11 More Days to Register For Voting

11 More Days to Register!!

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Have LOTS of questions about voting?  You may find your answers here: Q&A About Boone County Registration

Notice of Election- Nov. 4th for Boone County

NOTICE OF ELECTION

Notice is hereby given that a General Election will be held in the State of Missouri on the 4th day of
November, 2014 for the purpose of voting on candidates and statewide ballot measures (§115.125,
RSMo).

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

REPUBLICAN PARTY

LIBERTARIAN PARTY

CONSTITUTION PARTY

FOR STATE AUDITOR
(VOTE FOR 1)

TOM SCHWEICH
REPUBLICAN PARTY

SEAN O’TOOLE
LIBERTARIAN PARTY

RODNEY FARTHING
CONSTITUTION PARTY

FOR UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 4
(VOTE FOR 1)

NATE IRVIN
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

VICKY HARTZLER
REPUBLICAN PARTY

HERSCHEL L. YOUNG
LIBERTARIAN PARTY

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 44
(VOTE FOR 1)

THOMAS (TOM) PAULEY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CALEB ROWDEN
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 45
(VOTE FOR 1)

KIP KENDRICK
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 46
(VOTE FOR 1)

STEPHEN WEBBER
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 47
(VOTE FOR 1)

JOHN WRIGHT
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CHARLES (CHUCK) BASYE
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRICT 50
(VOTE FOR 1)

CALEB JONES
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR CIRCUIT JUDGE
CIRCUIT 13, DIVISION 4
(VOTE FOR 1)

JODIE C. ASEL
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR ASSOCIATE CIRCUIT JUDGE
CIRCUIT 13, DIVISION 5
(VOTE FOR 1)

KIMBERLY SHAW
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

MICHAEL R. WHITWORTH
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR ASSOCIATE CIRCUIT JUDGE
CIRCUIT 13, DIVISION 9
(VOTE FOR 1)

MICHAEL W. BRADLEY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR ASSOCIATE CIRCUIT JUDGE
CIRCUIT 13, DIVISION 10
(VOTE FOR 1)

LESLIE ANN SCHNEIDER
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR ASSOCIATE CIRCUIT JUDGE
CIRCUIT 13, DIVISION 11
(VOTE FOR 1)

DEBORAH DANIELS
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR PRESIDING COMMISSIONER
(VOTE FOR 1)

DANIEL K. ATWILL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

JAMES B. POUNDS
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR COUNTY CLERK
(VOTE FOR 1)

WENDY S. NOREN
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
(VOTE FOR 1)

CHRISTY BLAKEMORE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR RECORDER OF DEEDS
(VOTE FOR 1)

NORA DIETZEL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

LISA BALLENGER
REPUBLICAN PARTY

FOR PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
(VOTE FOR 1)

DAN KNIGHT
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR COUNTY AUDITOR
(VOTE FOR 1)

JUNE E. PITCHFORD
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

FOR COLLECTOR OF REVENUE
(VOTE FOR 1)

BRIAN C. MCCOLLUM
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CHERI TOALSON REISCH
REPUBLICAN PARTY

STATE OF MISSOURI

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT NO. 2

Proposed by the 97th General Assembly

(First Regular Session)

SCS HJR 16
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended so that it will be permissible to allow relevant
evidence of prior criminal acts to be admissible in prosecutions for crimes of a sexual nature
involving a victim under eighteen years of age?
If more resources are needed to defend increased prosecutions additional costs to
governmental entities could be at least $1.4 million annually, otherwise the fiscal impact is
expected to be limited.

YES
NO

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT NO. 3

Proposed by Initiative Petition
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
• require teachers to be evaluated by a standards based performance evaluation system for
which each local school district must receive state approval to continue receiving state and
local funding;
• require teachers to be dismissed, retained, demoted, promoted and paid primarily using
quantifiable student performance data as part of the evaluation system;
• require teachers to enter into contracts of three years or fewer with public school districts;
and• prohibit teachers from organizing or collectively bargaining regarding the design and
implementation of the teacher evaluation system?
Decisions by school districts regarding provisions allowed or required by this proposal and
their implementation will influence the potential costs or savings impacting each district.
Significant potential costs may be incurred by the state and/or the districts if new/additional
evaluation instruments must be developed to satisfy the proposal’s performance evaluation
requirements.

YES
NO

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT NO. 6

Proposed by the 97th General Assembly

(Second Regular Session)

SS SCS HCS HJR No. 90
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to permit voting in person or by mail for a period
of six business days prior to and including the Wednesday before the election day in general
elections, but only if the legislature and the governor appropriate and disburse funds to pay
for the increased costs of such voting?
State governmental entities estimated startup costs of about $2 million and costs to
reimburse local election authorities of at least $100,000 per election. Local election authorities
estimated higher reimbursable costs per election.

Those costs will depend on the compensation, staffing, and, planning decisions of election authorities with the total costs being unknown.

YES
NO

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT NO. 10

Proposed by the 97th General Assembly

(Second Regular Session)

HJR No. 72

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require the governor to pay the public debt, to
prohibit the governor from relying on revenue from legislation not yet passed when proposing
a budget, and to provide a legislative check on the governor’s decisions to restrict funding for
education and other state services?
State governmental entities expect no direct costs or savings. Local governmental entities
expect an unknown fiscal impact.

YES
NO

The polling places for said election will be:See polling place listing at 

http://www.showmeboone.com/clerk/PollingLocations.pdf

Polling locations to be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

STATE OF MISSOURI
Secretary of State

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and affix the Great Seal of the State of
Missouri, done at the City of Jefferson, this 25th day of August, 2014.

(seal)
/s/ Jason Kander
Secretary of State

OFFICIAL JUDICIAL BALLOT

STATE OF MISSOURI

Submitting to the voters whether the Judge named below, whose term expires December 31, 2014,
shall be retained in office for a new term.

VOTE ON EACH JUDGE

MISSOURI SUPREME COURT JUDGE

Shall Judge LAURA DENVIR STITH of the Missouri Supreme Court be retained in office?
YES
NO

Shall Judge PAUL CAMPBELL WILSON of the Missouri Supreme Court be retained in office?
YES
NO

MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS JUDGES, WESTERN DISTRICT

Shall Judge LISA WHITE HARDWICK of the Western District Court of Appeals be retained in office?
YES
NO

Shall Judge ANTHONY REX GABBERT of the Western District Court of Appeals be retained in
office?
YES
NO

STATE OF MISSOURI

Secretary of StateIN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and affix the Great Seal of the State of
Missouri, done at the City of Jefferson, this 25th day of August, 2014.
(SEAL)

/s/Jason Kander
Secretary of State

NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION

City of Columbia, Missouri

Notice is hereby given to the qualified voters of the City of Columbia, Missouri, that the City Council of the City has called an election to be held in the City on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, commencing
at six o'clock a.m. and closing at seven o'clock p.m., on the question contained in the following
sample ballot:

PROPOSITION 1

Shall the City of Columbia, Missouri increase the general property tax rate of the City by $0.30
per $100.00 of assessed valuation for the sole purpose of funding an increase in staffing and
operations of the police and fire departments of the City? The increase would be phased in
over a period of five years.

YES
NO

If authorized by the voters, the increase in the general property tax rate received by the City of
Columbia, Missouri shall be segregated from the other general property tax revenues and
used solely for police and fire department staffing and operations, including, but not limited to
personnel and associated equipment and other related expenses.

The election will be held at the following polling places in the City:

See polling place listing at http://www.showmeboone.com/clerk/PollingLocations.pdf

Dated this _____ day of ______, 2014.

Wendy Noren
Clerk of the County Commission

NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION

City of Columbia, Missouri

Notice is hereby given to the qualified voters of the City of Columbia, Missouri, that the City Council of the City has called an election to be held in the City on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, commencing
at six o'clock a.m. and closing at seven o'clock p.m., on the question contained in the following
sample ballot:

PROPOSITION 2

Shall the City of Columbia, Missouri replace the current development charge for construction
of collector and arterial streets of $0.50 per square foot of total floor area of new construction
with a development charge for construction of collector and arterial streets as follows:

Residential - a maximum of $1.00 per square foot of total floor area of new construction; and

Non-residential Low Impact - a maximum of $1.50 per square foot of total floor area of new
construction; and

Non-residential High Impact - a maximum of $2.00 per square foot of total floor area of new construction.

“Non-residential Low Impact” shall be defined as a trip generation rate of less than 3 trips per
1,000 square feet based on the weekday p.m. peak hour for non-residential land uses as set
forth in the most recent edition of Trip Generation, a manual published by the Institute of
Transportation Engineers;

“Non-residential High Impact” shall be defined as a trip generation rate of 3 trips or more per
1,000 square feet based on the weekday p.m. peak hour for non-residential land uses as set
forth in the most recent edition of Trip Generation, a manual published by the Institute of
Transportation Engineers?

The increase would be phased in over a period of three (3) years.

YES
NO

The election will be held at the following polling places in the City:

See polling place listing at http://www.showmeboone.com/clerk/PollingLocations.pdf

Dated this _____ day of ______, 2014.

Wendy Noren
Clerk of the County Commission

Columbia is On the Website!

From the Protect Our Local Schools website- www.protectourlocalschools:  

       The school boards below have passed resolutions opposing Amendment 3.

-C-

• Campbell R-II
• Camdenton R-III
• Cape Girardeau Public Schools
• Carl Junction Schools
• Carthage R-9
• Central R-III
• Chaffee R-II
• Clark Country R-1
• Clearwater R-1
• Clinton School District
• Cole Camp R-1
• Columbia Public Schools
• Crawford County R-I
• Crest Ridge R-VII

Opinion Letter Posted in Springfield News-Leader

Craig Hurst, Springfield

I am writing to increase awareness about Amendment 3 and the concerns it would bring for Missouri students.

I would like to begin by thanking everyone for their support. The more I talk about the issue, the more I see people outside the field of education who know that Amendment 3 is not a good idea.

My main concern is that this amendment is sponsored by people outside the field of education who clearly have other priorities besides the students.

I teach high school English in Marshfield, and I know that whenever a decision is made at our school, whether it's by the department chair, the principal or the superintendent, it will ultimately have a positive impact on students.

Everything we do as educators has to come back to that because that is what education is about. So, if we are talking about what is best for students, we could look at the expected increase in standardized testing (let alone the costs), we could talk about their lack of authenticity, and how the last thing the students really want/need is more testing, but essentially it all boils down to the same conclusion.

I am amazed that Amendment 3 even made it on the ballot, but again, I am glad to see so much support behind stopping it.

Stoddard County Retired Teachers Oppose Amendment 3

County's retired teachers openly oppose Amendment 3

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

By NOREEN HYSLOP Managing Editor

Educators don't believe they've seen the end of effort to pass measure

Members of the Stoddard County Public School Retired Employees Association (PSREA) voted unanimously on Monday, Sept. 22, to pass a resolution voicing their opposition to Amendment 3 as it will appear on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot.

Amendment 3 has drawn considerable attention in recent months and has met with opposition within each Stoddard County school, several of which also are on board with publicly expressing their disapproval of the proposal.

Educators, both active and retired, say Amendment 3 is misleading in its wording and will take away local control of the schools from parents, teachers, and school districts and "hand it over to Jefferson City politicians."

Efforts to pass Amendment 3 are primarily backed by St. Louis conservative activist billionaire, Rex Sinquefield, a supporter of open enrollment in Missouri schools, charter school expansion, and teacher-tenure reform. Sinquefield has funded a number of other initiatives in the Missouri legislature that promote his philosophies with regard to public education.

In recent weeks, Sinquefield's group behind the ballot measure, Teach Great, contended that they have ceased pursuing the issue, stating that "this was not the right time to deal with this issue."
Missouri educators, however, don't believe the Sinquefield-backed campaign has entirely shut down, with many expressing the belief that the political group will "blitz" the media just prior to the November election in a further attempt to pass the amendment.

"The amendment will still appear on the ballot," explained Tracy Gant, a local retired teacher who serves as president of Stoddard County's Retired School Employee Association. The group, which keeps retired school personnel abreast of all education-based legislature and issues pertaining to teacher retirement, gathered Monday for their regular quarterly meeting in Dexter.

"Rex Sinquefield has spent nearly $2 million on his campaign to pass this amendment, and it's hard to believe that he would give up at this point. I don't think we've heard the last from his campaign to pass this amendment, even though they say they backed off."

Educators argue that Amendment 3, if passed by the voters of Missouri, would limit teacher contracts to no more than three years and prohibit teachers negotiating any classroom evaluation system.

Amendment 3 backers contend that the measure will reward good teachers, support struggling teachers, and make it easier for schools to hire teachers. Both the Missouri National Education Association (NEA) and the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) say the proposal is a "one-size-fits-all" approach to education that would be costly to local districts and would create yet more standardized tests.

The most recent public opposition by PSREA, in the form of a resolution, additionally states, "Whereas Amendment 3 limits actual instruction and learning opportunities as teachers spend more time teaching for testing," and "Whereas Amendment creates another state mandate, yet ignores the financial responsibility of said mandate,"..."for the reasons stated and others, the Stoddard County Public School Retired Employees Association urges all Missourians to vote "no" on Amendment 3.

Springfield School Board Vows to Strongly Oppose Amendment 3

By Claudette RileyCRILEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

The Springfield school board is gearing up for a big fight.

It strongly opposes a proposed change to the Missouri Constitution, known as Amendment 3, that would end teacher tenure and require student test scores to dominate teacher evaluations.

Between now and Nov. 4, when voters decide its fate, the board plans to explain exactly why, from its perspective, the change would be "bad for kids."

"I don't know anybody in education that thinks this is a good idea," said board vice president Andy Hosmer. "I'm still looking."

The board took a unanimous stand last week, approving a resolution against the measure. More than 80 school boards — including Willard, Logan-Rogersville, and Monett — have passed similar resolutions in recent weeks.

"This is appalling to me," said Springfield board president Denise Fredrick, a former teacher and administrator. "You will hear more from me because I will be very vocal about this."

Teach Great, the organization driving the proposal — and largely funded by St. Louis billionaire activist Rex Sinquefield — made a sweep of the state this summer. It argued that by tying teacher evaluations to student test scores, achievement levels would go up and make it easier for schools to get rid of low-performing teachers.

But the group recently pulled back, announcing it would shut it doors. It stated that while it believes in the ballot measure, it believes the timing is wrong.

With or without Teach Great, the measure remains on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The loss of an organized, statewide campaign for passage has done little to dampen the resolve of the opposition.

Under the proposal, at least 51 percent of a teacher's evaluation would be based on student test scores. Those evaluations would be used to make employment decisions, determine pay and identify which staff would go if there was a reduction.

Teacher contracts would also be limited to three years, effectively doing away with tenure. Collective bargaining over teacher evaluations would also be prohibited.

There isn't a clear fiscal note. The district expects the additional testing, implementation and legal challenges to be expensive.

Both Springfield teacher unions urged the school board to take a stand.

Kittilu Maxson, president of the Springfield National Education Association, said tying employment to a "one-size-fits-all, high stakes testing event" would put too much emphasis on testing and take away the current focus on "the growth and progress of our students."

Maxson fears that experienced teachers who elect to work with struggling students would be faced with the reality of having "their jobs on the line." "What teacher would continue to be willing to take that risk?" she asked.

Board member Gerry Lee said addressing issues like teacher evaluations through an amendment is the wrong approach, arguing it eliminates local control.

"You just don't put personnel decisions in a constitution," Lee said. "…It's putting it in black and white and saying it's the way it's going to be irrespective of situations, irrespective of circumstances."

Superintendent John Jungmann said school employees are limited in what they can do. State law prohibits the use of public resources to advocate, support or oppose any ballot measure of candidate for public office.

For that reason, the board is expected to be at the forefront.

"Obviously, we're many, many weeks from election time. It will ramp up drastically as we get into the last two or three weeks," he told the board this month. "We want you to be prepared. We want your voice to be heard."

Taking a stand

In late August, the Springfield school district sent a note to all employee acknowledging that Amendment 3 is "an important issue and one that is close to the hearts of many in our community." While employees can express their opinions and share information with others, they must not use public resources to do that.

State law prohibits the use of such resources to "advocate, support, or oppose any ballot measure or candidate for public office."

For example, staff are not to express their opinions, for or against it, using district email, paper, copiers, printers, fax machines, telephones and school mailboxes. They also can't post information on walls or bulletin boards.

Staff aren't allowed to "use their position" to express feelings or opinions about the issue. Violations of that include:

• Discussing the amendment in class or with students

• Using student mailing lists

• Sending information home with students

• Wearing buttons, stickers, or clothing containing information about this issue

Ballot language

A "yes" vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to require teachers to be evaluated by a standards-based performance evaluation system. Each system must receive state approval in order for the local school district to continue receiving state and local funding. Teachers will be dismissed, retained, demoted, promoted and paid primarily using quantifiable student performance data as part of the evaluation system. The amendment further requires teachers to enter into contracts of three years or fewer with public school districts, with exceptions. The amendment also prohibits teachers from organizing or collectively bargaining regarding the design and implementation of the teacher evaluation system.

Support MNEA Supported Candidate Tom Pauley This Monday