By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Long-time Western District Buchanan County Commissioner Ron Hook is running for re-election, challenged by a newcomer to politics.
Hook, a Democrat, says he’s proud if a road program Buchanan County began five years ago that tears down a road and completely rebuilds it.
“We’ve done this for the last five years,” Hook says during a candidate forum sponsored by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a costly, very costly product that we put in there. So, we are limited to how many miles of road we can do each and every year. But it’s something that we’ve found is very efficient, very profitable in the long run for us.”
Hook’s re-election is being challenged by Republican Everett Goddard, Jr., who claims the Western District has been wasteful in its spending on roads.
“We only have so much money in the budget to do a road,” Goddard says during the forum. “Why you do 53rd Road with not a house one on this road? And you oil and chat the whole road. I know oil and chat are not cheap, because I worked the county.”
Goddard says he worked in the county barns while between jobs.
Hook says he hopes to resurrect Lake Contrary, an issue he says the county has been discussing even before he became a commissioner.
“We’ve had some droughts and we’ve had some issues,” Hook says. “Lake Contrary is a historical landmark for this community. A community our size, I feel, should have some type of a lake.”
Hook says the county commission plans to dredge the lake after killing the vegetation that has overgrown it.
Goddard says a restored Lake Contrary would provide more than just recreation.
“There are relief wells at Lake Contrary and it also helps protect our industries down through Lower Lake Road,” Godard says. “If something would happen, a breach of the levee right there because the water has nowhere to go, that would be a big financial impact in Buchanan County.”
Both Goddard and Hook support moves by the Buchanan County Commission to buy the Eastern School from the Mid-Buchanan School District to establish a county fairgrounds.
Both say the county needs to support economic development efforts.
Hook points out the commission sets aside $1 million a year out of the capital improvement tax specifically for economic development projects.
“We’ve made a huge commitment, saying this is what we want,” Hook says. “We want to help bring jobs, sustained jobs, save jobs, keep people here in St. Joseph, not only on economic development, but we also do it with housing.”
Goddard says the county needs to spur growth, especially to expand housing for county residents.
“We need to find a way to help with our growth here in Buchanan County, not only for businesses, but for the residents of Buchanan County,” according to Goddard. “We deserve it. We’re taxpayers, but we also need to move in a forward direction of, we need to have a plan before we do this suff.”
Goddard is challenging Hook who first came to office in Buchanan County in 2009.
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