County Commissioners serve as the executive and legislative body of the county. They appoint all non-elected county offices and boards. They maintain and supervise county property, supervise construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, establish solid waste districts and serve on the waste district boards. They maintain the courthouse, county offices and jail. They have the power to issue bonds. They have the power to alter waterways, work on private properties to maintain those waterways and regulate food establishments. Each of the three commissioners is elected from a district in which they must reside. Districts must be redrawn every 10 years. County commissioners are elected on a staggered basis to a term of four years.
Campaign Phone
765-860-5536
Describe your background.
Born Raised in Howard County. Graduated from Western High School. Graduated from Missouri Valley College with Bachelor Degree in Education. Married with 4 adult children and 10 grandchildren. Worked 31 years for Kinsey Youth center 11 years Director and 18 years Asst. Director. 22 years Russiaville town council. 4 years County Commissioner. Member of Chapel Hill Christian church.
Occupation
Currently work Part time at Jackson Street Commons as the property manager and advocate for previous homeless veterans.
Great question. The voices of the people need to be heard and listened to. As a commissioner you have to look at new revenue streams as taxes are cut and need to be cut. So yes it is a tough spot. You have to look at water usage and levels as well as other utilities that would be affected. I believe each economic development decision is its own unique situation and has to be handled that way. We have to study other areas that have had similar development and learn from there mistakes and things they did well. I have learned from some of the development that has happened in Howard County and will make appropriate adjustments moving forward.
I have 31 years of County Government experience. I have 22 years experience on Russiaville Town Council and I have 4 years experience as Commissioner. I have great relationships with the County Department Heads. I have learned a tremendous amount about Drainage and as a commissioner you are on the Drainage board and it is a huge responsibility. I have experience in the Correctional field and as a member of the Community corrections board work with the Judges and Magistrate and probation to help make the system more efficient for everyone.
Starting and Finishing the new Howard County Jail on budget and time. This will be the biggest project of my career and I have worked hard to make this jail the top priority of my commissioner work.
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Joe Russeau for Howard County Commissioner
Describe your background.
I graduated from Western High School in 1990. I went on to graduate from IUK with a BS in Biological and Physical Science. I own / operate a local business. I also operate a small Angus cattle farm with my family.
Occupation
Self-employed
This is a great question, but it will be hard to flush out any detail in 750 characters. I believe government has been a huge success at picking failures. Economic development is outside the purview of government. It was never intended to drive those decisions. Though I do believe that government can help encourage economic growth by using the tools already at its disposal and by keeping tax rates low and costs under control. Picking the winners and losers in the economy are way outside governments expertise and I am not an advocate of that continuing. It leads to bad investment with taxpayers absorbing the cost of losses. We need to give preference to businesses that have demand, have sound fundamentals and who meet their promises.
I have been a business owner and operator for 23 years. I have worked in the electronics industry for over 30 years and have solved many materials and process issues for my clients in that time. I am a problem solver, and I have learned that solving problems requires sound data, good information and surrounding yourself with knowledgeable people. I have experience working with people from all over the world and have always been able to develop good relationships built on mutual respect for the purposes of solving issues. I bring those skills to the table, along with a strong desire to help educate our community and to inspire greater participation in the direction our community desires to go.
If elected, I see my priority as influencing the behavior of fellow elected officials and empowering citizens to become educated about government processes and the issues that should concern them, with the hope that they get involved. Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” A commissioner should work to ensure that citizen concerns are met, federal and state requirements are fulfilled, and county operations run smoothly. As a Howard County Commissioner, I want to be available to listen to individuals on what is important to them and help solve issues.
