Interview with Janet Thompson, candidate for Boone County Northern District commissioner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Janet Thompson is a Democrat seeking reelection to be Boone County's Northern District commissioner, a seat she has held since 2012. She is up against Republican Cheri Toalson Reisch for the seat.
The Southern District, also known as District II, represents the northern and a portion of the eastern part of Boone County.
Meghan Drakas: So to start off. Who is Janet Thompson?
Janet Thompson: I am a longtime resident of Boone County. My family moved here in 1959. I am a four-time graduate of the University of Missouri. I couldn't figure it out the first time, so I kept going back. I am a former public defender. I was a public defender for 25 years and now I am a three-term incumbent on the Boone County Commission.
Drakas: And what is the importance of having a county commission? What exactly does a county commission do?
Thompson: You know, I'm glad you asked that because it's so funny when I when I talk to people about local government, a lot of people don't even know what local government is. And the county commission in Missouri, there's three members of county commissioners with 114 counties, but they're three members of a county commission, a presiding commissioner and two associate commissioners. And we oversee the budget process for the county. We oversee the roads and bridges for the county. We oversee all of the buildings and maintenance of the buildings for the county. And we work with all of the other elected officials to make sure that their budgets are part of the budget. And then it's always that other duties as assigned.
Drakas: And then what do you think are the biggest issues for Boone County voters right now?
Thompson: There's so many things that are drawing our attention. You know, something that has been front of mind to me for a long time because probably because of my experience as a public defender, I look at our county jail. That's the biggest mental health facility in our county. Unfortunately, as it is across the country, the largest mental health facility in the country is the Cook County Jail in Chicago. And part of the problem with that that we see in every county and Boone County is no exception, is that we have folks with mental health issues and substance use issues. A larger percentage of the folks who are detained in our county jail have those issues. And when a county doesn't have the resources to meet the needs of those folks, it's really difficult to get and then maintain staff at our detention facility. But it's also we create a revolving door if we don't have a method to help those folks deal with those issues. So what we've done here in Boone County, one of the things we're working on is developing a position for what we're calling a reentry navigator to help connect people who are in our county jail with resources so that it's not a revolving door.
The other piece of the puzzle that a lot of people don't understand and a lot of county officials don't understand is there's a policy that says that if you are detained for longer than 30 days, either in jail or at the Department of Corrections, you lose your federal benefits, you lose your Medicaid, you lose SNAP benefits as a veteran, you lose your veterans benefits. And so those all of those benefits then that have supported that person, that might have provided mental health care, that might have provided insulin, that might have provided all kinds of health care issues. Those resources, then disappear and that burden falls on the county. And there's counties across the country that can't afford that. And so those people are decompensating or their health care or their health position is deteriorating and the county tries to pick that up and sometimes that doesn't happen.
So we're not doing well by those folks, but we're certainly blowing through resources as a county. So that's something that we're working on through the Missouri Association of Counties to get our state legislature to take some action that they can take while we get the federal government to back off of a policy that is unconstitutional and doesn't make any sense.
Drakas: And along with that, I would say probably housing is a ....
Thompson: Housing is huge issue.
Drakas: For voters, can you talk about your efforts to enact rental housing standards for our county?
Thompson: Sure. That was one of the first issues that I was, that I got to address when I joined the county commission in my first like month, I went down to the state legislature, along with our sheriff, Sheriff Carey, and he and I spoke to the the legislature about that issue that, you know, we have people here in Columbia because Columbia is in Boone County. What a surprise for some people to understand that. But on one side of the street, they'd be in the city of Columbia. On the other side of the street, they were in unincorporated Boone County. One side of the street, they had rental housing standards. On the other side, none.
And we went down to say to folks, we need those rental housing standards because, A, it makes places safer. It reduces crime. When you have those rental housing standards in place, crime rates are reduced. It's just it's safer for the individual and safer for the community. And for a long time, we couldn't get traction. And finally we got traction with that from one of our former state legislators. And they're now in place. So that's something that we're, I'm really proud that we finally have that and we have that, quite honestly, through the support of our local board of realtors, because they saw the problem and they realized, you know, there might be a couple of bad apples that don't maintain their property, but people really want to do the right thing.
Drakas: And you were first elected in 2012 and then reelected in 2016, 2020. What have you learned since taking the position and why should voters reelect you?
Thompson: I've learned that what I learned as a public defender is is the same kind of of things that are happening now. And I see from a county perspective, I see the same issues. I see where resources are limited. And when you don't work together across jurisdictions, across parties, county commission work is not partisan or and if it is, you're doing it wrong. If you make it a partisan deal, you're doing it wrong. You have to work across jurisdictions to make things happen. And that's what I've been doing for the last 12 years, is working across those party lines.
Somebody the other day said, "well, are you the only Democrat on x committee?" And I said, I don't know what political party these people are, and I don't care, because that's the essence of county government, is that it is nonpartisan. We are there to serve the people of out of our jurisdiction, not some party politics.
Drakas: And then why do you think you are the better choice for Boone County voters versus your opponent?
Thompson: I've been doing the work. I know the resources. The people know me and trust me to get the work done that I put the work first and politics doesn't come into it. And I think that's the real key, is you have to work for Boone County. You have to work for everyone in Boone County. I believe that everyone in Boone County deserves to thrive.
Drakas: And is there anything else that you would like to touch on or share?
Thompson: You know, again, to get back to that whole local government thing, sometimes it's tempting. I know, especially when people see a really long ballot, it's really tempting to just fill in the top of the ballot. But the stuff that happens at the bottom of the ballot, those county elected positions, those resolutions, those propositions that are heading people's way, that's really important because that's where the rubber hits the road is local government.
And so people need to vote up and down the ballot and they need to understand that they need to get registered to vote, they need to know the issues, and then they need to get to the polling place and vote. And the last day they can vote is Nov. 5. There you know we have early voting in Missouri. And so they should take advantage of that and make sure they get their voice heard because their vote is their voice.
