All of the candidates for the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen are unopposed in the April 5 election.
In Ward I, incumbent Jason Michael is the only candidate whose name will appear on the ballot.
No one filed for the Ward 2 seat now held by Alderman Paul Buckley, who plans to move from the city.
Since the filing deadline had passed with no one filing in Ward 2, write-in candidates were asked to participate in the election. Landon Oxley has emerged as the lone Ward 2 write-in candidate.
Jason P. Michael
Jason P. Michael has served for about three years as a member of the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen. He became a member of the board one year earlier after he was appointed to fill an office after a resignation from the board. He won the next election for a two-year term and is now seeking his second full two-year term. He is unopposed in Ward 1.
Michael said he thinks the $7 million sewer bond issue on the April 5 ballot has been mostly unnoticed by the citizens of Holts Summit. "But I think it is an important step forward for our city. It is needed for the city to grow and to keep up with EPA regulations. We don't have much choice. Although it will cost me personally, I still think it is a good idea. I have a septic system. The proposal will require everyone with a septic tank to hook up to the city sewer system and start paying a sewer bill."
Michael said he believes Holts Summit is at its limit on the amount of sales tax it can collect and he believes the city will eventually need to have a property tax and perhaps lower the sales tax to attract more business.
"Very few communities can exist only on sales tax income. We need to promote Holts Summit as a good place for a business and to attract more customers from Jefferson City," Michael said.
People who buy a new vehicle pay the sales tax based on the amount of the tax at their residence, not on the tax rate of the dealership where the vehicle was purchased. "That is why someone living in Holts Summit pays much more in sales taxes for a new vehicle than a person living just outside the city," Michael said.
Michael said some people live in Holts Summit but never shop in Holts Summit. "Those that do this never contribute anything to support the city services because they are only paying the sales tax in another city," Michael said.
Michael grew up in Cole County and attended Eugene R-5 Elementary School. He is a 1990 graduate of Helias High School in Jefferson City.
Michael has as taken several college courses at Lincoln University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
For the last five years, Michael and his wife have owned and operated three businesses in Holts Summit. They include 2 BM Inc. Services, a window washing, pressure washing, lawn care, and air duct cleaning service; Servant Professional Janitorial Services, which provides commercial cleaning services; and Where Ya Headin' Christian Books & Gifts in the Summit Plaza in Holts Summit.
"I also am working toward ordination to become an ordained non-denominational minister. I am one of about 15 or so people who travel around the nation and do street preaching at large events such as Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, presidential inaugural speeches, and when the Pope comes to a city," Michael said.
Landon Oxley
"If you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk."
That's the way Landon Oxley of Holts Summit describes why he decided to become a write-in candidate for Ward 2 alderman in Holts Summit.
"When I heard no one filed for the office, I decided it was time for me to step forward. I had been thinking about running and this convinced me it was time to act," Oxley said.
Oxley said he has been attending meetings of the Board of Aldermen to become familiar with the job and the issues.
One of the issues to be decided April 5 is a $7 million sewer bond issue to be decided by Holts Summit voters.
"I see it as something that the city is required to do by federal and state regulations. The federal Environmental Quality Commission and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has set some rules that must be met. The city has no choice but to comply. If we try to prolong the issue, conditions will only get worse," Oxley said.
"From the meetings I have attended, I believe the current members of the board are trying to do what is best for the citizens of Holts Summit. They are doing an excellent job and they also are doing the best they can with available resources for employees of the city," Oxley said.
The plan to beautify exit and entrance ramps off U.S. 54 in Holts Summit will benefit the city, he said.
Oxley said the landscaping will improve the appearance of the city and attract business from motorists traveling to and from the Lake of the Ozarks.
"The extra purchases in the city also will help provide more sales tax revenue to the city," Oxley said.
Oxley has lived in Holts Summit for 12 years. He and his wife Annette, who is from the Jefferson City area, were married in 1991. She is a sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
They have a 17-year-old son Cole, who is a student at Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City. A daughter Lizzie, 12, is a student at Trinity Lutheran Elementary School in Jefferson City.
Oxley grew up in Lebanon and is a graduate of Lebanon High School. He served for 12 years in the Army National Guard as an infantry medic in the 735th Support Battalion in Springfield.
Oxley worked two years in plant security at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant. For the last 12 years, he has worked full time as a lineman at Callaway Electric Cooperative in Fulton.