Poplar Bluff City Council candidates talk about issues that will dominate June 2 election

Voters will be asked June 2 to pick two at-large representatives for Poplar Bluff City Council from a field of eight candidates.

The election was rescheduled from April due to COVID-19.

The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a virtual candidate forum at noon Thursday. The event is not open to the public, but will be shared on the chamber’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

Candidates will speak in ballot order and have a maximum of five minutes to introduce themselves and why they are running.

The Daily American Republic sat down with candidates in the weeks leading up to the original election date to discuss a number of topics, including why the candidates have chosen to run and some of their concerns.

This is the first of a series of articles on local elections that will run between now and June 2, including additional coverage of the city council race.

Incumbent Robert Smith is the only candidate to file for Ward 5, but the following candidates have filed for at-large.

At-large candidates include incumbent Steve Davis, currently serving as mayor pro tem, and in ballot order: Robert Duckett; Logan Gilham; Jim Chrisman; Peter Tinsley; Christine Taylor; Brent Eason and Robert E. Durbin. Incumbent Ron Black did not file for re-election.

Chester Pumphrey has filed and remains on the ballot, but has said he is not physically up to the job.

Those elected will serve three year terms.

__Robert Duckett__

__“Each council member took an oath to do their best to represent those that voted them in.”__

Duckett believes the relationship between the city council and residents is broken. It’s something he also believes he can change.

A funeral director at Fitch Hillis Funeral Home, Duckett spoke before the council in February about some of his concerns.

He spoke against the purchase of property on Shelby Road for a new police department, telling the council they had an opportunity to restore the faith of voters.

“Each council member took an oath to do their best to represent those that voted them in. Your wards and the citizens of Poplar Bluff have placed their trust in you to do that,” he said at the time. “Not only that, but to listen to their concerns and suggestions for the betterment of the city.”

Trust could be improved by listening to the citizens, and by providing better transparency, according to Duckett.

“(The council) needs to provide as much information as possible to help (citizens) know why decisions are made,” he said.

Duckett said he is sincere in his efforts, and wants to help the city.

Duckett is a Poplar Bluff High School graduate and attended college, studying graphic design and special eduction. He is married to JoAndrea and has two sons.

__Steve Davis__

__“There is a central theme, economic development. I want to continue to do those things.”__

Davis will seek a second term as an at-large council member.

Retired from the Missouri State Probation and Parole office, Davis says it has been a privilege to serve for the past three years.

“I would like to continue helping attract opportunity for our city, especially economically,” said Davis, who believes it is important to work closely with the chamber of commerce and other affiliations.

He says important action he has supported during his first term includes the incentives that prompted Briggs & Stratton to keep the Poplar Bluff factory open and expand after a Kentucky facility was shuttered, as well as funding for phase II of Shelby Road and to four lane Highway 67 south.

“There is a central theme, economic development,” said Davis. “I want to continue to do those things.”

The purchase of Shelby Road property for a new police station is one of the more controversial actions Davis has supported during his term.

“I’ve heard from many citizens and they want closure and the council to make a decision,” said Davis.

Davis said he also spoke to police department personnel and reviewed the risk assessment they put together. Police officials have said Shelby Road offers improved response times to important locations, and is more centrally located.

“After carefully reviewing the risk assessment and weighing all the feedback given to me, I concluded for the safety of Poplar Bluff, the Shelby Road property was best for locating our new police station, which also hopefully will include a new fire station in the near future,” Davis said.

Davis is a Poplar Bluff High School graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He is married to Donna and has two sons.

__Logan Gilham__

__“Just me personally, if we already have something, I’m not going to spend extra on something we don’t need.”__

Gilham describes himself as a hard worker who feels like he can make a difference as a member of the city council.

“Since I was 14 years old, I’ve had a job,” said Gilham. “I really feel like I can make a change in this.”

His interest was sparked by the debate of purchasing property on Shelby Road.

Gilham said he went to the police department to hear directly from those involved about the project. He believes not all officers support the effort, but said he has been asked not to share names.

“Just me personally, if we already have something, I’m not going to spend extra on something we don’t need,” Gilham said of land owned by the city prior to the purchase.

Gilham admitted he doesn’t have answers to all of the questions posed to council members, but said he would work hard to find those answers.

“That’s just who I am, I don’t stop,” he said.

Gilham is a service engineer for Quality Service Installation. He is a Twin Rivers High School graduate and attended college to study civil engineering.

__Jim Chrisman__

__“I think the voice of the people is being ignored.”__

Chrisman believes the city has many needs to tackle, including organized annexation and increased transparency.

Retired from working in technology and data processing, Chrisman has previously run for council and spoken at city council meetings on matters about which he is concerned.

“I have been an observer of council actions for a number of years,” said Chrisman. “My concern is not being elected. It is getting someone elected that will be more fiscally responsible than some members of the current council.”

Chrisman has spoken out in recent years against agreements to make payments to developers of the Eight Points shopping area on Oak Grove Road, and of the Shelby Road purchase.

Poplar Bluff “gave away the farm,” in agreeing to fund millions of dollars in expenses for Eight Points developers, according to Chrisman.

He said he would like to see the same degree of dedication toward annexation, an effort he believes would increase the tax base and the skill level of city residents who can serve on city boards.

The Shelby Road purchase eliminated acreage from future tax collections, Chrisman said, when the city already owned other property.

“I think the voice of the people is being ignored,” he said.

Chrisman has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He has two children and one grandchild.

__Peter Tinsley__

__“We are a natural economic hot spot …”__

Tinsley is also seeking a second term on the city council, this time in the at-large position. He served from 2014-2017 as the Ward 5 representative.

Tinsley believes Poplar Bluff has suffered from mismanagement and “greed of previous administration that has failed to plan for long term growth.”

Tinsley was among a group that ousted former city manager Doug Bagby in April 2014.

“We are a natural economic hot spot serving the surrounding areas,” he said. “This puts an unusual burden on the city infrastructure to maintain safety and utilities for a far larger population than most communities the size of Poplar Bluff.

“But, along with this burden comes tremendous opportunities if managed properly.”

Tinsley also disagrees with the Shelby Road purchase, but says the deal has been done and the city has to move forward. It would be unethical to stop the deal after the contract was signed, he said.

The council also dealt with controversial decisions during his term, first in the firing of Bagby, and later in the hiring of Heath Kaplan, who was later terminated by the council after about nine months on the job.

Kaplan was hired by a committee that included members of Three Rivers College, the chamber of commerce and others, Tinsley said.

The council was presented with a limited choice in quality candidates, and Kaplan stood out, he said.

“The council did not have any choice but to hire him. And when he came in, he was a phenomenal talent, very intelligent,” said Tinsley. “If he had been honest… it’s a shame. It’s a crying shame that the man was dishonest.”

Tinsley said he learned from the experience to trust, but to verify.

Tinsley graduated from Poplar Bluff High School and went on to serve in the Air Force. He is semi-retired and also sells promotional products. He is married to Gail, and has five children, and 18 grandchildren.

__Chris Taylor__

__“We pay these tax dollars and want to know where they are going. That’s what ignited my fire.”__

Taylor does not consider herself to be a politician, but says after watching recent city council meetings, she felt the need to become involved.

She did not like the way she saw some city council members speak to the public, according to Taylor.

“People deserve respect,” she said. “All the people in the community want is somebody to listen to them and take their ideas to the council.

“It does effect them. We pay these tax dollars and want to know where they are going. That’s what ignited my fire.”

Among her top concerns are public safety as the city continues to grow and addressing the needs of downtown.

Public safety includes ensuring that police, fire and street department workers are taken care of, said Taylor, who is married to a city firefighter. The city needs more officers on the roads, and the fire department has aging trucks that need to be replaced, she said.

Downtown should not be abandoned, she added. Efforts to improve the area, and to draw new business, need to be supported, Taylor said.

While she supports replacing the current police station , Taylor was against the Shelby Road purchase. She is concerned about the number of usable acres in the purchase, versus the amount that is in a floodway.

“There’s not anybody standing in line to buy that,” said Taylor in February. “I do believe the vote could have waited until after the election.”

Taylor works in health care. She is married to Travis and has two children.

__Brent Eason__

__“… these are your tax dollars at work, but I feel like the council needs to be a little more transparent…”__

The best is still to come for Poplar Bluff, according to Brent Eason, and he wants to be part of that future.

“With my experience in running my own business, I understand the basic economic principles and I believe that we must be responsible with the taxpayers’ money while providing the services required in a consistent and quality manner,” said Eason.

Eason owns Eason’s Glass Works, and is a partner in two other businesses.

“Poplar Bluff is growing and has the promise of continuing to grow,” he said. “With quality leadership, the growth can be very beneficial to our citizens without the pains that can be felt when quality leadership is absent.”

Eason also has concerns about transparency.

“Everybody’s got concerns … these are your tax dollars at work, but I feel like the council needs to be a little more transparent, which fits me pretty well because I’m pretty black and white,” said Eason.

He has watched the Shelby Road debate and kept an open mind about the location, saying he wanted to do his own research on whether or not it is a smart purchase in terms of cost and location.

With a construction background, Eason also believes he would be a good addition to the council during this process.

City operations need to be looked at as a business, he said, and fiscally smart decisions made.

Eason is a Poplar Bluff native who graduated from Ozarka College in Melbourne, Arkansas. He has one son.

__Robert E. Durbin__

__“I will try to make the best decisions and gather as much information (as possible).”__

Durbin first became interested in the city council last year, when a consulting firm was chosen to help with the police and city hall projects.

Durbin was concerned about the $600,000 profit that he said was expected to go to the outside consulting firm, and contacted council members about hiring a local firm.

“It seemed like they were using the service as a way to say, well they (the consultants) say it’s best, as a way to avoid making the decision, was the way it seemed to me,” he said.

He began looking more closely at other council actions after that, and wasn’t pleased with what he saw.

A longtime resident of Poplar Bluff, Durbin said he is concerned current decisions mean some areas of the city aren’t seeing the attention needed.

Among the decisions he questions is the cost of the Shelby Road property.

He hopes to bring a different perspective to the council, and said he will not be influenced by others.

“I will try to make the best decisions and gather as much information (as possible),” said Durbin.

Durbin has worked as a school bus driver for the past 30 years. He has four children.

__Chester Pumphrey__

While Pumphrey was the second candidate to join the race, he told Poplar Bluff City Council members Monday that he would be unable to serve.

Pumphrey said he is not physically up to the demands of the job.

He is asking for those who support him to instead vote for Robert Duckett and Logan Gilham.

Pumphrey has also spoken out against city council decisions, as well as asking the council stop the practice of holding a workshop and a vote on an agenda item in the same night. He asked that more time be taken with decisions, and that they be discussed by committees first.

“Let’s elect some people who will make solid commitments to transparency,” Pumphrey wrote in a document presented Monday to the council.