Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann-R, and his challenger, Janet Gruer-D, debated local issues in the county at Thursday night's candidate forum at Fulton City Hall. The Callaway County Presiding Commissioner contest was one of four races which will appear on the November ballot that were discussed at the forum.
Jungermann said the commission has made efforts to save money, especially since the county's revenue has been flat the past few years. Although efforts have been made, he said the county still has work to do.
"We still have a ways to go to get this county going and to create some more jobs," Jungermann said. "It's more than bringing businesses here. We've got some work to do just having our workforce ready."
Gruer said the commission needs to focus on building stronger relationships within the county's communities to further grow the county and economy.
"We need to have a goal and we need to have a plan regarding the growth of our county and infrastructure," Gruer said.
Jungerman said that everyone focuses on bringing more jobs into the county. He said he has tried to focus on making the workforce ready for what jobs there are.
"One of the things I said when I got here was, "Do we have the workforce that we can fill those potential jobs when they get here?' I think what we've found in the four years I've been here is that our workforce is not ready," he said.
Jungermann said he has been working with the department of economic development on creating a work-ready community. In response to Jungermann, Gruer said the workforce that's ready needs to be working and that the county needs to bring in new jobs.
"We need to have more people out there working," Gruer said. "If we do not have the population in our county to put new jobs in our county then we need to make it our job to bring in those (people) and we need housing and infrastructure."
Jungermann clarified that the problem is not a lack of people in the county for potential new jobs. When it comes to economic development, he said he wants to focus on education to ensure that the 44,000 people in the county are ready to go to work.
"What we're finding in talking to businesses here locally in Callaway County is that it is a struggle to find good, qualified candidates for their jobs," Jungermann said.
When asked what areas or departments she felt would need the most financial support in the next few years, Gruer said budget should be one of the top priorities of the commissioners and that the health and safety of citizens is the highest priority. Therefore, Gruer said her main budget focus would be law enforcement.
"Are we prepared for the situation that has happened in the St. Louis area? I don't believe that we are prepared," Gruer said.
She asked the presiding commissioner what has been done to prevent this from escalating in the county and what procedures are involved.
Jungermann said roughly half of the County's estimated $7.5 million general revenue budget is in the law enforcement center with the jail and the Sheriff's Office.
"We are putting about $3.5 million into that facility every year. That has been a topic of conversation," he said. "Public safety is a high priority on my budget and all of the commission's budget and we're going to keep working on that."
He added that the commissioners are working on improving officer safety this year. The county has tested body cameras and other things, Jungermann said, even before the events in Fergusson happened. He stressed that the commission has been looking into officer safety and the public's safety.