Absentee voting begins in Nodaway County
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Nodaway County Clerk Karen Leader displays absentee ballots Wednesday while standing at a voting booth set up in her office at the County Administration Center. Absentee voting for the Nov. 8 general election is now under way. Local issues include races for sheriff and County Commission as well as a bed proposal that, if approved by a simple majority, would help pay for a $20 million multipurpose facility at Northwest Missouri State University.
Nodaway County Clerk Karen Leader has announced that absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 general election are now available through her office on the first floor of the Nodaway County Administration Center, located at 403 N. Market St. in Maryville.
Anyone who needs to vote absentee due to illness or absence from the polls on Election Day may do so by pursuing one of the following options:
• Submit a ballot request in writing by email, postal mail, or fax listing name, address, mailing address if different, signature, date of birth, and the last four digits of your social security number.
• Call the clerk’s office at 660-582-2251 to request that an absentee ballot application be mailed to you.
• Vote in person at the clerk’s office between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Voters must present valid identification such as a voter registration card, drivers license, or utility bill.
The final day on which the clerk’s office can mail a ballot to an absentee voter is Wednesday, Nov 2. The deadline for voting in person at the Administration Center is 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7.
Anyone with questions should call the clerk’s office at 660-582-2251.
The office’s mailing address is 403 N. Market St., Maryville, MO, 64468, the fax number is 660-582-5282, and the email address is [email protected].
In addition to marking their choices for president and other national and state offices, Nodaway voters also have a couple of local races to decide.
Republican Chris Burns, a Maryville businessman, is facing off against Democrat Merlin Atkins, a retired Nodaway County farmer and current Ministry Center volunteer, for North District county commissioner.
Both candidates are newcomers to local politics and are seeking the commission seat being vacated by Robert Westfall, who is retiring.
The other local race, for sheriff, pits Democratic incumbent Darren White, who is seeking a third term, against former Maryville Public Safety investigator Randy Strong, a Republican who currently serves as a deputy and investigator with the Holt County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to races for public office, the ballot includes a proposal to establish a transient visitor tax in Maryville, proceeds from which would be used to help finance a $20 million indoor athletics/special events center at Northwest Missouri State University.
If approved by a simple majority, the tax would also produce an estimated $65,000 a year for various tourism and economic development initiatives that have yet to be defined.
The 5-percent “bed tax,” which would be added to local hotel bills, is to generate an estimated $215,000 a year, $150,000 of which would go to Northwest for the next 23 years — a total of $3.45 million.
Based on current occupancy rates, hotel patrons, including those checking in at a new lodge currently under construction at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, would pay an extra $3.82 for each night’s stay. Local residents wouldn’t pay anything unless they rent a room.
Maryville voters rejected a similar tax in June 2003, when the measure failed by a mere 21 votes.
Since then, according to City Manager Greg McDanel, the taxing mechanism has become far more common, with bed-tax levies being collected by at least 72 Missouri cities or counties.
In addition, 140 governmental entities in Kansas have instituted a transient guest tax along with 170 counties and municipalities in Iowa.
In Missouri, by statute, funds from such taxes can only be spent for the promotion of tourism or economic development initiatives.
Comparable partnerships have led to the completion of similar facilities in Pittsburg, Kansas, whose Pittsburg State football Gorillas are a perennial Bearcat rival, and Birmingham, Alabama. Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph has an indoor athletics complex as well.
Once completed, the mammoth structure — which would cover about 3 acres under one roof — will feature a 100-yard artificial turf practice field, a 300-meter indoor competition track, spectator seating and meeting rooms, and a removable flooring system for use during exhibitions, graduation exercises, concerts, trade fairs, large conferences, and other special events.
Such a building would be an obvious boon for Northwest’s intercollegiate athletics programs, enabling practice sessions for baseball, softball, soccer, track, football, and other sports to move inside during bad weather. University officials also see the facility as an important recruiting and retention tool.
McDanel said Maryville residents will have significant access to the multipurpose complex as well, claiming that the center will be available to youth and high school athletics programs, Maryville Parks & Recreation patrons, and for use as an all-weather exercise venue.
Plans call for a group of local leaders — the University-Community Collaborative — to create a tourism committee that will make decisions regarding the facility’s use. The panel is to include university and municipal staff, community members, and Maryville Parks & Recreation personnel.
DAILY FORUM FILE PHOTOS
Pictured from left are the four candidates seeking local offices in the Nov. 8 general election. They include: Chris Burns (R), North District county commissioner; Merlin Atkins (D), North District county commissioner; Randy Strong (R), Nodaway County sheriff; Darren White (D), Nodaway County sheriff. Absentee ballots for local voters who will be unable to come to the polls on Election Day due to absence or illness are currently available at the Nodaway County clerk’s office, 403 N. Market St. in Maryville.
