OZARK, MO— He was getting out of his shiny red Dodge Ram pickup truck at the Mud House on CC and 65. Dressed in blue jeans, boots, and Carhart jacket.
“Hey, Cousin Eddie!” I called out. He’s a country boy from Kentucky, and I’d heard that his friends call him that.
“Johnny Rooster? Is that really you?” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
We chatted briefly about this and that, as locals do. The conversation shifted to his upcoming race for Mayor of Ozark.
Election day is April 8, but early voting is going on now.
“Regardless of how you do, you’ll still be a Ward 3 alderman,” I said, reassuringly.
“Oh, I intend to win,” his confidence was striking.
I thought people would vote for the incumbent Mayor Don Currence. I like that he’s optimistic!
“I hope you do win!” I replied. I meant it. Eddie has a better perspective on the important stuff.
“I care about the quality of life,” he said. “We need free, public recreational spaces created to improve the quality of life for all citizens.
“Other areas we need to focus on are infrastructure for roads, streets, sewer, water, natural gas, electric, cable, cell, internet, and garbage collection.”
He scratched his head, thinking. I don’t dare interrupt Eddie when he’s thinking. “Infrastructure is important for future growth. A lot of folks don’t know we don’t spend their tax dollars in advance. That’s why we wait until we know new development is going in before expanding roads and streets. Sure, it’s aggravating to drivers, but if we took the money and spent it on road development before the new businesses and residential came in, people would be upset about their taxes going up.”
“I like the way you put it, Cousin Eddie,” I said, leaning against the truck with him.
The wind kicked up and I grabbed my hat to secure it.
“I’m the only candidate opposed to new taxes,” Eddie said, closing the door of his truck and gesturing with his hands. “Both of my opponents approve a public use tax as soon as the election is over. They don’t want voters to know that!”
I swallowed, thinking. Interesting. Hmm.
“What about government operations?” I finally asked.
Eddie’s face grew serious, then he smiled again. “Have you heard the phrase, “Doveryai, no proveryai?”
“Is that Latin? I didn’t know they spoke foreign languages in Appalachia!”
Cousin Eddie busted out laughing. “No, Johnny, that’s Russian for ‘Trust, but verify.’ Reagan used that on Gorbechev when he was president, to let the Russians know he trusted them as long as he verified the truth of everything they said and did.” “
Eddie noticed my puzzled expression and clapped me on the shoulder. “Here’s what I mean. As mayor, I will trust all the city employees to do their job, but I’ll verify through observation and other methods to ensure they’re doing what they should. I won’t blindly accept the say-so of friends and cronies. I’ll hold them accountable, and they’ll be happy to have the accountability. People want to know they’re doing a good job, and why.”
Eddie explained that such an outcome is possible if the relationship between mayor and the city employees is strong. “I want to be there for them.”
Another thing Eddie hopes to see is the role of city aldermen, planning and development, and planning and zoning is clarified. “P & Z doesn’t have authority over the city aldermen. They aren’t elected like the aldermen, so they need to present ideas that aldermen need to know fully before they vote on it, without trying to convince aldermen one way or the other.”
Eddie is concerned the current mayor doesn’t investigate proposals well enough to be properly informed, and accepts the judgement of the city administrator or others he knows well who are, or were, connected to city government.
Eddie says the relationship being improved between mayor, council, and city employees will result in the public being better aware. “We need to nurture an atmosphere of trust by the people toward their city government.”
“You want a cup of coffee?” Eddie invited.
“Sure,” I said, though coffee makes me jittery. I don’t mind a good caffeine rush. It’ll be fun.
We walked in and Eddie ordered me the biggest latte they have, with all the whipped cream and a blue cherry on top. (Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit!)
He took a regular black coffee in a Styrofoam cup. (Okay, a coffee mug. They don’t do Styrofoam at Mud House.)
We sat at a table near the door, and the wind reminded us of what a bad idea that really was.
Eddie kept talking about ‘cronyism”, the idea of government officials appointing their friends or recommendations by friends. Several people were appointed by the current mayor without public input. A more qualified candidate for the city aldermen was overlooked when an aldermen moved away before his term was up. A person recommended by the mayor’s friend was appointed without public input. Click here for more about the three mayor candidates.
“The citizens need to vet the aldermen, to use a system of finding out their qualifications, not just that they know the mayor,” Eddie said between sips.
“All the aldermen need access to the same conversations before voting. Sometimes certain ones talk without the others’ present and make up their minds in advance.” He shook his head. “That’s cronyism. It needs to stop.”
In addition, Eddie said the meetings need to be held at the appointed time on the agenda. The current mayor delayed a public meeting for a long time, waiting for one of his allies on the board of aldermen to appear via Zoom so he could vote the way the mayor wanted him to, even though there were enough aldermen present to conduct business without the friend of the mayor who couldn’t be there.
“We also need to establish a term limit for the mayor pro tem (the second in line to be mayor) which isn’t currently being followed.” The mayor pro tem is supposed to serve a term and not go again, giving other aldermen a chance.
Other considerations Eddie Campbell has for mayor include:
*city code review
*comprehensive plan review
*corridor plan review
*promotion of the senior center and senior ages programs
*promotion of the local VFW Post
*public works
*public safety
*strongly support the historic preservation of the Historic River District
*protect resources, such as Smallin Civil War Cave
*take advantage of geographical location between Springfield and Branson to attract tourists, shoppers and visitors
*community garden
*parks and playgrounds
*basketball courts, volleyball courts, skate parks, bicycle parks, disc golf, wading and splash pads, open and sheltered picnic areas, trails, open fields, outdoor park plex, fitness paths, via ferrata, tennis and pickleball courts, cornhole, forest bathing, kayaking and canoeing, and a riverwalk
*visitor and tourist center
*dog parks
The Ozark Chamber of Commerce could handle the following ideas:
promotion of civic partners
hotels
shop Ozark
jeeps for heroes
grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants, sporting goods stores, shoe stores
My cup was empty, and my head was spinning with caffeine. “I got a good idea what life would be like if you get elected mayor,” I said. “Thanks for the coffee and good luck!”
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