municipal election will be held on April 8. No-excuse absentee voting began on March 25. Voters can find a list of polling places on the Boone County Clerk’s Office website.

Edited by Maya Dawson | mdawson@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Emma Short | eshort@themaneater.com

Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com