Saline County Study
Committee
Monday, March 13, 2000
Saline County Extension Office, Marshall
Minutes
Saline County Study Members Present: Mark Belwood, Kathy
Borgman, Wayne McReynolds, Richard Clemens, Marc Harris, LeAnn Haling, Vince Buck
Saline County Study Members Absent: Ruthie Cramer, Becky Plattner, Roy Hunter
Saline County Commissioners Present: Mike Dillon, Richard Pemberton
Saline County Commissioners Absent: John Stouffer
Saline County Extension Staff Present: Cynthia Crawford
Saline County Extension Staff Absent: Darin
Starr
University Partners Present: Anna Cox, Dr. Ron Powers
University Partners Absent: John Lory, Tom Johnson, Chris Barnett, Kathy Miller,
Mubarak Hamed, Chris Fulcher
Media Present: Bob Stewart, Democrat News
Guests: Vickie Rightmyre from CPAC and Wendy Pettersen part-time with University
Extension working in Saline County
Chairman Mark Belwood called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mark announced our Study was part of an article
that appeared in newsletter published by the software people that do GIS mapping. Mark also announced that anyone wanting to attend
the Public Policy Institute workshops should sign up tonight. These workshops will be held in Kansas City and
St. Louis and Dr. Powers has offered to cover registration fees for up to five study
members to attend. The workshops will train
moderators to work with Public Issue Forums.
The minutes were approved as printed and distributed.
Cynthia reported on a presentation she made about our study
project to our United States Representative Ike Skelton.
This was one of several projects profiled by University Extension staff. Representative Skelton asked several questions: Do
local people know what the study is doing? Are
local people making the decisions or is Extension? How
are youth involved? While Cynthia felt she
could positively respond to the first two questions, she felt the question concerning
youth was a good one to consider.
Richard Clemens moved, and Mike Dillon seconded, that we
investigate possible ways to work with schools through various classes such as agriculture
and contemporary issues, to conduct Public Issue Forums with students. Carried. It
was suggested steering committee members contact some key people in their area.
The LIFE committee met to help put together the booklet that is
being used in the LIFE classes. The March
LIFE classes are going well. Cynthia reported
that we need at least 2 or 3 more participants for each of the classes coming up in April,
May, and June. She asked for one last push
to gain members for the class.
Anna Cox reported on the Values Ranking survey for the Public
Issues Forum. She has adjusted her
explanation for the LIFE Classes and feels that is helping participants complete surveys
that measure values consistently.
Notification of twelve town meetings for the Public Issues
Forum has been placed in the Democrat News and a mailing has gone out to about 1,000
residents through Extension mailings. Discussion
was held on how much additional advertising should be done.
It was decided we would place smaller ads in the Marshall Messenger, the
Slater Main Street News, and later in the Democrat News again. We will also buy time on KMMO and KRLI. The Saline County study will also be the first
spotlight show done on KRLI on April 7th.
This will be a live call in show and Mark Belwood will be the representative
of the study.
In discussing the time frame for making the final recommendation to the commissioners, Mark said our
target was a draft recommendation by August 1st and a final recommendation by
September 1st. The last LIFE class
will not be done until the end of June, so that may change the target dates somewhat. Mike Dillon stated that the committee should take
the time it needs to present a recommendation it is satisfied with and not rush. Mark asked Ron Powers if he would facilitate the
recommendation process. Ron stated that the
University would continue to offer assistance as needed, but for the actual recommendation
process, he felt that should definitely be the work of the committee so it would be clear
that the recommendation came from Saline County citizens.
Meeting adjourned 9:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Borgman, recorder
This web site is hosted by CARES- University
of Missouri - Columbia
This web site is maintained jointly by the Saline County Study Steering
Committee and CARES
For problems or questions regarding this web contact the Saline
County Steering Committee or Chris
Fulcher (CARES).
Last updated: October 13, 2000
