Parsons makes case for second term

GEOFFREY WOEHLK/THE FORUM
Tye Parsons

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Setting his sights on a second term on the Maryville City Council, Tye Parsons is looking to keep a good thing going.

In an interview with The Forum, Parsons ticked off several projects the city has been able to complete during his three-year term despite a global pandemic — the smashingly successful opening of the Thomson Splash ‘N’ Play, the opening and growth of the consolidated 911 dispatch center, the reorganization of Maryville Public Safety and a commitment to increasing police officer pay.

But it’s the unfinished business that he said he’s excited to help shepherd to completion if elected to another term.

“There’s all these projects … that have really propelled the city forward over the past three years,” he said. “I think it’s unusual that we’ve accomplished as much as we have in a short amount of time. And so I’m just excited to continue that momentum; I think we have a tremendous amount of momentum right now. I just want to see a lot of these projects through.”

Chief among them, he said, is the South Main Corridor Improvement Project. Phase one of that major infrastructure overhaul is slated for completion sometime in early 2023, and the city is still looking for funding help for phase two after the project had to be split in two when bids came in too high.

“My top priority, hands-down, is the successful completion of the South Main project,” Parsons said. “That project will truly be transformative for our community for generations to come. It doesn’t seem like it — you know, what’s the big deal about stormwater and sidewalks?

“But when you think about South Main being our primary economic engine — not only the city of Maryville, but really Nodaway County, really northwest Missouri — that project will develop that corridor in ways that I don’t think we even realize yet. And by successfully completing that project, we’re going to put Maryville really ahead of the game of anyone in the region.”

The biggest challenge looming on the horizon over the next three years, Parsons said, is the city’s water issues.

As one of the council liaisons to Public Water Supply District No. 1, Parsons has been intimately involved in laying the groundwork for future projects, like potential collaboration on a new water treatment plant.

“And truth be told, before the pandemic blew up, that was the council’s No. 1 priority — we were really very purposefully moving towards solving that water problem. And we still are, but obviously the COVID-19 pandemic completely threw a wrench in everything and took away a lot of momentum,” he said.

A key component to move forward effectively will be communication, Parsons said.

“It’s gonna take a lot of effort, it’s going to take a lot of explanation, because it’s one of those things that most people don’t think about — you turn the tap and that’s it,” he said.

Across America and locally, there probably hasn’t been a more contentious, difficult time to be a public official than over the past three years while Parsons was serving out his first elected term on the council.

So why run again?

Parsons said partly because he felt his background in working in and around local government with regional planning organizations, like the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments, and with public entities like Northwest Missouri State University, where he currently works as grants coordinator, make him a good fit for City Council.

“I think I do a good job at doing this type of thing, of helping to set policy, to determine budgets, to discuss and negotiate and figure out some of these complex projects,” he said.

But mostly, Parsons said, it’s that “I’ve always had this desire to serve,” which he credits to his grandparents, including his grandpa who was a longtime elected official in Cass County.

“I’m really proud with what we’ve accomplished over the past three years, and I think we have tremendous amounts of opportunity in the future,” Parsons said. “And so I would love to continue that momentum, continue that growth and see just how far our city can go.”