Columbia council candidates give final push for votes at League of Women Voters forum

Depending on where a person lives in Columbia, they will have at least two choices to make on ballots in the April 2 election. Voters had one of their final chances to hear from ballot candidates Thursday, thanks to a Columbia-Boone County League of Women Voters candidate forum Thursday.

Among ballot items all Columbia voters will see are deciding on Columbia School Board members and whether or not to approve Proposition 1, which could mean the development of a property tax exemption policy for county senior citizens.

For voters in Wards 1, 2 and 6 they also will have to decide whether or not to recall Nick Knoth or select representation on the Columbia City Council. Ward 2 has three candidates: Lucio Bitoy IV, Robert Schreibers III or Lisa Meyer. Bitoy is a certified write-in candidate, so while his name does not appear on the ballot, voters still can select him by writing his name on the ballot and filling in the bubble next to where they have written his name. Ward 6 representative Betsy Peters is running unopposed. The league does not hold a forum with candidates in uncontested races.

Ward 1 recall

When Knoth changed his employment in the fall as a lobbyist for Missouri Board of Realtors, this position concerned a group of Ward 1 residents. After receiving "boilerplate answers" to their questions, they opted for a recall, said Susan Maze, with the recall effort.

"We have what we perceive to be a disconnect and an inability to get answers," she said, adding that she has had conversations with Ward 1 residents on both sides. "This is not about division. This is an election. We are all neighbors."

Recall leadership previously noted that Knoth's new position with the Missouri Board of Realtors and its financial interest in selling houses, land and how it is used. A good portion of the council's decisions are on land use, the recall campaign said.

When the recall effort was started at least 336 verified voter signatures were needed. Petition signatures took six weeks for collection, Maze said, noting at least 450 were collected. After the verification process, the petition effort still had enough for the ballot.

Knoth in his statement argued that the recall effort is not about votes he has taken, but his change in career, adding Missouri Ethics Commission and the city's legal department do not see a conflict of interest between his state level career and city council position.

"Despite the recall, I have continued to work for the ward," he said.

He also voiced concerns that if he were to be recalled, Ward 1 would be without representation as the council soon will work through West Ash neighborhood improvement and capital improvement sales tax decisions that happen every 10 years.

Ward 2 candidates

Bitoy has a background in political science and works to help get people onto public services in his career with the Missouri Department of Social Services. His motivation for running was on material conditions of people living in the ward, where many are Black, he said. He is focused on affordable housing and motivating residents to be involved in city government.

He also would like to get the city connected with the United States Department of Agriculture reforestation program in unused or disused industrial areas in the ward. He agreed that climate change is manmade and a solution to that is increasing the tree canopy. He'd like the city to adopt a green code, which could include emission limits on commercial buildings.

For any police department changes, he wants to look at recommendations from community groups and wants police to take feelings out from when the department is critiqued. He would like the department to have more stringent employment qualifications.

Schreibers has a construction background, including in passive solar and earth contact construction methods, but now works as a union maintenance employee at the University of Missouri. His main campaign focus has been on affordable housing and public transit.

He noted wanting to explore incentive programs for landlords or homeowners to make older properties more energy efficient and thus reducing utility bills for tenants or owners. He wants to see more green energy watts on the grid, such as through Grain Belt Express wind turbines. He'd like to see fleet vehicles go all electric in the city.

In reference to the city's police department, Schreibers expressed that the Citizens Police Review Board needs more teeth to be able to do its work.

Meyer, a real estate professional, in her campaign has focused on parks and public safety. Her No. 1 issue is getting the police department fully staffed, she said.

With regard to housing, she would like to see some code changes that simplify city zoning codes, including a zoning rule that would allow up to four instead of three unrelated people to live together. When looking at environmental issues, she agreed to the statement it is manmade and noted that city decisions now have to align with the city's Climate Change and Adaptation Plan. She wants to see that the city has better than "EPA grade water."

Meyer wants to look to other departments as a model on how to make changes at the Columbia Police Department, such as what is happening in Las Vegas, she said.

Proposition 1

The League of Women Voters in its voter's guide notes Proposition 1 is a property tax exemption rule for Boone County senior citizen residents on their primary residence. The proposition is based on Senate Bill 190, passed in August.

There are concerns about the state law drafting including from the Missouri Association of Counties, the LWV notes in its guide. The Boone County Commission in November resolved to recognize the value of tax relief for lower and moderate-income senior citizens, while also making clean-up legislation a top priority. Senate Bill 576 was prefiled ahead of the 2024 Missouri General Assembly session with the intention of doing this clean-up, the LWV noted.

If approved by Boone County voters, the commission will start to draft the tax exemption program. This includes eligibility parameters, the application and administrative process, and safeguards to minimize the potential for abuse of the program, LWV noted. Implementation likely would not happen until 2025, the LWV added, since Boone County assessor and collector offices will need to work in tandem to "create and test the (program's) administrative process."

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia City Council candidates seek votes at forum