Coleman running for commission seat

Rural Denison resident John Coleman, 50, is seeking election to the third district seat on the Jackson County Commission.

Coleman is not affiliated with a political party and will face incumbent Democrat Bill Elmer and Republican Melvin Bailey on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. 

Coleman was born and raised in Jackson County and has lived here for 45 years. 

He is a registered nurse and graduated in 1994 from Neosho County Community College.  

He has been employed by and owned RN Care Services for 18 years. He has four children. 

Why are you seeking election?

“I am seeking election to bring a different set of eyes to the operations of the county,” Coleman said. “I want to contribute and use my past business experience to help with how we, as a county, spend our tax dollars to provide the best level of service possible.”

Do you think the county’s current tax rate is justified and adequate to operate the county’s departments?

“I can’t give an answer to the tax rate as being justified at this time,” he said. “Is the tax rate correct? I am not sure. I will need to dig into the budgets to see if it is adequate or excessive. But more importantly, first we need to ensure the dollars we have are being spent judiciously. Only then can we make a determination on whether the rate is justified.” 

What concerns do you have regarding the county budget? 

“I have some concerns of my own and some that have been brought up to me from fellow taxpayers,” Coleman said. “They include, but are not limited to, the road and bridge budget, including the new shop, and the disrepair of the county roads. I’ve also heard concerns regarding the spending on items at Banner Creek Reservoir. Also, there are concerns over the tax lid mill levy increase that was passed recently by the commissioners.”

What would you do if elected?

“I don’t have any specific changes at this time,” he said. “My experience has been that when purchasing or taking over management of a business, the first step is to assess operations for a short period, maybe 30 to 90 days. I would like to see what works and leave those areas alone. Then make changes to the areas that are not working.

“I think it is shortsighted to say we need to make changes just from what I observe from the outside. Once I have a full understanding of how things work, then I will start the change process.

“A couple of areas that I think need a new set of eyes is the road and bridge department. We all know how the roads are and how long they have been this way - years. Why don’t we try something totally different with the roads?  Another thing I would like to look at is economic development - what we have in place currently, what was in place and what we could have in place.”

Why do you believe you are qualified for this position?

“I feel my 20 plus years of business ownership experience gives me a good understanding of budgeting and projecting the needs of a midsized organization,” he said. “I will bring experience managing more than 100 employees and multi-million dollar budgets. I fully believe in allowing people to perform their jobs after giving them the proper training. We also have lots of smart people in the county. Let’s consider tapping into some of this human capital to help find creative solutions to some of our concerns.”

This is Coleman’s first time running for public office. He has also served on the Grace Christian School executive board.