SCOTT CITY COUNCILMAN IS CHALLENGED IN APRIL

SCOTT CITY -- Only one contest exists for the Scott City Council. Elections for the other council seats are uncontested.

The only contested race in the April 6 elections is for the Ward 2 seat held by Kenneth Holder Jr. Robert Camp Jr. is challenging Holder for the seat.

Holder has served on the council for one year. He defeated Edith Davidson in the last election to finish out the term after the resignation of Jim Cauble. Davidson had been appointed to fill Cauble's seat until the April 1992 election.

"I really like serving on the council," Holder said. "I ran initially to help improve the city and to see the people of Scott City get involved in their government."

Holder is the chairman of the council's Cemetery Committee. He also serves on the Public Works and Fire committees.

During his tenure on the council, the Oak Street bridge and a number of street improvements were completed in Ward 2, he said.

Holder, who has lived in Scott City all of his life, said he has watched the community grow. He said he believes it has the potential for further development.

"I think that we have to do a lot better job marketing the city in the future," Holder said. "We could give short-term tax breaks to new businesses so that they would come to Scott City and take root.

"We also need to establish some sort of tourism market and sponsor community events to get people to come to the city to spend money," Holder said.

Holder said he would like to see some of the students at Scott City High School get involved with city government.

"Perhaps the business administration classes or the state government classes could come to a council meeting once a month, listen to what goes on and take home an agenda to their parents to let them know about what goes on at a meeting," Holder said. "I can remember when I was in high school I didn't know who the mayor was or who served on the council or anything like that."

Holder said he would like to see the format of the Scott City Police Personnel Committee changed.

"I think that the members of the Personnel Committee should be elected, not appointed," Holder said. "We would then have the open-minded views of the people at large; not the opinions of people appointed by the mayor to the committee.

"Right now I feel that people don't want to file complaints against the police because they feel that their voices won't be heard," Holder said. "If they are elected I think it could benefit both the police and the community."

Holder's opponent, Camp, has lived in Scott City since 1966.

"I have children who live (in Scott City); I want to make it a better place for them to grow up," Camp said.

Camp said he too would prefer to have members of the Police Personnel Committee elected by the community at large, and would like to see the police chief elected rather than appointed by the mayor.

"That way we could be sure the police activities are in the general interest of the majority of the people," Camp said. He cited the fact that the city police currently patrol parts of the interstate rather than concentrate solely on the well-being of the city.

"I don't want to see people hot-rodding on the interstate, but I would rather see the police patrolling the streets of the city than looking for extra revenue on the interstate," Camp said.

Camp said he would also like to see the railroads play a larger role in economic growth of the city.

"We've lost our rural roots," Camp said. "The railroad has evolved into something that makes noise and blocks the street crossings.

"I would rather that the railroads provide more jobs; give the city an image," he said. "In combination with the port authority, the railroads could really give this city the image it needs."

If elected, Camp said he would represent the bulk of his constituency.

"I would do a quarterly poll of the people in the ward to determine what issues are important to them and to listen to their opinions," Camp said. "That's the whole idea behind government."

Jerry Cummins, who has served on the council for the last six years, is running unopposed for the Ward 3 council seat. Cummins is the chairman of the council's 911 Committee and spearheads the city's efforts to have an operational emergency phone service by November. Cummins also serves on the council's Budget and Planning and Zoning committees.

Norman Brant is running for the Ward 4 council seat currently held by John Smith. Smith, who has served on the council for the last six years, is not seeking re-election. Brant is unopposed.

Also not seeking re-election is Ward 1 Councilwoman Brenda Moyers. No one filed for the seat, meaning a write-in will win the election.