Susie Ferguson, Democrat
Susie Ferguson is a fifth-generation Callawegian. Her family has always been on the livestock side of the agriculture world. After graduating from South Callaway Schools in 1977, she has lived and worked almost exclusively in Callaway County. She is an active supporter of local small business. Owning her own farm in the southern part of Callaway and being part of the Little Dixie Small Animal Auction has shown her the challenges the average residents faces when they are working for themselves. Red tape and overlapping agencies causing other small business owners to quit or consider quitting are a concern she shares with the voters of Callaway. The backbone of this community is farmers and small business owners.
Ferguson has no campaign manager or treasurer. There have been no donations or money given toward her campaign. She has made no promises nor is she part of any "good old boys" club.
Why are you running?
"Our public offices were never meant to be a career. It was set up so that the average citizen would take a turn, then go back to their livelihood. If you are looking for a new commissioner who can think for herself and work with the citizens of Callaway County, I will appreciate your vote."
Tim Kendall, Democrat
Tim Kendall was born in San Diego, California. He has degrees in English and economics, technical writing and drafting, and environmental science technology.
He completed an internship with the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources. He received Department of Natural Resources' stream team training to level II where he conducts biological and chemical monitoring of Whetstone Creek, Auvaxsse, and Stinson creeks. He teaches fishing with the Missouri Department of Conservation's Discover Nature through Fishing program to adults and children.
He has a wealth of work experience including education, technical writing and government. He worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources helping compile the Registry of Confirmed Abandoned or Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites. He also took soil samples of contaminated sites in Missouri and reported these findings to the regional office of the EPA.
What is the most important local issue that made you want to run?
One answer will suffice. CAFOs. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Local residents have been fighting CAFOs for years. These farm factories create such enormous amounts of animal manure that the land cannot absorb it all. This untreated waste will find its way into our surface and ground waters threatening our drinking water supplies and fishing just as they have in North Carolina and Iowa.
They are incubators for disease organisms that can adversely affect our health. The odors from raw sewage are nauseating and can be detected from miles away.
Because farm factories routinely use antibiotics to inoculate animals in crowded confinement, they are creating more resistant diseases. Do you suppose there is any danger to public health from antibiotic resistant diseases in animal manure that is sprayed or injected into our soil?
A cheap, low quality meat supply is threatening the incomes of responsible, family farmers. Swine technicians work in enclosed, automated, concentration camps for farm animals.
How would you solve this if the issue is a problem?
We need a county wide health ordinance that is limited to farm factories and which will restrict and regulate CAFOs. Current state regulations don't go nearly far enough to protect Missouri, and Callaway County property owners and citizens from the disastrous consequences of farm factories.
What is the second most important local issue and how would you solve it?
Recycling. According to our county website, two days a year are set aside for volunteers to pick up trash. Yellow bags of trash can be left by the roadside, and the county will pick it up. This is inadequate and only pays lip service to recycling.
Our neighboring counties have the good sense to recycle municipal waste. Why do Callaway county residents have to drive to another county's recycling center? Doesn't that sort of defeat one of the major reasons for recycling?
What about those items that can't be recycled but are no longer useful, or broken, such as furniture and appliances? We also need a landfill like the one in Boone County that can handle those items.
We can prevent much of the trash that is building up in our road ditches, creeks, and sinkholes if we develop a recycling center and educate the public about how to recycle and its benefits. We could also look into the possibility of converting solid waste to energy. A progressive county deals with its municipal waste in a sustainable way.