Aldred faces off against Turner in Southern District commissioner race

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Democratic incumbent Justin Aldred is facing off against Republican Sam Turner in the Boone County Southern District commissioner race.

Early voting is currently underway in Missouri and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Justin Aldred

Aldred was first elected as the Southern District commissioner in November 2020.

Prior to securing the commissioner spot, Aldred says he served with the Missouri Army National Guard and spent time with the Missouri State Auditor's Office under Nicole Galloway.

"That kind of sparked an interest in local government," Aldred said. "My time in Jefferson City at the auditor's office. And in 2020, I decided to run for office."

Aldred said the Boone County Commission plays an important role in keep the community afloat.

When you wake up in the morning and you drive down a road, you're trusting Boone County crews for road maintenance, bridge maintenance when you're in an emergency situation, dialing 911, you're trusting that there will be a competent Boone County Joint Communications employee to answer that call when disaster strikes, when a tornado hits or, you know, severe weather, you're trusting that tornado sirens from Boone County Office of Emergency Management will go off to warn you," Aldred said.

While knocking on doors to campaign, Aldred says Boone County voters are concerned with several issues, including housing, food insecurity, childcare and homelessness.

"I think that there is a big issue with housing, not just in Boone County, but nationwide," Aldred said. "We are projected I mean, it's a significant number to need 37,000 additional housing units by 2050."

Aldred said this demand requires the commissioner to work with local government and private business to achieve this goal. He also notes food insecurity is a topic concerning for a lot of families.

"[Food insecurity is] almost [at a] ten year high right now," Aldred said. "You know, talking to the food banks, you know, over 12,000 people, I believe, in the month of August visited our local food bank."

Another important topic Aldred believes is concerning voters is childcare. It's something he categorizes as a part of workforce development in the county.

"We've recently looked at a regional law enforcement training center expansion for our sheriff's office and our first responders," Aldred said. "I think that that's something where we can see if we can get childcare to them and we will with this new pilot program, you know, will be able to really build workforce development out of that."

Aldred believes homelessness is a topic of concern for many constituents. According to the Boone County Coalition to End Homelessness, around 450 people in the county are homeless. This number has more than doubled since August 2023.

He says the commission has made significant investments in local organizations to try and tackle the issue.

“I think there's also something to be said for the individuals that may have a place to rest their head for the moment, but may be insecure in that, you know, the individuals that might be involved in our public school system, children specifically, that don't necessarily have a place to stay every night when they go home. That's absolutely significant. And I think that's where our focus needs to be,” he said.

Aldred believes the biggest lesson he has learned while in office is that to serve the county, many issues for residents, such as infrastructure, are bipartisan.

"The pothole in the road does not care if you vote red or blue," Aldred said. "Every individual is affected by the core tenets of county government and by life in Boone County. There is significant need and there is there are things that we can do when we work together, specifically in local governments working with nonprofits, when we're working with businesses, when we're working with our regional and economic development partners."

Aldred says he would like to retain his position as commissioner to see projects through, including the construction of the new regional law enforcement training center and aid to help food insecurity.

"I am here to do everything I can to ensure that my community is a better place," Aldred said. "I see the public service that I do with my community, you know, working everyday as an extension of the public service that I first committed to when I raised my right hand and enlisted in the Army."

ABC 17 News' full interview with Aldred can be found here.

Sam Turner

Turner is a father of three young children and owner of Turner Ag Solutions.

Turner said he believes his experience in the agricultural industry makes him qualified for the commissioner seat.

"We look at a PnL [profit and loss] on a daily basis, you know, county commissioners, they work with the county budget," Tuner said. "That's their main role. So being able to make tough budget decisions, understand what's important, and prioritizing not only from a business standpoint, but also county tax dollars."

Turner said it's important to have solid infrastructure in the county. It's something he says is extremely important to many people, including farmers.

"We're traveling those roads every day with our equipment," Turner said. "I tell people all the time our sprayers, they weigh 30,000 pounds empty. So every every pothole we hit, we know all about it because, you know, those little sprayers cost as much as a house. So we're trying to protect them."

Turner says his campaign is knocking on around 1,000 doors a week to talk with voters. He believes public safety is the top-concern for voters.

"We were at a forum just a couple of weeks ago, and I asked the crowd, who in this room feel safer in Columbia now than they did 10 years ago?," Turner said. "Not a single hand went up. And that's something that's a grave concern."

Turner said with the county seeing an increased budget, he'd like to see more money go toward law enforcement.

"Sheriff (Dwayne) Carey and I have a great relationship," Turner said. "We know that we need more sheriff deputies on the road...

"...Everything that we're doing is trying to get more sheriff's deputies on the road so that we can help out with the Columbia Police Department because we know their shortage of police officers right now."

Turner spoke highly of his endorsement by the Columbia Police Officer's Association.

"Fortunately, I was endorsed by the Columbia Police Officers Association," Turner said. "I think that means that they they trust me as an individual that's going to stay true to its word and try to get more funding to the sheriff's department. So that's that's the number one goal right now."

ABC 17 News' interview with Turner can be viewed here.