Candidates for Bland aldermen recently answered the following questions asked by The Advocate.

1. Why are you running for alderman?

2. What is a project you would like to see the city complete?

3. What would you do to bring more industry to the town?

4. How would you go about prioritizing the city’s updating project’s in the future? 

Diana Mayfield

1. I am running as Alderman because I love our little town and wish to see it grow and to be a safe town for our future generations. I feel that serving just 2 years is not enough to see anything through.  I am just learning all the ins and outs of municipal operations.  I wish to see that the city administration is held accountable and transparent-financially and ethically. I feel that our current board of Aldermen are very earnest and have the town’s best interest at heart.  Each one of us bring a special set of knowledge and skills to the board.   I know that it is very hard to find people that are willing to step forward and serve in this type of position, so I am grateful for each one of them.

2. We have come very far in the last two years with obtaining a police presence. This was one of my concerns when I first took office.  I would like to see a funding pool developed for the police department so that it can continue to function in an appropriate manner.  Hopefully, we will someday have 7 day week coverage.  I also would like to see the water tower project finished.  This has been a very long progress.  Since it began long before I took office, there has been a lot to learn and our city engineer has been very patient with us-answering the same questions over and over again. I feel that I need to continue in this position, so that the project can become a reality and not dump it on someone new.  Once the water project is complete, hopefully, the streets can be addressed.

 3. This is a place where I am at a loss.  I do not know where to begin with getting more industry in our little town.  We have at least not one but two buildings that would serve an industry nicely, but I do not know where to begin.  I have hinted around to a couple of places that are looking to expand but.......

4. As I stated before, we need to get the water project going before we can look into getting grants and funding to address the streets.  We have a very pleasant town here.  We have a beautiful park and are getting city activities going again.  I remember days when we celebrated as a community all the time.  By providing a safe environment for our children to grow  and working to cleaning up the neighborhoods, we can see our town having the opportunity to grow.

MARK FARRAN

1. I am running for alderman to help serve our community. Our town has a lot of wonderful citizens who want to see our town restored, and I would like to play a part in seeing that happen.

2. The city’s water project has been in planning stages for years.  I hope to see it completed soon.

3. I have been taking training through the Missouri Municipal League to find ideas and practices used by other small towns across Missouri.

4. After the water project is completed, the streets in Bland need to be the number one priority. 

* The Advocate was unable to get a response from Ned Steiner, a third alderman candidate, before press time on Tuesday.