After the announcement that current Stoddard County Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis would not be seeking re-election, Jeff Riddle decided it was his time to step up and run for the office.
"I thought maybe it was time to get a younger generation in there to try to get the county moving forward," Riddle said.
Several goals are on Riddle's list if elected to the office of presiding commissioner.
One of those goals includes working to get the county's technology updated for efficiency.
With no county webpage, Riddle said he would like to get Stoddard County online.
"Citizens could utilize the webpage to answer questions rather than going to Bloomfield or calling," he said.
Other goals, he said, would be to ensure all county governments work together and smoothly, achieve pay increases for the sheriff's department to retain employees, recruit more industry in the county, involvement and save the county as much money as possible.
"I want to make sure the county is using all their resources and assets to save the county money and move forward," Riddle said. "I want to work with Bootheel Regional Planning to make sure they are looking for all the grants possible for the county."
Riddle added if the county is turned down for potential grants, then they are turned down, but wants to see the grants be applied for.
He also added he would like to see good roads and bridges be kept throughout the county.
The biggest challenge Riddle sees for Stoddard County is keeping the sales tax revenue up to fund the county, all the offices and help keep the county running smoothly.
Riddle, who has lived in Dexter since 1988, also added he is the only candidate in the race that has completed the National Incident Management System classes.
NIMS guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from incidents.
"I want to bring a new look, a look from the outside," he said of running for presiding commissioner.