PERRYVILLE INCUMBENT FACES THREE CHALLENGERS

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The three Republican candidates running for public administrator in Perry County all agree -- you've got to have heart to do the job.

Incumbent Jim Taylor, 74, is seeking his second four-year term in order to continue working with the elderly and handicapped and helping them find out what services are available to them.

Lavesta Colin, 50, believes she can take several years of related experience and put it to good use in the job.

Tammy Tarrillion, 38, wants to do better than her second place showing against Taylor in the 1996 elections.

"When people ask me what a public administrator is supposed to be, I explain the job to them," Tarrillion said. "But I really feel that you have to be a very compassionate person."

In his current role as public administration, Taylor looks after the medical and financial needs of about 12 people, he said. The public administrator becomes a guardian or conservator for those who can't manage their affairs by themselves, he said.

A county probate court assigns these individuals to the public administrator, Taylor said.

"In most cases, a family member will care for the individual, just as it should be," he said. "But when there isn't a relative, the probate judge steps in."

Taylor recalls how he started in the job when the former public administrator became ill. The man asked Taylor if he would be interested in serving as his deputy, and Taylor agreed.

If it weren't for that experience, Taylor said he might have never sought the office of public administrator.

Taylor had served approximately 20 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Perry County as administrator of federal farm programs.

Most of his clients are elderly and live in nursing homes, Taylor said.

One person can handle the job in Perry County, which pays $10,000 annually to the public administrator, Taylor said.

Colin's first experience on a public board came in April when she was appointed to the board for the Perry County Sheltered Workshop Inc. But she has other public experience.

Colin said she was one of the initiators in putting up a Salvation Army "tree of lights" in Perry County 20 years ago. She is still involved with the planning, which results in donations for school supplies, clothes and food for the needy, she said.

For the past 11 years, Colin has been in charge of the Terrace Gardens group home for the disabled in Perryville. Prior to that, she sold real estate, she said.

Her work at Terrace Gardens has allowed her to have regular contact with many of the government agencies that assist the clients of a public administrator, Colin said. She has also worked with the courts as a guardian, presenting financial accounting statements for her own clients.

It is vital to keep clients' accounts below a certain level, Colin said. Otherwise, they can lose their government benefits.

Tarrillion has spent the majority of her working life in county offices, so she said she is familiar with individuals and their needs.

Most of her 17 years of county work has come in the county clerk's office, where she is now deputy county clerk. She has also served as deputy treasurer.

"I feel it would be very rewarding to help the citizens of Perry County as public administrator," Tarrillion said.

In the 1996 election, she and six other candidates ran. She came in second, receiving about 600 votes to Taylor's 800, she said.

Over the past several weeks, Tarrillion has been going out on lunch breaks and weekends to knock on doors, hand out brochures and explain how she understands the role of public administrator.

Most people aren't familiar with the job, she said. But after passing out nearly 4,000 brochures, she hopes to have changed that.