Local News – Monday, April 1st, 2024
The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, April 2nd which will determine a number of school district boards, hospital board, health center board, as well as City of Salem and Bunker city position elections. Candidates running for the two-year terms for the City of Salem Mayor are incumbent Greg Parker, Lisa Elliott, Grover “Mike” Whitley and Eddie Fleetwood; while Catherine Dent and Richard LaBrash are running for the West Ward Alderman seat; and incumbent Kala Sisco and James Vance are running for the East Ward Alderman seat. For the City of Bunker, all the current office holders are running unopposed for two year terms which include Mayor Gary Conway, Jr., Aldermen Tom Case and James McClanahan, and City Tax Collector Nancy Amaral. For the Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees which are four-year terms, incumbents Carol Lacy and Lori Hasten are the only one running for the two available seats. For the Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, three district positions will be available with different terms. The District 5 seat is the only open position that will run the full six years and the candidates are incumbent Ray Bruno, N. Dwayne Land, Frank Barnitz and Colleen Lake; the District 4 seat has five-years left on its term and running are incumbent Zach Moser and C. David Kerr; and the District 6 seat has one year left on its term and the candidates are incumbent Dr. Leigh Ann Price and Susan Jordan. Three school boards had their available openings filled by incumbents and those districts were Green Forest R-2, Dent-Phelps R-3 and Northwood R-4 so there will be no election at those districts. For the Salem R-80 School Board, running for the two open positions are incumbent Steven Patterson along with Lauren Prugh and Jason Green. For the Bunker R-3 School District, running for their two open positions are incumbent Mike Dickerson, Kelly Gant and Jason Lee Lacey. For the Oak Hill R-1 School District running for their two open three-year positions are incumbent Nathan Ragsdale along with Rhonda Wolfe-Hutsell and Mikel Chambers. For the one-year position available at Oak Hill, only April Greener filed for the position. The Quad County Fire District had two people file for the open director on their board that will serve a six-year term and Robert Hicks and Karla Payne are running for that seat. For the Rolla Rural Fire Protection District, they have two openings on their board and voters will need to select two from these four candidates: Ryan Long, Jason Shenefield, Keith Grayson and Chad Engelke. Remember, the polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 in the evening Tuesday and you can still vote absentee today at the Dent County Courthouse until 5:00 today. Remember, you must bring a photo ID such as a valid Missouri Drivers License, a valid Missouri non-Drivers License, a US passport or a military ID.
Also on the ballot, Dent County has two issues for all county voters to decide. The first is to impose a local use sales tax rate of 2.25% that would be collected on out-of-state sales or those on the Internet by Dent County citizens where these sales taxes are currently not being collected. It is compensatory tax on those items where you would pay the same sales tax rate when buying items on the Internet or out-of-state as if you were buying them locally. This does not affect the current sales tax rate already charged by brick and mortar stores in Salem and Dent County. The other issue would be to impose a countywide sales tax of three percent on the retails sales of adult use marijuana sold in Dent County. The other issues on the ballot are for Salem R-80 voters with Proposition E asking voters to raise the operating tax levy from the state minimum of $2.75 per $100 assessed valuation to $3.65 per $100 assessed valuation, or an additional 90 cents. Proposition W is asking the voters to issue additional General Obligation Bonds for $6,000,000 for the purchase of the SBU Building on Grand, the construction of the FEMA shelter at the Upper Elementary campus, additions to the Construction Trades Building, renovations to the Ag building and the acquisition of new school busses. If passed, this would increase the debt service levy of the Salem R-80 district from 45 cents per $100 assessed valuation to 79 cents per $100 assessed valuation, an increase of 34 cents. If both issues pass, Salem R-80 voters would see their real estate and personal property tax rates increase by an additional $1.24 per $100 assessed valuation.
Local author Julia Boardman will visit the children’s area of the Salem Public Library Tuesday from 11:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon to share her two picture books. The first book is When Pigs Fly, the second book is What Is A Black Hole. Also the Salem Public Library will be closed on Monday, April 8th from 1:30 in the afternoon till 2:30. The Library will reopen at 2:30 and close at its usual time of 5:00 in the evening.