League of Women Voters holds school board, mayor candidate forum

The Columbia and Boone County League of Women Voters held a forum for candidates running for school board and mayor Wednesday night.

Columbia school board candidates James S. (“Jay”) Atkins, Ardella (“Della”) Streaty-Wilhoit and Blake Aaron Willoughby were all present at Daniel Boone Regional Library to answer questions at the forum. Brian C. Jones will still be on the ballot but is no longer running.

The two candidates for mayor, incumbent Mayor Brian Treece and Chris Kelly, also participated.

The mayoral candidates both discussed Columbia policing and community policing. Though both Treece and Kelly spoke highly of interim Chief Geoff Jones, Kelly was more critical of the department.

“Public confidence in our Police Department is not what it should be. The department suffers from low morale. We do not have enough officers and they are insufficiently paid,” Kelly said.

If you missed tonight’s livestream or you would like to learn more about the candidates, ABC 17 News will be airing a debate between the mayoral candidates Thursday evening at 6 on KMIZ, followed by a debate between the school board candidates on MYZOU TV at 7 p.m.

Sign up for email news alerts by clicking here