JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates for key races in the April election.
The interviews will air on ABC 17 News leading up to the April 2 election and will be posted online as they air.
ABC 17 News: Why are you running and what are your qualifications?
Randy Hoselton: I’m running for city council here in Jefferson City because I take pride in this wonderful community. Everywhere you look at Jefferson City, it reflects anywhere in Missouri. I was born and raised in St. Genevieve. I’ve lived as far south as Joplin, and even worked in Jefferson Barracks with my 18-year Army career. I feel just as much pride here as any Missourian does. And I’ve loved being in this city for the last three years since the National Guard brought me here.
My qualifications, I draw a wealth of experience from serving the cities of Arnold as a planning and zoning commissioner, as the founder of the veterans commission, and also as the planning and zoning commissioner in Neosho, and the Post 163 commander in Neosho, for the American Legion. I currently am the planning and zoning alternate for Jefferson City and the second vice commander at the Post 5 here in Jefferson City. So my wealth of knowledge, or experience is not just from this community, but from others. I’ve seen what works, I’ve seen what hasn’t worked. And I’m hoping that perhaps my perspective can offer a solution to our impasse and growing as a community and drawing more businesses here. I don’t think it requires any more or any less.
ABC 17 News: Does the city’s parks commission need more council oversight?
Hoselton: If there is a case to be made for things to change, as the voters set it back in the ’90s, then we should present that case to the voters and ask their permission to change the way things are. I personally feel that things are working just fine. Our parks are doing great. Honestly, we’re on track to being probably one of the best-looking cities, as far as our parks are concerned of our size. I mean, find another town of 40,000 people that has parks and trails that rival ours.
ABC 17 News: How can Jefferson City best address its affordable housing shortage?
Hoselton: The first step in addressing our housing issue is to address the vacant properties that we have here so far. I feel that we need to go to our ordinances, we need to look at the way that we’re doing business and some of our policies and maybe make adjustments. So that way, there are not as many barriers to owning a home or improving a home in our city. So I really believe it’s going back to the basics and going to the books first. And then after that, it’s on the market. And it’s a free market. We just have to make sure that the soil is fertile enough to allow the market to prosper in the housing market and the economic development realm.
ABC 17 News: Should the city bring back yard waste dropoff?
Hoselton: The city council here in recent weeks has already taken measures to set up a temporary site to make sure that there is something available for our citizens to take care of their yard waste. Now, the yard waste issue has drawn a lot of attention, because I don’t think it’s just about the yard waste. I believe that it’s symbolic of the trust between the community and their government. I believe that this issue became so big, because people want to know and they want the reassurance that their city government has their back, and it’s going to keep their word on the promises already made. And so when this issue happened, that brought up a lot of trust issues. There’s a deficit of trust at all levels of government. And we really need to take steps to heal that deficit. So that way we can work together and not work against each other.
ABC 17 News: Does the city council have a transparency problem?
Hoselton: I believe that the council has a transparency problem. There’s been a lot of incidents that point to a transparency issue. I would say that those incidents were more errors or mistakes in judgment rather than outright underhandedness. There are so many avenues in which someone can get involved and see what’s going on. The minutes are available on the city’s website. They can call any of their council members. It’s on YouTube — you can always look up City of Jefferson and see the YouTube channel and see the proceedings right in front of you.
And if that doesn’t satisfy you do a Sunshine Law request and request records. But I mean, the information and the business that our city is conducting is in plain sight for all to see. I just believe that they made some mistakes. And to err is human.