Three candidates vie for 125th District seat

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Herald

Barney Fisher, Republican

"Education money needs to be fairly distributed. It's going to happen one way or another," Barney Fisher, Republican candidate for the Missouri 125th district, said.

The state must find a way to make sure all Missouri schools are fully and fairly funded, or some judge will make that decision for the state, he said.

"If the legislature and the governor don't do a better job of fully funding education it is handwritten on the wall that the courts will mandate it," he said.

The issue is already in the courts and it has happened in other states, he said.

However, Fisher said that there is no need for an increase in Missouri state taxes to cover the current needs.

Locally, Fisher said that he supports the proposed increase in the Nevada R-5 School District tax levy that is on the August 3 ballot.

If the state would end its wasteful spending practices and improve the business climate there would be absolutely no need for a tax increase.

"We have a very anti-business climate in Missouri," he said.

This impacts the money available for each school district in the state because the school funding formula is tied to economy and wealth of each district. The over regulation of businesses and the foolish regulations businesses have to operate under actually hurt the state by forcing businesses out of the state, he said.

"I include doctors in that because without tort reform we're going to have a shortage of doctors in the state," he said.

These regulations have the force of law but were not passed by the legislature. They were issued by unelected government officials, he said.

Fisher said that a good example of these regulations is the requirement that projects school districts, cities and other governmental bodies undertake often must be bid using prevailing wage.

He said that in one small school district in the 125th district a contractor had to figure his cost to do a routine construction project at the prevailing wage of $38 per hour, which brought the cost of the project to about $5,000. The cost of the same project in the private sector would be about $2,000. This would come to about $1.5 million dollars of extra expense if 500 school districts did the same project.

Prevailing wage cost school districts in the 125th district $27,000, he said.

"It wouldn't bother me to see prevailing wage go away or be restructured to only apply to schools with an enrollment of over 1,000 students," Fisher said, adding that he has talked to all but one school superintendent in the 125th district and they all said that they have put off projects because they cost too much.

Fisher and his wife, Mary, owned a local business for 13 years and he would like to use the lesson he learned this way to improve the area economy.

"You need to learn the ins and outs of business to make it survive," he said.

This area is ready for business to grow and with agriculture being the number one business in the state, agribusiness might as well lead the way, he said.

One promising direction he sees for agribusiness is that of supplying the raw material for alternate fuels. There are already three ethanol plants in operation in the state and a fourth under construction.

"Alternative fuels will be big in the future," he said.

The recent decision to phase out part of the Nevada Habilitation Center is one of the more wasteful decisions the state has made. Fisher said.

"They do a great job at a bargain price of $27 per day, per patient," he said.

Holden's idea to phase out and privatize some, or all, of the Habilitation Center is a bad idea. It will drive the cost up to $212 per day, per patient, he said.

"The Hab Center is one of the largest employers in the county. I don't think that Holden cares about that," Fisher said.

Fisher and his wife Mary both graduated from Nevada High School and have three grown children and four grandchildren. They are members of Rinehart Christian Church.

He retired in 1993 as a Lt. Col. after 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was a fighter pilot, serving four tours of duty overseas.

He has a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Missouri and holds a lifetime teaching certificate. He has 10 years of teaching experience ranging from middle school through college -- including three years at Wellsville where he also was head basketball coach and athletic director. While in the Marines he graduated from the USMC Command and Staff College and had various teaching duties during his career including air combat, counter terrorism training, threat analysis and at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kan.

Fisher said that the projects he worked on while in the Marines gave him an understanding of government financing.

He said that he was part of a team that developed a $5 to $8 billion project that today is flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. We had to deal with the current budget and develop the next years' budget and a five-year budget at the same time.

The military is not interested in failure-they only want the job done, Fisher said.

When you are part of a team like this you get friends and opponents quickly and the trick is to learn how to work with both groups.

Fisher said that this skill would allow him to work with all sides in Jefferson City to solve problems.

"The voters are tired of the head-butting going on," he said.

In addition to favoring smaller government and eliminating excess government regulations, Fisher said that he is a conservative on social issues, opposing homosexual marriage and abortion -- especially partial birth abortion.

"I'm opposed to public funding for abortions," he said.

I also believe in the second amendment right to keep and bear arms, he said.

Larry Berry, Democrat

Just because the state cuts its spending rather than raise taxes does not mean that there is not a tax increase to cover the cost of education. It is just passed on to the local school district, Larry Berry, one of two Democratic candidates for the Missouri 125th district seat, said.

The cutbacks in state funding for education in Missouri over the last two years has put the burden on local school districts to raise money to cover the shortfall, cut programs or a combination of both.

"This is still a tax increase," he said.

That is the situation the Nevada schools find themselves in.

Berry said that he hopes the R-5 residents will step up and pass the proposed increase in the tax levy because they like the schools and the increase is only for five years.

The current method of setting the amount of state funding for local school districts was established in 1993 by Senate Bill 380. The opponents of the bill called it the largest tax increase in state history, however, even after it was implemented Missouri still had one of the lowest tax rates in the country, Berry said.

"The funding from this bill saved the small rural schools," he said.

Now the state contribution to local school through the state funding formula has dropped from 100 percent in 2000 to 86 percent for the 2005 school year, he said.

Currently every school in Bates and Vernon counties receive state funding at a level above average. For every tax dollar we pay into the state for education, we get more than one dollar back. In the case of Hume, it is probably about $1.50 back for every $1.00 in taxes paid to the state, Berry, who has been superintendent of schools at Hume for eight years, said.

"We're better off when the state does more and the local district less," he said.

However, when there is a reduction in the state funding these same districts end up getting a larger cut than some other districts that receive a lower ratio of state to local funding, he said.

This cut in the state funding to local education not only hurts the schools, it also impacts the local economies.

Last year Nevada R-5 Superintendent Ted Davis stated that state funding for the Nevada schools would be cut by about $800,000. Berry said that every dollar that comes into Nevada would turn over about five times before it leaves the community.

"That was a $4 million impact on the economy," he said.

Berry said that if is he elected he wants to work to fix the funding formula so it will fully fund Missouri schools.

"If I can get done with the formula what I want, your local taxes will drop," he said.

Education is not the only thing that has received cuts over the last two years. Programs like OATS, Meal-on-Wheels and various women's health programs have either been cut or threatened, Berry said.

"There are a number of programs and issues that people need and expect from government that need to be protected," he said.

The theme of Berry's campaign is "People First. Whatever you do you need to consider the effect on people," he said.

Berry's budgeting philosophy takes that into account.

You first identify the need and then explore how to fund it. You do not start with an amount of money and then decide how to parcel it out.

"Government is about people, not dollars," he said.

Berry said that the state's two biggest industries are tourism and agriculture and we need to protect and promote both of them.

"I'd like to see us use the same effort to promote these as we do for the cities and the auto industry," he said.

One area in which he thinks Missouri agribusiness has a bright future is in alternate fuel production. Berry said that some people are interested in setting up an ethanol plant in this area, however, the idea has not received much support.

There are currently two ethanol plants operating in northern Missouri and two more under construction. The two in operation now consume eight percent of Missouri's corn production. When all four are in operation, they will use 15 percent of Missouri's corn. Ethanol production seems to be a win-win situation, he said.

Missouri lost an electric generating plant and racetrack to Kansas already, he said "It would behoove us to get one before Kansas," Berry said.

Berry and his wife Lesa have two sons, ages 10 and 3.

Berry also has two adult daughters and four grandchildren. He holds an Ed. S. degree in administration and has been in education for 33 years, with the last 17 years at Hume R-8 where he has been superintendent for eight years.

They are members of the Hume Methodist Church where Berry is a certified lay speaker.

He is the current Democratic committeeman for Howard Township, a former Hume city councilman and candidate for Missouri state representative in 2002.

Berry said that while superintendent at Hume the school staff worked with him.

"I hope that everyone who I supervised felt that they worked with me not for me," he said.

If you tell people what to do you will get minimum effort from them. For people to give a maximum effort you need for people to work with you, he said.

Bart McClaughry, Democrat

"We are facing difficult financial times and we must find ways to help our communities and our schools without raising taxes anymore. We need to look for other possible funding sources and reallocation of funding if at all possible. The state's highways and roads are also in desperate need of repair," Bart McClaughry, one of two Democratic candidates for the Missouri 125th district, said.

The cost and availability of healthcare and the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs is a challenge the state must face according to McClaughry.

"There are many other issues facing this office and I am willing to investigate all possible resources and solutions to help you, the voters of the 125th district. We must act now to help the people of rural Missouri," he said.

McClaughry said he believes that "we, the working people, must take a stand and be heard. I have an understanding of what the common hard working Missourians need in a state representative."

"I have experienced first hand many of the regulations, codes and red tape that is required by our state government. I have also seen how government can work against our communities," he noted.

McClaughry said that he has first-hand experience in education through his children and his wife, who has worked for a school district for more than 15 years.

"Our family has personally been affected by state budget cutbacks," he said.

McClaughry said that he chose to run for the state legislature to support the common working class man or woman.

I also have a passionate concern for the rural areas. All four of my grandparents lived and worked on farms that are now in the 125th district.

Both of these farms are still in the family and we would like to keep them there, he said.

McClaughry said that he thinks the rural areas get overlooked because there are more voters in the big cities and things that work in metropolitan areas often do not work in rural areas.

"If elected I would continuously remind my fellow legislators of my constituents that live in the rural areas of the 125th district in Missouri," he said.

McClaughry, 43, was born in Nevada, where he lived until 1978, when his family moved to family farm between Rich Hill and Hume. He graduated from Rich Hill High School in 1980 when he joined the National Guard.

While in high school McClaughry was a member of the Nevada and Rich Hill FFA chapters and an active 4-H member.

After finishing basic training, McClaughry said that he moved to Oklahoma and traveled around the Midwest working on natural gas pipelines, where he worked his way up through the ranks, from a laborer to supervising large work crews. He is currently employed by the city of Rich Hill as an electrician and electrical lineman.

He is a member of the Rich Hill Lions Club and the Hume Baptist Church where he occasionally does some preaching and storytelling.

McClaughry said that he learned a lot about managing people and getting the job while he was working on natural gas pipelines. "I have experienced first hand many of the regulations, codes and red tape that are required by our state government."